General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWe are asymptotically approaching the inflection point...
And it has been a forty-plus year journey of Americas spirit, morality, and its existential right to exist.
When Trump came on the scene all those years ago, he was ridiculous: an exaggerating pitchman for himself, his lifestyle, his businesses, and his family. He would say things in all seriousness that were untrue but unprovably so in an easy fashion: the greatest building, the greatest steaks, the most beautiful women, the best airline, the tastiest water and other exaggerated lies. And the populace and the media smiled, shook its head, and said there goes Donald again.
But he was performing an act of hypnosis which worked perfectly on millions of people. The equivalent of Now watch this swinging shiny pocket watch as it goes back and forth was cast upon the masses. These individuals wanted to believe that what he stated was true, and the fundamentals were all in place. The victim of any confidence game must possess both material greed and surety that his or her fellow conspirator is generous in helping that individual. The old scam which takes place in front of a bank involving an envelope with thousands of dollars is one excellent example.
The people who have been thus hypnotized are now willing subjects of this magician and simultaneously reject any truth told to them as a lie, particularly any negative statement concerning the magician.
But over time, some individuals begin to understand for whatever reason or reasoning that this individual has been either mistaken or outright lying to them. It is very important that it be understood that each of these individuals believed that the magician has been addressing him or her personally, even though there is an audience in reality of tens of millions. The problem for those who are righteous is that in order for more people to lose faith in the magician trick, the next mistake or grievous harm must be greater in magnitude, as we societally define correctness, than the last.
So in order to reach the top of the popularity curve there must be some occurrence so untoward that the metaphorical sled is pushed over the top of the hill and begins its descent. Some believe this has happened or is beginning to happen with the multiple accusations of pedophilia and Ephebophilia. Perhaps it will be sufficient.
Or perhaps we will have to wait until a sufficient number of people and their families are truly suffering for the body politic to reach the inflection point. We shall know soon where we stand. The entire business reminds me of the old false paradox which stated that motion is impossible - Since we must travel half the distance in a finite amount of time to reach an objective and then travel half the distance again in another finite period of time and so on to infinity, then we can never reach that point in finite time.
We observe this governmental insanity and wonder if we are living this false paradox. Perhaps we are. Perhaps we are not. Time will tell, but the ending is presently in doubt.
jfz9580m
(16,246 posts)I read a post about it on Physics Stack Exchange and got a mild headache and decided to stick with routine science.
Yeah..it could go either way overall..
If this hell of Idiocracy is what social media and low rent AI gave us, I shudder to think of this crowd getting started on quantum consciousness and other bilge Hearsts Popular Mechanics, YouTube, FB, TikTok, Big Think etc inflict on the populace next.
My own brain is just about limping along in this media environment we are tangled up in. Exasperating..
Puppyjive
(903 posts)I only watched clips of the Apprentice and realized what a horrible person he was. The way he talks, he thinks we have 3rd grader brains. He has never impressed me. I was really turned off by him not paying contractors who worked for him. My mom always said to not trust people who don't have pets or plants. They lack empathy. And the way he has belittled veterans shows me that I was correct all along.
lostnfound
(17,328 posts)BobsYourUncle
(193 posts)And I figured that was the last Id see of him
WRONG! So wrong. So painfully wrong,
Intractable
(1,444 posts)usonian
(22,814 posts)Real short, cults give "losers" a sense of "winning" by projecting all their failures, fears and weaknesses onto others.
And it's crazy, the message can change or even contradict itself, as "whatabouts" vary or a single outlier (Think Willie Horton) is made up to be the rule, and so on.
In return, like the mob, forbidden or outrageous "oh, I love this guilty pleasure" is condoned, such as racism, misogyny, xenophobia, theft, hatred, violence ...

Trumpy wants BOTH.
But it's always to the cult member's personal loss. Loss of dignity, free thought, or even money and lives. I needn't give examples.
Sooner or later (much later) the "winners" realized they are the marks.
This story is being played out now. Unfortunately, again and again, as charlatans get out the fascist playbook and rabble-rouse when conditions are bad, as they were in Germany, or even when they are damn good, but the propaganda ministry says there is depression and repression, in a thriving economy and increased liberties.
The cult gives them up when it's perceived that "the wrong people" are benefiting, and in the "zero sum" thinking, others' gain is seen as one's own loss, even when it isn't.
Greed, hate and delusions are the "three poisons" in Buddhism, and are the three go-to tools in the fascist toolbox.