Trying to figure out why Trump and Musk behave chaotically is an exercise in futility. Their only purpose for anything is to make money for them personally. In Trump’s case add in his family. They are two thieves to whom MAGAs gave the power to steal without accountability. Horse thieves in the old west were hung when caught because a horse was life and death for its owner. Trump and Musk are taking away what’s necessary for our society to live or die. They should be hung like horse thieves.
Please don't ignore their psychological (what commonly goes by the name of 'character") as well as (in the case of both men) psychiatric aka neurochemical conditions. Neither is capable of real love or caring, neither understands nuance of feelings, neither can let a grudge go, neither has a steady sense of right and wrong. I could list the names of the conditions--at least an educated guess--but you get the idea. Other issues one or both have: they are spoiled, arrogant brats with little or no reason or ability to control their impulses, are quick to anger, and either can't or don't care to speak the truth. Enough said?
Yes, probably, but what is worse is that they are Sadists. They get extreme pleasure from inflicting pain on other human beings. In my opinion, this is what drives them Most psychopaths are high functioning individuals. Trump has been this way his whole life. He used to delight in stiffing contractors and tying them up in court until they went bust. It is hard for normal people to believe that people as evil as Trump (or Ted Bundy) can exist until it is too late.
I suspect that much of the problem stems for both Musk and Trump stems from their traumatic childhood relationships with their fathers (and healthy doses of bad genes), but I am no psychiatrist.
Ad hominem attacks or not, I believe continued lay diagnosis of men we've never met may satisfy some egos, but it does not help in the long run, other than in venting frustration and rage.
Let's focus on how to counter what these men are doing, not their personalities.
Based on my observations, the rational and logical conclusion is that Trump, Vance and Musk are batshit. You can’t negotiate reasonably with people who are loony tunes, who are bent like snakes having convulsions.
“Trying to figure out why Trump and Musk behave chaotically is an exercise in futility. Their only purpose for anything is to make money for them personally.”
They want to destroy the economy: Period! All these guys are sitting on loads of cash, and when there’s blood in the streets, they buy assets at a steep discount. It’s the authoritarian playbook, and is part of Project 2025, which happens to be a carbon copy of Orban’s playbook for Hungary.
Soon we’ll have a rich and poor, with a merchant class. And without a middle class, there can be no democracy. Just look at the rule of law? Bondi and Patel are dropping any cases against Trump allies, and gearing up to investigate anyone who challenges Trump, or his policies.
In a nutshell, this is shock doctrine at its finest. Everyone is dazed and confused, and they won’t realize what’s happening, until it’s too late.
Exchanging short term debt for 100 year bonds - for a second I was worried he might want to exchange short term debt for Trump Cryptocurrency. What could go wrong in either case ?
Sssshhhhh! Don't give him any ideas! Actually, he probably did think of it already.
I can see the ads now: "Trade your worthless Treasuries in for $KingMAGAcoin and $QueenMAGAcoin today! It'll be great, tremendous, amazing! It'll be yuuuuuggggeee!"
Why superwealthy people believe they can survive total chaos with their money boggles the mind. The entire White House staff should watch Soylent Green a few times.
Musk probably has the intelligence to plan such a strategy, but Trump doesn't. He's got a con man's instincts, but is a terrible businessman.
They're moving fast and breaking everything. At some point MAGAs will notice. It may come soon. My area will be devastated with the Medicaid cuts. I won't just be the sudden lack of health insurance, it will be the sudden high unemployment as all the health care workers are laid off.
We're already seeing the forestry industry come to a screeching halt. There's no money for fuel reduction and the project crews who would normally be out thinning and burning are unemployed.
More basic…they hate the restrictions of reality…so they invent their own little worlds to live in..SimCity writ large! AI, look at “The Sewer Circus and the minions”… there really isn’t any reality, just avatars of the idea of people…Hegsdeath is a character!
Honestly, I think that's ascribing too much rationality to both of them. They definitely do like making more money and are happy to enrich themselves further though any corrupt means, but they could become richer without the lunacy and chaos if that was all they really wanted. I think a lot of it also comes down to narcissism and ego too.
They get millions of fans who worship them, their enemies have to fear them, and important people kowtow and do what they say. If either of them was given the chance to 10x their fortunes but they had to go spend it quietly, stay out of the public eye, and not use it to buy power, they wouldn't take the deal.
I think in Musk's case it's not just about the money. I think it's more like what Michael Caine's Alfred said about the Joker..."some men just like to see the world burn". That, and excercising power for power's sake.
The grift and graft is in full swing, making pots of money for tRump by direct bribery: Chinese investor Justin Sun has put tens of millions of dollars into tRump's WFL "fund", and he was rewarded the other day by tRump's SEC dropping a multiple-charge investigation into Sun's illegal crypto businesses. Sun wins, tRump wins - to the tune of an estimated $50mil. Which in fact is the point of his "funds" and "meme-coins": Money comes in, favors go out, just like a big-city crime boss...what a surprise.
