With apologies to our many friends and posters outside the United States... it's time for another one of these! Culture war thread rules apply, and you are permitted to openly advocate for or against an issue or candidate on the ballot (if you clearly identify which ballot, and can do so without knocking down any strawmen along the way). "Small-scale" questions and answers are also permitted if you refrain from shitposting or being otherwise insulting to others here. Please keep the spirit of the law--this is a discussion forum!--carefully in mind.
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Notes -
I do think it’s a distinct possibility that it’s really “different this time” because the institutions have tanked their credibility so completely in a way never done before, and the second Trump administration seems more primed to detonate the vest over and over again instead of cooperate.
In many ways the second Trump administration will likely be like the first, but there’s a significant non-zero chance they will pull a Milei and just start slashing and burning.
Why not? There’s virtually no downside.
There is a lot of downside. Institutions, captured as they might be, have a lot of value. There has been a lot of pain in Argentina from Milei's reforms, and we were in much worse shape than the US already.
I’d say it’s manifestly obvious that our institutions have much less value than they did in the past.
There has to be a limit to how much they can beclown themselves and burn through their credibility until the currency they use to keep themselves afloat, reputation, is virtually worthless.
Clearly I’m not alone in feeling this, Trump has a mandate and I hope he uses it good and hard.
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The answer, of course, is the deep state.
Also, "the institutions" includes mass media, social media, and large Internet companies like Google, and there's little that Trump could do about them. Yes, Musk got Twitter, but that's a single black swan event, and isn't repeatable.
That “why not” had a lot more punch in his first term eight years ago, but now? The man has gotten into a slew of political knife fights and came out alive on the other side.
Success breeds success, victory brings victory. You see a black swan event, but it very well might just be the opening in the armor to hammer the deep state and scoop out the soft brains.
Second term, no need for re-electing. He doesn’t need speaking fees or book tours. He’s already clearly been targeted and survived to tell the tale. If anyone capable of burning the boats behind him and conquering, it’s him.
I’m not 100% on this either, I could see him being conciliatory. But I think the deep state is much, much more vulnerable than either the black-pillers and “nothing ever happens” crowd thinks.
Me, personally? I hope what’s swimming around in his mind is similar same as mine;
“The ram has touched the wall. No mercy.”
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