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[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally Posted by sebastian_dangerfield

It may be that "democracy" fails in the future. But it won't be because of Trump. It'll be much subtler, and it'll be caused less by his populist tendencies and more by the sellout of the country to corporations by the milquetoast members of both parties. I don't fear a revolution led by the Proud Boys. I fear the one that arguably took place long ago on K Street -- one that grinds away slowly today, capturing all of the important levers of power, controlling all the important mouths in both parties. One that keeps the masses bickering while it lines its pockets.

It's got no name, and it's not a conspiracy. It's just Money. Giant entities with shit tons of it needn't get together and plan anything. They've got shared goals and interests. All they need do is act in their own self-interest and their efforts will dovetail, complementing each other. While the lurid poles of our political discourse fight about whether the trans folks are getting a fair shake or certain books should be banned from high school curricula.

In the teeth of efforts by these same corporate powers and their aligned govt counterparts to massage online speech, and to squelch debate about dubious to often outright fabulist narratives offered by "the institutions" in the lying guise of "saving us from dis/mis/mal-information," I find it had to worry about cranks that slither out from under the rocks of Trumpworld, or its broader universe of MAGAland. Those idiots can be controlled.

Trump is a threat, and a danger. No doubt. He can do damage. But I'd say people like Larry Fink can and are doing a whole hell of a lot more.

Trump's threat to democracy is that he is normalizing, for one of the two political parties, the idea that you only accept election results when you win. To state the obvious, the whole system hangs on the idea that everyone accepts the legitimacy of the government, winners and losers alike. When you say "those idiots can be controlled," I don't know what you are talking about. Not that anyone is going to beat Trump for the GOP nomination, but most of the people running against him aren't willing to challenge him on anything important, and those that are have no prayer.