Exceptional wealth always magnifies the personality traits that really reveal who someone is. For a lot of people, it can be pretty ugly. For these two, it's absolutely grotesque.
It is the ONLY way to take over is to break it all FAST - America is too big vs Hungary and to follow Project 2025 at break neck speed = better success for trump to gain the power he needs to control everything
.yesterday's unemployment numbers were higher than expected (duh!). But the interesting part comes from looking at unemployment claims from (former) government workers versus those that were not government workers.
In the DC area, unemployment claims from (former) government workers was up 175% while unemployment claims from non-government workers was up 50%.
The lesson? Mass firings of government workers will also increase the unemployment of non-government workers - a spillover effect that isn't talked about. Fewer government workers mean loss of business in the service industry (coffee shops, restaurants, etc.) as well as elsewhere as those fired cut back on all sorts of expenditures.
What is the size of a spillover job loss? For 100 government workers terminated, how many service, etc. jobs will also be lost?
Such a good comment. The same is true of Medicaid cuts. Whole medical support industries will die because of cts. Medical supplies, equipment, educators, facility management, pharmaceutical. Job layoffs - doctors, nurses, therapist, Aides, facility management people. Hospitals will close. Nursing homes will close. Assisted living homes will close. Every state will take a huge economic hit. How will those people find another job? Of course, this doesn't even address the severe reality of what will happen to the lack of this support for the patients that are defunded.
Good point, Jannette. "Hospitals will close. Nursing homes will close. Assisted living homes will close."
The entire state of Florida could close!
Healthcare in FL is big business. According to National Health Expenditure (NHE), in 2020, Florida had the highest Medicare expenditures per beneficiary at $13,652 vs the lowest in Vermont at $8,726. Although 2020 is the most current breakdown per state I could find, Medicare figures have only gone up. It's merely one piece of the puzzle that shows how much money is changing hands in the Sunshine State for healthcare.
I have been working with Medicaid figures all week. 72 million on Medicaid, that's 23% of Americans. If they lose their Medicaid, there is no other insurance for them. A third of this goes to nursing homes. More depending on the state. Can you imagine cutting this? I've come to the conclusion that it is a crime against humanity. That cutting Medicaid sets the foundation for this century's Holocaust. For the purging of those in nursing homes, assisted living homes and the seriously ill. Take away medicine/medical care, you take away life.
I have a cousin whose daughter is severely developmentally disabled. (She's about 30 yrs. old, but is at about 18 months old from a mental perspective.) she is subject to various physical issues, including constant seizures. The medications she's on cost thousands of dollars/month- paid for with state (CA) and federal $/MediCal. My cousin and his ex-wife are terrified at what is going to happen now.
... and the Life expectancy statistics in the US fall even farther, reducing the need and the balance of entitlements owed - so much winning, you're going to tired of winning.
Not wrong. I have commented (and have seen other people comment), after seeing what this Administration is up to (e.g., getting rid of cancer research & the folks involved in tracking bird flu, developing flu vaccines, etc.), that they're just trying to kill us all.
Really weird bc of Vance & Elon’s focus on pronatalism…they want to kill off people but want tons of babies..so I guess they just don’t want old people or people with disabilities . And they want women to “know their place.”
Well, not *all* of us. I mean, they still need a few humans to clear their toilets.
Years ago, when the GOP's wealth heist was apparent but not fully documented, it became clear that the people lowest on the socioeconomic ladder were being targeted (not directly, but taking away Medicaid and SNAP while refusing to raise the minimum wages does kinda make it impossible to survive) -- and I got a laugh, albeit a hollow one, out of wondering whether Dick Cheney would force Dubya to clean his toilets, or vice versa. (Cheney has brute force on his side, but Dubya did rank higher.)
Depends on how dependent the town is on federal workforce. I’m near enough to small towns where a federal agency/s is one of, if not, the primary source of revenue for service businesses such as hardware stores, let alone home ownership and all that goes with it. A domino effect is sure to follow not that these people will figure it out before it’s too late. They will be getting exactly what they voted for. Shame they adversely effect everyone else.
This is an especially interesting observation. Propaganda isn't only about what's said - it's also about what's kept quiet, or even downright suppressed.
As a soon-to-be-tariffed Canadian, presumably because we are nothing but a fentanyl factory - who knew?! - foolish us, we thought Americans were the pushers, users, and dealers par excellence - I have now a profound sadness. Sadness that the world of alliances and relative stability has been destroyed by such an unworthy vessel for president. Sadness that there was effectively hardly a whisper of official disapproval as he wrecked your administrative and financial state, threatened your most important alliances like Canada, destroyed most human rights with more to come, and extorted countries like Ukraine and Gaza, already unimaginably suffering. And instead of widespread dismay, one has in fact nearly unanimous official approbation. You should be shamed into action, but the Rest of the World knows, and has made it a universal axiom, that you will never go broke underestimating the courage and stupidity of Americans. For proof, look at who you have as president.
