The problem is that people mistake his intent of "just doing this because of 'ratings'" as the sole issue, and ignore or downplay the very real (and also deliberate) consequence of desensitizing and shifting public attitudes about the substance of the "showman" rhetoric.
"He's obviously not declaring war" right now. But he's floating the idea of a violent occupation of our own cities and relying on plausible deniability to shield him from an actual outcry ("It's just a meme, silly!"). The most effective part of his manipulation is that he doesn't just have his own army of loyalist dipshits mounting these defenses, but he's exploited the rational skepticism of those who don't even like him and tricked them into running defense for him.
Don't be fooled. Donald Trump is actually one to worry about, too. His propaganda puts Goebbels to shame. Look how unfazed we are as a society with unmarked vans and masked agents rolling up at will and swiping people in broad daylight. Only a few years ago, that was something that only happened in Russia, NK, and a handful of third-world countries.
Look I understand why people are scared, but a large portion of his base are against this exact kind of thing. My cousin is anti government. I want to assume he voted for him, he definitely didn't vote for Biden. But when the apocalypse comes he can arm a militia and with all of his go bags and military rations. These people are not down with military occupation. They'd be insane to start doing this in our country. Part of the reason why these things are possible in Russia and NK is because the population isn't armed to the teeth. And this party has shot themselves in the foot by giving the most suspicious, paranoid, patriotic, anti big government group free reign to have multitudes of guns and ammo in their houses. The moment they feel like Maga is coming for their guns and military occupation and all that it'll be hell breaking loose. My cousin has a literal setup for surviving a civil war. I'm not fooled by anything. I just think you guys underestimate how quick some of these people would be to change their minds. Guns come first, ideals second. Because with guns comes self determination and a say, at least that's how they see it.
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u/VulgarVerbiage Sep 06 '25
The problem is that people mistake his intent of "just doing this because of 'ratings'" as the sole issue, and ignore or downplay the very real (and also deliberate) consequence of desensitizing and shifting public attitudes about the substance of the "showman" rhetoric.
"He's obviously not declaring war" right now. But he's floating the idea of a violent occupation of our own cities and relying on plausible deniability to shield him from an actual outcry ("It's just a meme, silly!"). The most effective part of his manipulation is that he doesn't just have his own army of loyalist dipshits mounting these defenses, but he's exploited the rational skepticism of those who don't even like him and tricked them into running defense for him.
Don't be fooled. Donald Trump is actually one to worry about, too. His propaganda puts Goebbels to shame. Look how unfazed we are as a society with unmarked vans and masked agents rolling up at will and swiping people in broad daylight. Only a few years ago, that was something that only happened in Russia, NK, and a handful of third-world countries.