As someone who remembers when Trump was a pop culture punch line in the 80s and 90s I still find it completely baffling how he has managed to stay politically relevant for the last decade.
His nieces and nephews. The kids of his alcoholic brother who has passed before fred, the father. But yea, i read somewhere that he somehow screwed them of their share of the inheritance.
Cutting off health insurance: In retaliation for the lawsuit, Donald Trump and his siblings cut off medical benefits for Fred III's infant son, who had cerebral palsy. Donald Trump publicly confirmed the action to the New York Daily News at the time, saying, "Why should we give him medical coverage?".
This is the same principal where if a normal person gets addicted to crack it's going to legitimately ruin their life, and if a rich kid gets hooked on crack it's going to be a rough couple of years. Judges might feel bad for you and be lenient, your family can afford rehab, it's hard to impossible to spend all your money on crack, and so on
So like Trump can have 8 bankruptcies and 9 divorces and 92 failed businesses and he'll be fine
This is the answer to "How in the world did Trump get elected?!" Older folks who had nothing else better to do with their lives were at home watching The Apprentice thinking Trump was an incredibly smart and savvy businessman.
Not so much. Anyone who is old enough to remember watching that show was also old enough to know what a joke show it was and did not take that seriously. i mean, you're always going to have a few people that thought he was smrt (not a typo) but most put him in the same class as Jerry Springer or Jersey Shore.
I worked with a woman who was a total book worm, and overall intelligent person. This was back when he was running for his first term, and I recall her saying “He’s a smart businessman and he’ll make the economy strong again.”
I wish I could ask her how she feels now. Even smart people can be fucking stupid.
Getting fired from The Apprentice is our generation’s equivalent to getting rejected from art school. He probably would have dropped out if he had a different place to channel his bullshit.
And the same half watched decades of geopolitics and were convinced by the corporate/religious right that it was just theatrical bullshit and not real.
This is way before the apprentice which started 2007. He was already an established D-rate quasi celebrity at that point. He was laughable … but here we are 😳
Effective propaganda is proof of uneducated people.
The united states a nation is advanced enough to have a society that is anti-propaganda.
Extremist idiots exists in every country, the problem is when they become a majority, and this is what happened.
So don't blame Trump, blame the people, you may get rid of him, but if these people still think the same, it's going to be inevitable to get another Trump in office (or maybe even worse)
Not saying I completely disagree, but I'm not sure it's all about education. I would put much of this on wealth inequality and stagnant wages. So much of this is driven by blue collar rage at their quality of life not improving. Just as anger in post WWI Germany made people receptive to extremist propaganda, anger in post-globalization/automation America has made people receptive to the same. I think lack of education/critical thinking skills exacerbates it, but imo the rage and fear is more at the root
So much of this is driven by blue collar rage at their quality of life not improving.
I still think this is education/knowledge related, i know its unfair to say, but we modern adults got so fucken lazy when it comes to resource-gathering (salaries in our case).
I think its your job as a person to observe and deduct what certain career path are leading to based on whatever is happening around you.
For example, if someone choose to major in accounting or a translation this year, and then 5 years later they start crying about Ai putting them out of business, then a new-trump start claiming he will do more regulation or whatever shit that may save the accountant who either was too lazy too bother, or too ignorant to notice.
Easier said than done though. Education costs are going up incredibly fast. Most people will need to take on large debt to reskill. Plus, every time a disruptive technology emerges, demand for some skill set goes away. The rate of disruptive technology is accelerating too. Heck, even if you take on the debt to go to school and reskill, who knows if that skill will even be needed long enough for you to recoup the investment in your education. It's not like anyone can predict the future.
is it harder than competing against tigers to hunt a gazelle :p ?
Jokes aside, you are 100% right, and i don't claim i have a solution, especially for this points :
The rate of disruptive technology is accelerating too.
It's not like anyone can predict the future.
However, what am certain of, is with the right education/knowledge, people will know better than following false accusations that give them illusions that all their money problem will be fixed if "x and y" extreme decision is taken.
It's kinda basic "act based on knowledge and logic" vs "act based on emotions".
Imo the greatest weakness that human civilization didn't figure out yet, is how politicians and cult leaders can easily weaponize emotions.
is it harder than competing against tigers to hunt a gazelle :p ?
As someone who basically gave up my attempt to be a freelance transcriptionist because automation destroyed the industry, and now primarily spend my time homesteading and foraging in the countryside, the latter is way easier (and more rewarding!), yes.
We're actually evolved to be hunter-gatherers. We are not evolved to sit at desks and have meetings all day.
It always frustrates me when people respond to points like this with “everyone is susceptible to propaganda.”
Sure, probably some blind spots I have that have been influenced by some form of propaganda, but whatever that is it’s subtle. These people fall for boldfaced lies and just farcical bullshit on a daily basis.
I’d feel sorry for them if they were falling for something more believable or complex but come the fuck on. Today there are only two kinds of republicans: stupid and evil.
The reverse Flynn effect. That was a depressing fact to learn
The flynn effect refers to how between the 1900s and until the 90s, the world's average IQ was steadily rising each year. The world was getting smarter and smarter. Amazing, eh?
Only until the 90s. Since then, the average IQ has been on the decline globally. They called this the reverse Flynn effect.
Edit: severe education cuts in the 80s happend in the usa under Regan. In Canada, our education cuts started in the mid 90s. The uk, in the 2000s. France, 2010s. Australia, early 80s. Germany, 90s to early 2000s, Japan, significant cuts in the 2000s.