You are justified in your comments. I am so sorry. So many of us were screaming at the top of our lungs. Our mistake? We allowed the creation of 850 billionaires to happen instead of funding the livelihoods of our workforce. Biden had it right. When you put money in the hands of the middle class, everyone benefits. But when money is in the hands of the top 1%, they are the only beneficiaries.
You're absolutely correct in identifying the overriding cause of this catastrophe, and the unwillingness of every administration since Reagan to address it. And here we are.
Those of us who didn't vote for Dim-witted Donnie offer our lavish apologies! We are in shock too. The problem is his minions parsed our Constitution and found all the flaws which involved expecting people to follow accepted norms and he is busy violating all of them. You are soon to have a theofascist neighbor apparently determined to set the world on fire. This is what happens when there is low voter interest and turnout.
I didn’t vote for him. You are exactly correct and if I were the rest of the world post MuT, I’d would let the US suffer greatly before stepping in with a plan to actually make the US a better place: universal health care, income equity and fair taxes for all to name a couple. I would make the US more like Canada and Europe.
I don't know about universal approbation. I'd say that the bulk of us are horrified and terrified (remember less than 1/2 of us voted for him) - with even some MAGAts learning that they voted to punch themselves in the face. "Dismay" is putting it mildly. That being said, I turned on a local news station yesterday (something I rarely do), and saw an anodyne news report about something "DOGE" was doing, where the pretty blonde reporter described its actions, without pausing for a second, as "its efforts to improve gov't efficiency...." Unnerving if that's the bilge that most people are getting....
Beautifully written. I am so ashamed of the degree to which too many Americans and politicians have been willing to soil themselves and with it our nation’s standing. And they feast on stupidity, greed and hate.
Imagine, if you will, being a typical retiree, living on a combination of your Social Security pension and income off of the modest savings and investments you managed to squirrel away by living close to the bone for many decades. And now both income streams--pension and investments--are threatened by chaos. Not to mention Medicare. Hardly makes you want to plan a trip to visit your kids and grandkids, much less some sort of sightseeing/inspiring jaunt. And BTW the National Parks have taken a hit, too, as has airline safety, and the price of gas has started to climb again for reasons unclear. Oh, yeah. Happy days.
Making America great for sure - just haven’t figured out for who. I liked it when I didn’t need to worry about my retirement (that I worked for) being deposited, my investment savings were relatively secure (moved most into cash but I don’t know if it is secure) and yeah, I was thinking about that Alaska cruise I’ve been wanting to take most of my life. Nope, no travel plans but at least I have access to public lands where I can get away for the day, may redo my garden with the plants I have. I imagine I’m not the only one reconsidering things.
I feel deeply sorry for a large number of Americans. I am from the UK and remember (still do) after the Brexit vote feeling bereft. The closest analogy is a death: something ripped from me that to some degree belonged to me and defined me. It was awful.
I imagine it must be similar and worse for you. A country that is suddenly alien, certain principles and beliefs that are abruptly not part of your community, feeling bewildered and lost.
The thought that I would wake up one day and see that my country, the USA was sided with Russia, China, and North Korea was beyond a bad dream. The USA was a standard bearer in the world for over 70 years. Trump always bloviates about how he went to Wharton. Actually he attended the University of Pennsylvania as Wharton is the graduate school. It is a shame that he must have been in a coma regarding the 30's and 40's and the Marshall Plan and the Cold War.
In my neck of the woods, my county went 60% in favor of Harris/Walz. We have two Democrats in the U.S. Senate and a Democratic member of the House. We have a Democratic governor.
I understand and sympathize with our Canadian neighbors. I ask that they do not generalize that all Americans support the present idiocracy. When things turn -- and they will -- there will be hell to pay for these billionaires and fascists.
For anyone not in the USA; the USA is massive. A 1-hour drive to get somewhere is considered a normal experience. It takes me 18 hours to drive from Canada to Florida and I will cross 5-10 states in the process. It takes me 32 hours to drive from New York to Los Angeles (non-stop-driving). The media spun narrative can make a guy in deep south Alabama hate California. If you are generalizing America then you have fallen for the media spun story. The USA is more like an empire loosely held together by capitalism rather than a coherent single minded country. The USA could easily have become 50 individual nations in my opinion.
It's not melodramatic at all. I was just thinking about the before years - no matter how crazy things got (ok, no matter how crazy the Republicans were), we didn't imagine that in the course of a few short years, they would be willing to and well on the way to, destroying everything good the gov't has ever done- as well as it's ability to go on doing good.
Thank you for the kind words. I read a lot of comments from people from other countries ripping us a new one & I get why they are angry, but so many do not realize those of us in these comments sections DID not vote for this & are mourning & bereft at the loss of our country. We are protesting & doing all we can do. It’s not easy to just go take the White House or whatever they suggest we do from the comfort of their homes. I appreciate the empathy you displayed in your comment.
