The Official "Damned Trump" Thread: Phase II

[Ivan Denisovich]

Yeah, I think the mechanism we're seeing has been in place for a while now. Trump is the latest, the most erratic, and the least aesthetically pleasing of its representatives, but this is a difference of degree and not kind. The government serves well-connected rich people, and doesn't mind at all making life harder for everyone else. 

This is bipartisan, and has been going on for a long time. 

For example, research done at Princeton published 12 years ago shows that the US is not a democracy -- if by "democracy" we mean a government which works for its people. 

https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-echochambers-27074746

That's hardly a definition of democracy. I'm not sure if even Scandinavian countries would count as democracies under such definition.

That said US have big problems - all else aside money is speech crap is enough in itself to cause issues and well, news regularly show everyone that USA problems don't end at this.

Multivariate analysis indicates that economic elites and organised groups representing business interests have substantial independent impacts on US government policy, while average citizens and mass-based interest groups have little or no independent influence.

That's nothing particularly surprising. Under capitalist economy it is moneyed class that will be in charge whether officially or unofficially. It's hardly an issue unique to US though.

And several astute observers have described the kind of oligarchy that's in place. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverted_totalitarianism




similarities to classical totalitarian regimes include using fear,[6] preemptive wars[7] and elite domination.[8]

This looks like some kindergarten bullshit. Inverted totalitarianism? I get that everyone and his dog want to come up with catchy new term but oligarchy serves well, similarly to illiberal democracy if we want to do a wide sweep or kakistocracy if one wants to be cutting.

Powerful people in the US largely opposed Trump's election because they see him as unpredictable, which is a reasonable thing to conclude. The Democrats are much more reliable in the work they do for the banks, the insurance companies, and the corporate giants. But once Trump is gone, and we get someone more normal in office, it'll be back to business as usual.

Seems like they did a shitty job of opposing it.

As for democrats, well, looking from outside USA they don't look all that hot. I think I would vote a third party.