I’m quite seriously not going to be the least bit surprised if he ends up up on the short list of all time mass murderers, right up alongside Stalin, Mao, Hitler and Pol Pot. I don’t think it’s a question of whether or not he would do it - he most definitely would. The only question is whether he’ll be able to.
Luckily he’s far older than any of those people were. Plus I don’t think he’s trying to speed run a genocide. Trump’s more concerned with himself, so at least we’ve got that. But also I’d say he has far more in common with Mussolini. One of the worst world leaders in modern history, sure, but he’s gonna die long before anything as extreme as Hitler or Pol Pot happens. A Stalin-like dictatorship seems plausible, but not within the next few years - it would have to be something his successor does. Whatever Trump’s long term goals are, I’m confident it will all fall apart when he dies.
The counter point to this definitely being, what happens when Trump ages out? He is going to be replaced, and his replacement could be far younger, with more ambition and efficiency in pursuing political goals. The Trump movement (basically conservative fascism) will not die with him, its going to be championed by the right as their own political goals. Its not Trump im afraid of, its all the people/minds that he has influenced and put in positions of power.
Trump doesn’t seem to concern himself with what’s going to happen after he’s gone. So whoever is next seems unlikely to have Trump’s level of devoted fans from day 1. Good chance the whole movement will collapse with him and tons of infighting.
I also wonder, once he’s gone, if Rs and Fox News will suddenly be more willing to criticize Trump. They fear retaliation right now, but once he’s gone that threat may be gone. They’ll have some new candidate to promote, they don’t usually keep promoting the old one.
But from that collapse, they’ll eventually find someone. Hard to imagine them being a whole lot worse. Mel Gibson? He sorta fits the Trump/Reagan mold. Would someone like Mel Gibson really be that much worse? Joe Rogan?
They don’t fear retaliation from him, they fear retaliation from his fans. Those won’t suddenly disappear when he is gone, look at Stalin fans in Russia.
Mm… yeah, now that you mention it, there is likely still a gap between what Trump would do and what he’ll be able to do, just dictated this time around by age rather than checks and balances.
Luckily he’s far older than any of those people were. Plus I don’t think he’s trying to speed run a genocide. Trump’s more concerned with himself, so at least we’ve got that. But also I’d say he has far more in common with Mussolini. One of the worst world leaders in modern history, sure, but he’s gonna die long before anything as extreme as Hitler or Pol Pot happens. A Stalin-like dictatorship seems plausible, but not within the next few years - it would have to be something his successor does. Whatever Trump’s long term goals are, I’m confident it will all fall apart when he dies.
The counter point to this definitely being, what happens when Trump ages out? He is going to be replaced, and his replacement could be far younger, with more ambition and efficiency in pursuing political goals. The Trump movement (basically conservative fascism) will not die with him, its going to be championed by the right as their own political goals. Its not Trump im afraid of, its all the people/minds that he has influenced and put in positions of power.
Trump doesn’t seem to concern himself with what’s going to happen after he’s gone. So whoever is next seems unlikely to have Trump’s level of devoted fans from day 1. Good chance the whole movement will collapse with him and tons of infighting.
I also wonder, once he’s gone, if Rs and Fox News will suddenly be more willing to criticize Trump. They fear retaliation right now, but once he’s gone that threat may be gone. They’ll have some new candidate to promote, they don’t usually keep promoting the old one.
But from that collapse, they’ll eventually find someone. Hard to imagine them being a whole lot worse. Mel Gibson? He sorta fits the Trump/Reagan mold. Would someone like Mel Gibson really be that much worse? Joe Rogan?
They don’t fear retaliation from him, they fear retaliation from his fans. Those won’t suddenly disappear when he is gone, look at Stalin fans in Russia.
Mm… yeah, now that you mention it, there is likely still a gap between what Trump would do and what he’ll be able to do, just dictated this time around by age rather than checks and balances.
I guess that’s something…