I’m a Brit living in the US and I’m feeling the grief you talk about twice, once for Brexit and now in the US. I’m getting ready to leave here to live in Europe again, but I fear that “you can run but you can’t hide” applies. Trump and his horrible administration will affect the world as a whole. At least Brexit mostly hurt just Britain.
I feel empathy for individual Americans. I feel no sympathy American culture. You (collectively) did this. Driving Cult myths for generations: American dream were everyone is an entrerenuer, Free markets fix everything, Government is always the worse alternative (unless its defense and then, well you know, its defense...) - none of these right wing dreams are true in the absolute, but on on on you persist that they are. - Well, we're all going to get to sit back and watch it unfold...
Canada has a bigger GDP than Russia (with about a quarter of the population)
I guess Americans can do whatever they want to themselves - they did vote for this government. But I hate what the US (and you are your government) is doing to the rest of the vworld. None of us voted for him.
Trump pulls numbers out of thin air and then makes decisions based on these imaginary numbers. He has zero respect for any person. He listens only to supplicants and that is to make them lick harder.
Well, upon hearing some news that the FDIC is weakening yesterday, my husband and I had the first serious conversation we've ever had about a safe in our house. Talk about a lack of consumer confidence...
Heck NO. I voted for Harris/Walz. Been voting Democrat all my life and I've attended many a protest. I'm well aware of what a disaster this all is and have been so from the get-go.
Need to inject some positivity here. The Weimar Republic in Germany had lived 15 years. Contrast that with US democracy of 250 years. In this country we have lived under the tenets of the US Constitution for 250 years and this tradition is just so much harder to eradicate from our "genes". Moreover, the end of the Weimar Republic coincided with the worldwide spread of the Great Depression, while Germany still suffered from an overzealous peace agreement of 1919, where territorial losses were combined with an extremely harsh war reparation requirements from the Entente (in spite of Woodrow Wilson's best efforts to keep British and French demands under control).
Hitler had been viewed as a way out of the terrible socioeconomic state in Germany of the early 30s. Contrast it with the US of 2024: strong economy with a perhaps uninspiring leadership on top despite its strong legislative record. Then the electorate - that can't prioritize between boring and terrible - puts Trump/Musk in charge who inherit a strong economy with the safest socioeconomic environment in the 21st century that they are hellbent to drive into the ground for their own benefit. I still can't believe that Americans will be willing to put up with that.
“But having ignorant men with poor impulse control running things has to be bad for business. And you really have to question the judgment of people — including, alas, many voters — who imagined otherwise”
Seriously, have we become a nation of masochists, or does this country possibly suffer from short-term amnesia? We’ve seen this movie before; it was a nightmare the first time around, and now this! And uncertainty isn’t even the worst of it.
He’s taking a sledgehammer to the Constitution; destroying the programs that bring the US good will, and trying to destroy the second largest economy in the world; just to help the worlds largest gas station with nukes. Seriously, we have four states with larger GDP’s than Russia. And our rule of law is about to be on par with Russia’s; so what could possibly go wrong? I’m sure this is going to attract lots of future foreign investment; So WTF!!!!!
Instead, we have a cabinet full of DUI hires, rapists, and perennial grifters—fraudsters. Good times!…:)
Thank you. I dropped my Amazon prime months ago, including subscriptions to HBO and other paid subscriptions. Amazon is dead to me. And thank you, I don’t shop at Walmart, or target, but I won’t be doing shopping this weekend, and only in local stores if I do; not big chains…:)
We saw some of this same churn in Trump's financial policies during his first term, albeit on a much smaller scale. At the time, I suspected that some of this churn was motivated by a pump and dump scheme on a large scale. That is, Trump and his cronies know in advance what policies he was going to float that jerked the market one way or the other. They could then bet on a sure thing with puts and calls. We thought that was a big deal at the time, but it's back on steroids with Trump 2.0.
We definitely need to restore DEI, but It's not ALL white men who are bad. Tim Walz, Pete Buttigieg, Jamie Raskin, and Chuck Schumer are examples of good white men.
Although I frequently want to slap Schumer in the face. Maybe he's stopped now, but even after Cheeto started doing some of this extreme shi-t, he was still talking about being "bipartisan." Ugh.
We need the truth. Always. We need facts. But you are right, we need a cohesive fighting force. We are building it right now. Don't buy anything today. Who knows if it'll make a big difference. But it's pulling our forces together...
Being a white man against Trump and his acolytes in France, it's so depressing when I see people genuily thinking that "White man are the culprit".
XXIth century, and we're still not past the point of clans and what color is your skin for most of the world it seems sometimes, even in the progressives side.
My (white) husband and son hate this as much as I do. But apparently 60% of white men voted for Trump. Sixty percent! (With a shameful 53% of white women following suit.) So, yeah, white men are a problem, followed closely by white people generally. As an old white lady, I see this pretty clearly.
