Is he calling for the destruction of Enlightenment and post-Enlightenment thought? Nope, he's appealing to the ideals of America that were founded upon that in an interpretation about 30 years old rather than some new philosophy based on hundreds of years ago.
Where do you think "All Men Are Created Equal" comes from? Enlightenment thought. Does that track with locking illegal immigrants in cages, separating them from their families, refusing them medical treatment and yes, forced sterilization? That's not the "destruction of enlightenment thought", that's acting as though they never existed in the first place. Trump isn't going to deconstruct a specific ideal, he's just going to trample it and play dumb when asked about it.
Is he calling for the subsumation of the person to the state? Nope, he's even kinda railing against it with trying to lift the lockdowns which could easily be used on to indefinite for all manner of authoritarian crap.
No, he's trying to dismantle the federal government so people can do
whatever they want at the local level without interference from anybody that has authority to say no. Who do you think forcibly made the South integrate since the Civil War? Who looked out for minority rights and ensured they were enforced to the best of their ability? People always go on about the tyranny of government and the boogie man and specter of the ALL STATE. Funny how they forget that it's the federal government that stepped in to protect people's rights as well. The specter of Federal Tyranny is far, far less real to me that the quantifiable threat of local tyranny when there is no one watching what they're doing.
Is he seizing guns like literally every authoritarian regime does in order to make resistance harder? Nope, only really talking about bump stocks and that kinda hasn't gone anywhere.
No, he's doing something arguably as bad, by encouraging people to be paranoid, buy more guns, take the law into their own hands, even as those same paranoid anti-government elements rail about a different, SECRET government they need to be ready to retaliate against. He is promoting chaos under the guise of personal liberty because it provides cover for what his administration actually spends its time doing, which is radically altering the way government operates. See: the post office, how experts in government are classed as far as their hiring and firing goes, the list just bloody goes on....
Is he setting up a ministry to approve and ban certain forms of speech that could harm his power? He's a bit grumpy, but with Twitter trying to fact check his tweets, there's kinda a push in the opposite direction, as the main focus is kinda (c)(2) of Section 230 that allows for moderation of sites.
No, he's going the opposite direction. Say anything you want, no matter how inaccurate, defamatory, dangerous, derogatory or inciting it is. Unless it's said about him though, then fuck you, I'll sue your ass. Again, anything to create more chaos, because chaos = cover. If anyone can say anything then everyone's energy will be wasted chasing their tails and calling each other out, instead of finding out what the fuck is actually going on.
Is he establishing a ministry of industry to install governmental managers into businesses and potentially take them over whenever the state deems compliance of an uncomplaint business is necessary? Nope.
No, he just sent in the National Guard to perform covid tests at hospitals because "doctors can't be trusted." That's a dry run of what you're describing, where the government according to him knows best when he decides it knows best.
There is a gulf between what he's doing and legit fascism.
No one said he was competent. But much of what he's doing has all the earmarks of early fascism. I'm only thankful that his "charisma" seems to only affect some people, maybe it's a gullibility gene or something that makes you susceptible to shady pitches from greasy used car salesmen, which is how I've seen him since I was a kid.
If he were an actual leader with broad (as opposed to exceptionally narrow) charismatic appeal, and having even a hint of subtlety, we might already be up shit creek without a paddle. As it is, he's more like an elephant in a china shop, smashing culture, laws, mores, propriety, integrity, blindly aside as he lumbers towards his objective, which is making as much money off being president as possible and trying to secure future political entrenchment for his friends and family. And also setting Americans at each others throats because it's entertaining to him. Like trashy reality TV!
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Topic: AmeriPol thread (Read 4228088 times)