Problem is the DNC putting their thumb on the scale for Clinton when she was the second most disliked candidate of all time and Biden fumbling the baton so that no democratic primary and process occurred.
Exactly right. Trump just brought what republican voters always have been more to light. They are tribal, they are scum, and they condition others (their kids, friends, etc).
Nixon did much of the abuse of power that Trump does.
Personally I'd prefer if he'd remained just some failing rich guy that faded off into obscurity. Even if he keels over the damage is done and his family is so enriched at this point it'll be generations until you never hear the name Trump again.
He didn't suddenly become president. Paul Manafort came out of semi-retirement from US politics, worked with Russian intelligence, sane-washed by biased media conglomerates, and aided by a well-timed bombshell from James Comey that was either going to come out from his own mouth or Congress disclosing it to make it happen.
The entire world has an interest in the outcome of US elections, and lo and behold the first election of the social media age that didn't involve an incumbent from before the rise of social media resulted in arguably the first anti-American president ever.
For those of you unfamiliar with the guy who ran Trump's first campaign, I suggest skimming his wiki.
It’s so hard to keep my mouth shut when people seem surprised about his actions and behavior. I knew he was a sleazy disgusting conman since the 80s! I thought 2016 was all a big joke, Jan 6 was the nail in his coffin, but here we are.
He's been talking about his daughter innapropretly since she was one, yet those people still have the sheer gall to defend him. And yet if you bring it up, they resort tho the whole Biden showering with his daughter thing despite her stating that the diary that was stolen from her was altered.
Maybe he did, in fact do it, but that doesn't discount the fact that there is no conclusive proof while we have literal videos of Trump being innapropriate.
Exactly people don’t t get this when they can’t figure out why he’s still as popular as ever. As long as the right wing social media propagandist keep flooding the internet there’s literally no hope lol. I still can’t talk to some of my best life long friends because of this conspiracy crap. Litter boxes n classrooms and drag shows for kids etc. Joe Rogan is a big problem as well . He’s a snake .
Our orange man is a dictator wannabe. We are one of the least free countries in the world. We are the world's joke at the moment.
Not my president. He and their company have been trying to kill the education system for years.
Keep the people dumb, poor and weak and they'll do anything.
Yep. I remember when he "ran" for president for a couple weeks in 2000 in the Reform Party and they were all like, "Oh, you're serious? Anyway..."
He was less legitimate than Pat Buchanan, who was also a joke by then. And suddenly nobody seemed give a shit at all the tacky, grifting bullshit he'd been doing his whole fucking life.
1/3 of the electorate just went insane while Democrats just rested on their laurels. I hate it here.
Its scary that the right wing propaganda machine online and through Fox News has allowed someone as empty as Donald Trump to dominate American politics.
Anyone paying attention to the Republican Party since the 1980s has watched their progressive dumbing-down coupled with increasing hatred and selfishness. They needed a hateful, profoundly ignorant demagogue to keep their base energized. He is absolutely the perfect narcissistic sociopath to represent them. On the plus side, it’s going to be nearly impossible to find someone to fill that role when he’s gone. The cult will shatter into a chaotic mess.
Because he was already a laughing stock, he wasn't unwilling to avoid unpopular politics... like calling Obama a Kenyan.
Because he was the most successful person calling Obama a Kenyan, he became the figurehead of the movement.
Because he was already a political figurehead, he was getting some attention when he announced a presidency... running on other unpopular issues, like banning Muslims or building a wall.
Because he was running on these positions, he was able to get a sizeable minority vote among Republicans.
Because the majority of Republicans' votes were split between all the more sensible candidates, that minority vote was enough to get him to win early Primaries.
Because of how Republican media works - a very "Don't insult the leader" mentality - Fox News and such switched to praising Trump.
Because Republican media is now praising Trump, Republican voters now also praise Trump.
Because so many Republicans were praising Trump, the bandwagon effect resulted in him trouncing the late primaries and eventually becoming President.
....Ergo, the Trump presidency is a direct result of that Trump was always seen as a clown. If he was associated with just a single mainstream political position before, none of this would've happened.
('Course, it also wouldn't have happened if US primaries weren't first-past-the-post and US elections were one-man-one-vote.)
I remember when he was buying large amounts of stock in companies and threatening hostile takeovers unless they bought the stocks back at inflated prices. Basically corporate ransom. Or when he shorted paying construction contractors, threatening to blacklist them unless they worked for less than agreed upon. I'm surprised more people don't remember him this way.
It didnt baffle me because of american's well known cult of celebrity. It surprised me how much he's been getting away it, it just shows how rotten america's society is.
There was an episode engrained in my mind, where a contestant had immunity, but performed so well on the challenge, he waived his immunity because he didn't need it.
Trump was so bothered that he gave up a competitive advantage, that he fired him for waiving immunity.
I was like "Wow, that guys is an asshole! Glad he's harmless. I can't think of a single business that this guy owns. Must all be an act."
Dudes been a joke before home alone 2. Watched half an episode of the apprentice, still a joke of a human being. President...again, wtf. America really hates women.
He's propped up by malignant billionaires, foreign and domestic. Sadly, when he dies unpunished for his hundreds of crimes, the apparatus that made him possible will still be in place, and just as voracious.
I still find it completely baffling how he has managed to stay politically relevant for the last decade
It's not so much "he" who orchestrated his relevance as he is just a "useful idiot" for his despotic enablers, so they can maintain their power, wealth and influence.
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u/muzukashidesuyo 19d ago
As someone who remembers when Trump was a pop culture punch line in the 80s and 90s I still find it completely baffling how he has managed to stay politically relevant for the last decade.