The majority, 60% of white men and 53% of white women. But in EVERY demographic we have Trump voters. Blacks had 15% give or take going for Trump. We have other have solidarity and love. They are the haters. Love always wins.
But i'm not responsible of any action made by some racist stupid white guy i've never met.
The same way i'm not responsible of my father's actions if some day he decided to murder someone and so on.
This is this never-ending public debate about the collective guilt of the White guys / arabs / trans / muslims / whatever group depending on your political belief that i find depressing to hear all the time.
Maybe we're more debating about semantics here, because i 100% agree that some white man have completely gone bonkers and seem to return to 1900's colonial system.
But the essentialization of groups does more harm than good, all the time.
we can't pretend race does not exist. In France you are shoving one culture on everyone in the name of unity. In the US, we will lead the way with recognizing difference, not as a way to bash, but to say: "hey you be you as long as you are peaceful."
If by race you mean that having the gene to change your skin color to white or black also changes other things in your psyche, i'm sorry but no, this is XIXth century bullshitt.
Maybe the language barrier makes me misunderstand you here, but in French, race has only this meaning, not any other.
Race in American has ramifications that it really does not have elsewhere. Unfortunately, American insanity on race has been exported along with all the other aspects of American culture.
When a Frenchman says "race," he does not mean the same thing an American does.
Women of any color. Most of us lighter skin women didn’t do anything to you but did experience the same misogyny as you. And yes, it is getting worse for ALL women.
I blame indoctrination of the church. Sadly I know many of them. They’re all religious & know nothing about politics, couldn’t name 2 senators including their own, know nothing about economics, what causes inflation. They just thought Trump was saving late term abortions from happening & would make eggs cheaper. Can’t talk reason into those people. I’ve tried.
I’m low or no contact with most of them. Some like my mother I make sure to send news articles to like price increases on insulin (which affects her directly) or any news about Social security cuts. Have to make sure she recognizes the consequences of voting for Trump. I don’t think she’ll get the news otherwise.
As we have seen recently, this country won't even vote for a white woman, much less a woman who's a POC. The misogyny is apparently every bit as toxic as the racism.
More so. We’ve had a Black president but never a woman president & I doubt we will in my lifetime. (I’m 41). Mexico has had a woman president before us!
your attitude is what got us into this mess in the first place. I admit that Harris would have been far better than Trump but running a white man would have been strategically better for the country. White women also voted for Trump.
With all due respect: I have never lived in France so I'm not sure how things work there. But I have lived in America my entire life, and we have always been a very racist nation. We may have made an effort to overcome it and we may have dreamed of equality, but Trump made racism acceptable and fashionable again.
I was reacting to your first comment about white guys needing to lose the right to vote.
Racism and bigotry is unfortunately not exclusive to white guys, although they've been in the last 2 centuries the most efficient to brutalize others.
But this hatred and thinking of "us vs. them" is deep into human psyche, and exists in all countries, albeit in a more or less pronunced way.
And all reactions about a "white man guilt" only fuel the extreme right popularity: these quotes are repeated ad nauseam by far right media when told by some famous / controversial people, and ensure new fear and supporters.
It should not be "my foot on your neck" or "your foot on my neck".
As for France, well, we're only a few years behind America unfortunately, but the political environment has already become much more violent than 15 years ago.
please stop white racist LYING? There is definitely such a thing as men of France. French men and men who culturally dominate France don't exist? That is the best lie you can tell? YOUR GOVERNMENT is dominated by French men is OBSESSED with telling women what to wear (as in as little as possible). We used to think you guys were into liberty. Now we know better and your LYING does not hide it anymore.
Well seems i'm part of a conspiracy i didn't know it ever existed, and it seems that I support the interdiction of burqas, even though I never voted for this, and would vote against it if I had the occasion!
Plus you do know that topless is getting more and more forbidden in France right? And that nudism is in sharp decline since decades in my country? Not sure you know the country apart from some media.
The issue is conservatism winning, certainly not hedonism
We have to reach as many white working class voters as possible. We are all rightly angry at the stupidity they put on display in November, but Dems believe we all sink or swim together. The Oligarchs are the ones who believe in forever dividing and looking down on everyone not like them...ps Ian Haney Lopez is still in my head.
That's a pretty dumb comment. White men are also responsible for just about everything good about western society. Including (until now) the country itself. Also, just to mention one small item, the elimination or dramatic reduction in the incidence of the most deadly diseases, including those that afflict blacks far more than whites (sickle cell, malaria, TB, river blindness, etc., etc.) Also rates of child mortality and maternal death have been slashed to near zero. If you grew up in a place without white men, you might not be as happy as you imagine.
The New York Times lost perhaps the best “explainer” as to all things economic. Thanks for this every day. These factual analyses point to the ultimate tipping point when it comes to this insanity. MONEY ! Only self interest will motivate real challenges to this insanity. It is like Bill McKibben said about climate catastrophe . People will only pay attention when their insurance premiums go up to the point of unacceptability. The price of eggs you will remember was a reason people did not vote for Kamala Harris. This insanity is going to be dry painful.
