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elleng

(130,126 posts)
Thu Jan 14, 2021, 09:39 PM Jan 2021

America's Next Authoritarian Will Be Much More Competent.

Trump was ineffective and easily beaten. A future strongman won’t be.

'Now that Joe Biden has won the presidency, we can expect debates over whether Donald Trump was an aberration (“not who we are!”) or another instantiation of America’s pathologies and sins. One can reasonably make a case for his deep-rootedness in American traditions, while also noticing the anomalies: the early-morning tweeting, the fondness for mixing personal and government business, the obsession with ratings befitting a reality-TV star—the one job he was good at.

From an international perspective, though, Trump is just one more example of the many populists on the right who have risen to power around the world: Narendra Modi in India, Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil, Viktor Orbán in Hungary, Vladimir Putin in Russia, Jarosław Kaczyński in Poland, and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Turkey, my home country. These people win elections but subvert democratic norms: by criminalizing dissent, suppressing or demonizing the media, harassing the opposition, and deploying extra-legal mechanisms whenever possible (Putin’s opponents have a penchant for meeting tragic accidents). Orbán proudly uses the phrase illiberal democracy to describe the populism practiced by these men; Trump has many similarities to them, both rhetorically and policy-wise.

He campaigned like they did, too, railing against the particular form of globalization that dominates this era and brings benefit to many, but disproportionately to the wealthy, leaving behind large numbers of people, especially in wealthier countries. He relied on the traditional herrenvolk idea of ethnonationalist populism: supporting a kind of welfare state, but only for the “right” people rather than the undeserving others (the immigrants, the minorities) who allegedly usurp those benefits. He channeled and fueled the widespread mistrust of many centrist-liberal democratic institutions (the press, most notably) —just like the other populists. And so on.

But there’s one key difference between Trump and everyone else on that list. The others are all talented politicians who win elections again and again.

In contrast, Trump is a reality-TV star who stumbled his way into an ongoing realignment in American politics, aided by a series of events peculiar to 2016 that were fortunate for him: The Democrats chose a polarizing nominee who didn’t have the requisite political touch that can come from surviving tough elections; social media was, by that point, deeply entrenched in the country’s politics, but its corrosive effects were largely unchecked; multiple players—such as then–FBI Director James Comey—took consequential actions fueled by their misplaced confidence in Hillary Clinton’s win; and Trump’s rivals in the Republican primaries underestimated him. He drew a royal flush.'>>>

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/11/trump-proved-authoritarians-can-get-elected-america/617023/?

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DonaldsRump

(7,715 posts)
3. I'm not so sure that's right
Thu Jan 14, 2021, 09:54 PM
Jan 2021

I have no doubt that there will be far smarter and more competent fascists than Donald Trump. You'll get absolutely no objections from me on that point.

The difference, though, is the efficacy of those more awful candidates to become mainstream. Donald Trump was mainstream American since around 1985. He was an alleged "billionaire", allegedly wrote a "bestseller", and was the principal actor in a top TV show. Again, this is going back to 1985, where this idiot was a headline figure.

There are essentially no other people that fit that bill. There are clearly insane fascists, but there are none that had the benefits that Trump had.

I am confident that, if there is a real exposure of the crimes/transgressions of the last four years, any other fascist, who cannot compete with all the benefits that Trump had, will never have the hold that Trump had.

He seemingly represented normalcy to many of his followers and to independents who in 2016 who were willing to give him a break. I see no one else around that remotely approximates the Trump of 2015-2016.

Kablooie

(18,571 posts)
5. He also has been tweeting his views since 2009.
Thu Jan 14, 2021, 09:59 PM
Jan 2021

that gave him a unique forum to shape follower's thoughts.

It will be difficult for another authoritarian to hit all the right notes and succeed in following Trump.
But many will certainly try.

Kablooie

(18,571 posts)
4. Unless Fox news and other conservative media start reporting real news...
Thu Jan 14, 2021, 09:56 PM
Jan 2021

and stop spewing total bullshit as reality, I don't know that America will recover.

captain queeg

(10,035 posts)
7. I think its certainly possible, especially with america's obsession with celebrity
Thu Jan 14, 2021, 10:06 PM
Jan 2021

I had to look the term up, to be sure I know what they are saying, since I've taken for granted that I understood it:
Populism refers to a range of political stances that emphasise the idea of "the people" and often juxtapose this group against "the elite". The term developed in the 19th century and has been applied to various politicians, parties, and movements since that time, although it has rarely been chosen as a self-description. en.wikipedia.org

I've never understood how many people look at an actor and think the parts they play are who they are, it seems this is unique to the US

Response to elleng (Original post)

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