Understanding key facts and ideas,... is how we see politics (1 Viewer)

First off the term 'useful idiot' is something I learned about in a USSR political science class at university (and if memory serves recall the idea kinda being discussed in a religion class in high school).

https://www.investors.com/politics/commentary/lenin-used-useful-idiots-to-spread-propaganda-to-the-west/

Now, let's examine Trump's actions (which shouldn't surprise anyone familiar with his business practices).

How Trump Leveraged Other People’s Money to Make Bankruptcy Work for Him

| ABI

www.abi.org

(As I see things) sadly we're witnessing the same old pattern of Trump's behavior (i.e. I'm a 'business man of action' approach AND I'm going to win at this deal) but with the crucial difference that he's now President,... so there will be global economic consequences. Personally, I don't see a Russian conspiracy per se at play. Instead, what we're seeing is a Russian 'schadenfreude' moment.

Definition of SCHADENFREUDE

enjoyment obtained from the troubles of others… See the full definition

www.merriam-webster.com

...so how do you see politics???

 

[bongsaway]

First off the term 'useful idiot' is something I learned about in a USSR political science class at university (and if memory serves recall the idea kinda being discussed in a religion class in high school).

https://www.investors.com/politics/commentary/lenin-used-useful-idiots-to-spread-propaganda-to-the-west/

Now, let's examine Trump's actions (which shouldn't surprise anyone familiar with his business practices).

How Trump Leveraged Other People’s Money to Make Bankruptcy Work for Him

| ABI

www.abi.org

(As I see things) sadly we're witnessing the same old pattern of Trump's behavior (i.e. I'm a 'business man of action' approach AND I'm going to win at this deal) but with the crucial difference that he's now President,... so there will be global economic consequences. Personally, I don't see a Russian conspiracy per se at play. Instead, what we're seeing is a Russian 'schadenfreude' moment.

Definition of SCHADENFREUDE

enjoyment obtained from the troubles of others… See the full definition

www.merriam-webster.com

...so how do you see politics???

I see politics as something that should be used to help we the people, not take away from us as much as possible to enrich yourself. I suppose a lot of people look at it as an opportunity to get as much for themselves as possible.

 

[Germinator]

I see politics as something that should be used to help we the people, not take away from us as much as possible to enrich yourself. I suppose a lot of people look at it as an opportunity to get as much for themselves as possible.

Seems to me TRUMP really wants to govern like an ancient Roman emperor who had absolute power so he could indulge all his fantasies (like the Roman emperor Caligula),...

 

[multivita-man]

How we see politics often has little to do with facts. It has to do with values. It starts with values. Some people don't value education and verifying that what they're hearing is objective, neutrally accurate. A lot of people as it turns out.

 

[blur]

I have a half-assed theory about how the rise in anti-hero protagonists (The Sopranos, Dexter, Weeds, Breaking Bad, etc.) in TV in the 2000s lead to people feeling a similar kind of connection to Trump. Like the media literacy of a lot of Americans was not advanced enough to know how to properly digest these characters/stories, and it just lead them to mistaking any kind of imperfection/immoral behavior in an individual as just a sign of that person's "authenticity", while treating the people who are respectful, play by the rules, well-presenting, etc. with suspicion.

 

[Germinator]

How we see politics often has little to do with facts. It has to do with values. It starts with values. Some people don't value education and verifying that what they're hearing is objective, neutrally accurate. A lot of people as it turns out.

"The people voted for major government reform..."​

 

[Ikari]

He's a conartist, of course he did this. He's great with the Art of the Con.

 

[Germinator]

I have a half-assed theory about how the rise in anti-hero protagonists (The Sopranos, Dexter, Weeds, Breaking Bad, etc.) in TV in the 2000s lead to people feeling a similar kind of connection to Trump. Like the media literacy of a lot of Americans was not advanced enough to know how to properly digest these characters/stories, and it just lead them to mistaking any kind of imperfection/immoral behavior in an individual as just a sign of that person's "authenticity", while treating the people who are respectful, play by the rules, well-presenting, etc. with suspicion.

FWIW

...there were fascinating parallels between the actions and success of Trump and what was going on in Rome 2,000 years ago.

Caligula has gone down in history as one of the maddest and baddest of all Roman emperors, a name synonymous with the worst excesses of absolute power.

But there was more to the story of Caligula, Holland said. He is not quite the psychopath of popular imagination and we can see similarities between what is happening now and then.

What is known for sure about Caligula, Holland said, is that he had a great love of spectacle and dressing up; and he enjoyed hurting and humiliating people.

The young Caligula spent six years on the island of Capri, where he often directed and appeared in spectacular pornographic tableaux for his great uncle, the emperor Tiberius – a man it was said, who enjoyed having swimming boys nibble at his private parts.

When Tiberius died Caligua left for Rome where his excessive tastes “were translated on to the most public stage of all – the imperial capital.”

He did things differently to his forebears, the polar opposite of Tiberius’s and, before him, Augustus’ moral strategy. “Caligula had no interest in, no stake in the traditional values of Rome. He despised them. And he despised them because he saw them as entrenching the prestige and status of the aristocracy.”

Caligula wanted to rule as an autocrat and he was contemptuous of the pretence that the senate had any power at all.

“What he did was to trample the dignity of the senatorial elite into the dirt and what he discovered in doing that was that the mass of the Roman people really enjoyed it.”

Holland said there were parallels with what Trump has done to the Republican establishment.

“Trump has said and done things that are utterly shocking by the standards of traditional political morality, but far from making him unpopular with the masses there is a sense in which he has become the toast of the people.”

As well as trampling down the elite, Caligula was – like Trump – a conscious populist and sponsored chariot races and made a huge six-horse chariot for himself, which he would drive around Rome showing off.

“He did all the things that the people thought an emperor should do … they loved him for it.”

...The most famous story about Caligula, that he planned to make his horse his consul, is too often misinterpreted, said Holland.

It should not be seen as Caligula being unhinged – he was saying even the consulship, the highest office in Rome, was in his power. “It is a bitter, cruel joke about the reality of autocracy,” said Holland.

The knives were always out for Caligula but his downfall was entirely his fault, said Holland. “He just could not help himself.”

Caligula told a captain in the Praetorian guard that he sounded like a girl. And the Praetorian killed him.

Donald Trump has 'fascinating parallels' with Caligula, says historian

Tom Holland tells Hay festival the notorious Roman emperor was a conscious populist like the US presidential candidate

www.theguardian.com

Since TRUMP keeps pissing people off,... odds are there is going to be another attempt

Security incidents involving Donald Trump - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Germinator]

​

 

[Germinator]