The New York Times beer some responsibility for this election outcome.
They savaged Joe Biden, and sane washed Trump. Paul Krogman was hobbled at the New York Times so he left. We are lucky to have him here every day. He is a voice of reason.
I (finally) cancelled my NY Times subscription yesterday. After Krugman left, I was there only b/c of Margaret Renkl and Jamelle Bouie (and the food section) - but the Times' recent coverage on-going coverage which has been very much "oh, this is kind of just politics as usual," finally pushed me over the edge.
You know, it's horrifying to contemplate, but you might be right. The sooner reality strikes, the sooner Americans will wake up. It's a damn shame that it would take such a catastrophe though.
While mostly true, remember that it's enough to reverse the thinking of a few people and get a few people off their butts to go vote. Trump's win was weak tea and hardly the "mandate" he claims.
I do not speak for my agency. One brief response to Dr. Krugman’s statement that Europe would be obviously a better investment target than Russia based on the sizes of their respective current GDPs: that depends on your investment goals and your other beliefs about the future. So the Baltic republics and Russia stumbled into the sunlight following the breakdown of the Soviet Union at the same time, and the Baltics have done more than fine whereas Russia is still Russia. The potential for growth in Russia is still very great, but one reason nothing ever “takes” isn’t uncertainty that Russian institutions will improve but near certainty that they will not.
Trying to figure out why Trump and Musk behave chaotically is an exercise in futility. Their only purpose for anything is to make money for them personally. In Trump’s case add in his family. They are two thieves to whom MAGAs gave the power to steal without accountability. Horse thieves in the old west were hung when caught because a horse was life and death for its owner. Trump and Musk are taking away what’s necessary for our society to live or die. They should be hung like horse thieves.
Please don't ignore their psychological (what commonly goes by the name of 'character") as well as (in the case of both men) psychiatric aka neurochemical conditions. Neither is capable of real love or caring, neither understands nuance of feelings, neither can let a grudge go, neither has a steady sense of right and wrong. I could list the names of the conditions--at least an educated guess--but you get the idea. Other issues one or both have: they are spoiled, arrogant brats with little or no reason or ability to control their impulses, are quick to anger, and either can't or don't care to speak the truth. Enough said?
In other words, they're psychopaths.
Yes, probably, but what is worse is that they are Sadists. They get extreme pleasure from inflicting pain on other human beings. In my opinion, this is what drives them Most psychopaths are high functioning individuals. Trump has been this way his whole life. He used to delight in stiffing contractors and tying them up in court until they went bust. It is hard for normal people to believe that people as evil as Trump (or Ted Bundy) can exist until it is too late.
I suspect that much of the problem stems for both Musk and Trump stems from their traumatic childhood relationships with their fathers (and healthy doses of bad genes), but I am no psychiatrist.
Who else but a sadist would delight in "your fired". When I was a manager, the most difficult, painful action for me was letting someone go.
Ah, but sadism is one of the symptoms of psychopathy. Bundy is great example of just that.
Psychopaths for sure. As for Cheeto, throw in malignant narcissism, pathological lying, deeply ignorant and downright stupid.
They all go together - [snark] One Big Beautiful package! [/snark]
How do ad hominem attacks advance the discussion and lead one to rational discussion?
What is rational? Is this reason based upon logic, as in the Aristotelian idea of the deleted middle third?
These aren't "ad hominem attacks" - they're accurate descriptions of who we're dealing with.
Sanders, A rational discussion involves two willing capable partners. It is like dancing or making love. Now we have rape.
I don't do business with trolls. Bye bye.
Ad hominem attacks or not, I believe continued lay diagnosis of men we've never met may satisfy some egos, but it does not help in the long run, other than in venting frustration and rage.
Let's focus on how to counter what these men are doing, not their personalities.
Based on my observations, the rational and logical conclusion is that Trump, Vance and Musk are batshit. You can’t negotiate reasonably with people who are loony tunes, who are bent like snakes having convulsions.
Well, we know that Musk uses ketamine, and he's is a vile sociopath.
I like the moniker for him of The Ketamine Kid
Make Aristocrats Grotesque Again!
https://bsky.app/profile/justinsg.bsky.social/post/3lj3zshog7k2q
“Trying to figure out why Trump and Musk behave chaotically is an exercise in futility. Their only purpose for anything is to make money for them personally.”
They want to destroy the economy: Period! All these guys are sitting on loads of cash, and when there’s blood in the streets, they buy assets at a steep discount. It’s the authoritarian playbook, and is part of Project 2025, which happens to be a carbon copy of Orban’s playbook for Hungary.
Soon we’ll have a rich and poor, with a merchant class. And without a middle class, there can be no democracy. Just look at the rule of law? Bondi and Patel are dropping any cases against Trump allies, and gearing up to investigate anyone who challenges Trump, or his policies.
In a nutshell, this is shock doctrine at its finest. Everyone is dazed and confused, and they won’t realize what’s happening, until it’s too late.
"Soon we’ll have a rich and poor, with a merchant class. And without a middle class,"
I thought we >already< had that. The two petulant preadolescent boys running the show are just exacerbating it - exponentially.
True, and good point. Now it’s written in stone, I guess…:)
Whew !
Exchanging short term debt for 100 year bonds - for a second I was worried he might want to exchange short term debt for Trump Cryptocurrency. What could go wrong in either case ?
ANSWER: Consumer confidence goes south
and prosperity is “ just around the corner “
uh huh
Sssshhhhh! Don't give him any ideas! Actually, he probably did think of it already.
I can see the ads now: "Trade your worthless Treasuries in for $KingMAGAcoin and $QueenMAGAcoin today! It'll be great, tremendous, amazing! It'll be yuuuuuggggeee!"
Make Aristocrats Grotesque Again!
https://bsky.app/profile/justinsg.bsky.social/post/3lj3zshog7k2q
Very fitting image.
They're doing a great job making themselves grotesque, aren't they?
Why superwealthy people believe they can survive total chaos with their money boggles the mind. The entire White House staff should watch Soylent Green a few times.
I'm thinking more like A Tale of Two Cities.
Musk probably has the intelligence to plan such a strategy, but Trump doesn't. He's got a con man's instincts, but is a terrible businessman.
They're moving fast and breaking everything. At some point MAGAs will notice. It may come soon. My area will be devastated with the Medicaid cuts. I won't just be the sudden lack of health insurance, it will be the sudden high unemployment as all the health care workers are laid off.
We're already seeing the forestry industry come to a screeching halt. There's no money for fuel reduction and the project crews who would normally be out thinning and burning are unemployed.
Isn’t that what happened to Mussolini once the population figured out what he had done to them? Modern horse thieves they are.
Ugh
Touché!..:)
Yes, but after he he planted seeds for the WW2, inspired Hitler and nazism, which the left the world in rubbles, at least Europe.
They hate law and government, because those are the two institutions that stand between them and unlimited power.
More basic…they hate the restrictions of reality…so they invent their own little worlds to live in..SimCity writ large! AI, look at “The Sewer Circus and the minions”… there really isn’t any reality, just avatars of the idea of people…Hegsdeath is a character!
Honestly, I think that's ascribing too much rationality to both of them. They definitely do like making more money and are happy to enrich themselves further though any corrupt means, but they could become richer without the lunacy and chaos if that was all they really wanted. I think a lot of it also comes down to narcissism and ego too.
They get millions of fans who worship them, their enemies have to fear them, and important people kowtow and do what they say. If either of them was given the chance to 10x their fortunes but they had to go spend it quietly, stay out of the public eye, and not use it to buy power, they wouldn't take the deal.
Try The Atlantic: One Word Describes Trump
A century ago, a German sociologist explained precisely how the president thinks about the world. ($ if you’ve read 3 articles in one month, I think.)
The one word is NOT authoritarianism.
By Jonathan RauchFebruary 24, 2025, 6 AM ET
I think in Musk's case it's not just about the money. I think it's more like what Michael Caine's Alfred said about the Joker..."some men just like to see the world burn". That, and excercising power for power's sake.
The grift and graft is in full swing, making pots of money for tRump by direct bribery: Chinese investor Justin Sun has put tens of millions of dollars into tRump's WFL "fund", and he was rewarded the other day by tRump's SEC dropping a multiple-charge investigation into Sun's illegal crypto businesses. Sun wins, tRump wins - to the tune of an estimated $50mil. Which in fact is the point of his "funds" and "meme-coins": Money comes in, favors go out, just like a big-city crime boss...what a surprise.
Exceptional wealth always magnifies the personality traits that really reveal who someone is. For a lot of people, it can be pretty ugly. For these two, it's absolutely grotesque.
It is the ONLY way to take over is to break it all FAST - America is too big vs Hungary and to follow Project 2025 at break neck speed = better success for trump to gain the power he needs to control everything
.yesterday's unemployment numbers were higher than expected (duh!). But the interesting part comes from looking at unemployment claims from (former) government workers versus those that were not government workers.
In the DC area, unemployment claims from (former) government workers was up 175% while unemployment claims from non-government workers was up 50%.
The lesson? Mass firings of government workers will also increase the unemployment of non-government workers - a spillover effect that isn't talked about. Fewer government workers mean loss of business in the service industry (coffee shops, restaurants, etc.) as well as elsewhere as those fired cut back on all sorts of expenditures.
What is the size of a spillover job loss? For 100 government workers terminated, how many service, etc. jobs will also be lost?
Such a good comment. The same is true of Medicaid cuts. Whole medical support industries will die because of cts. Medical supplies, equipment, educators, facility management, pharmaceutical. Job layoffs - doctors, nurses, therapist, Aides, facility management people. Hospitals will close. Nursing homes will close. Assisted living homes will close. Every state will take a huge economic hit. How will those people find another job? Of course, this doesn't even address the severe reality of what will happen to the lack of this support for the patients that are defunded.
Good point, Jannette. "Hospitals will close. Nursing homes will close. Assisted living homes will close."
The entire state of Florida could close!
Healthcare in FL is big business. According to National Health Expenditure (NHE), in 2020, Florida had the highest Medicare expenditures per beneficiary at $13,652 vs the lowest in Vermont at $8,726. Although 2020 is the most current breakdown per state I could find, Medicare figures have only gone up. It's merely one piece of the puzzle that shows how much money is changing hands in the Sunshine State for healthcare.
https://www.cms.gov/data-research/statistics-trends-and-reports/national-health-expenditure-data/nhe-fact-sheet
I have been working with Medicaid figures all week. 72 million on Medicaid, that's 23% of Americans. If they lose their Medicaid, there is no other insurance for them. A third of this goes to nursing homes. More depending on the state. Can you imagine cutting this? I've come to the conclusion that it is a crime against humanity. That cutting Medicaid sets the foundation for this century's Holocaust. For the purging of those in nursing homes, assisted living homes and the seriously ill. Take away medicine/medical care, you take away life.
I have a cousin whose daughter is severely developmentally disabled. (She's about 30 yrs. old, but is at about 18 months old from a mental perspective.) she is subject to various physical issues, including constant seizures. The medications she's on cost thousands of dollars/month- paid for with state (CA) and federal $/MediCal. My cousin and his ex-wife are terrified at what is going to happen now.
I understand this. My granddaughter is a type one diabetic. It's incredibly scary.
I genuinely believe that is what the GOP wants. A tidy culling of the population.
It is a crime against a humanity.
I appreciate your stating it clearly and bluntly. Thank you.
It is a crime against humanity.
Then there's the spillover effect, which multiplies out. The hardest hit will be MAGA country. I wonder how they'll try to explain it away?
Except for Mar-a-Lago.
Sure, but none of that will be needed after everyone croaks. Shrink the government, shrink the population. [snark] Ingenious, isn't it? [/snark]
... and the Life expectancy statistics in the US fall even farther, reducing the need and the balance of entitlements owed - so much winning, you're going to tired of winning.
I'm already tired of all this "winning".
Not wrong. I have commented (and have seen other people comment), after seeing what this Administration is up to (e.g., getting rid of cancer research & the folks involved in tracking bird flu, developing flu vaccines, etc.), that they're just trying to kill us all.
Really weird bc of Vance & Elon’s focus on pronatalism…they want to kill off people but want tons of babies..so I guess they just don’t want old people or people with disabilities . And they want women to “know their place.”
Well, not *all* of us. I mean, they still need a few humans to clear their toilets.
Years ago, when the GOP's wealth heist was apparent but not fully documented, it became clear that the people lowest on the socioeconomic ladder were being targeted (not directly, but taking away Medicaid and SNAP while refusing to raise the minimum wages does kinda make it impossible to survive) -- and I got a laugh, albeit a hollow one, out of wondering whether Dick Cheney would force Dubya to clean his toilets, or vice versa. (Cheney has brute force on his side, but Dubya did rank higher.)
Maybe that's the excuse they need to get the mass crematoriums started. Passengers please fasten your seatbelts - heavy turbulence up ahead.
Depends on how dependent the town is on federal workforce. I’m near enough to small towns where a federal agency/s is one of, if not, the primary source of revenue for service businesses such as hardware stores, let alone home ownership and all that goes with it. A domino effect is sure to follow not that these people will figure it out before it’s too late. They will be getting exactly what they voted for. Shame they adversely effect everyone else.
"...a spillover effect that isn't talked about."
This is an especially interesting observation. Propaganda isn't only about what's said - it's also about what's kept quiet, or even downright suppressed.
THE best comment thus far.
As a soon-to-be-tariffed Canadian, presumably because we are nothing but a fentanyl factory - who knew?! - foolish us, we thought Americans were the pushers, users, and dealers par excellence - I have now a profound sadness. Sadness that the world of alliances and relative stability has been destroyed by such an unworthy vessel for president. Sadness that there was effectively hardly a whisper of official disapproval as he wrecked your administrative and financial state, threatened your most important alliances like Canada, destroyed most human rights with more to come, and extorted countries like Ukraine and Gaza, already unimaginably suffering. And instead of widespread dismay, one has in fact nearly unanimous official approbation. You should be shamed into action, but the Rest of the World knows, and has made it a universal axiom, that you will never go broke underestimating the courage and stupidity of Americans. For proof, look at who you have as president.
You are justified in your comments. I am so sorry. So many of us were screaming at the top of our lungs. Our mistake? We allowed the creation of 850 billionaires to happen instead of funding the livelihoods of our workforce. Biden had it right. When you put money in the hands of the middle class, everyone benefits. But when money is in the hands of the top 1%, they are the only beneficiaries.
You're absolutely correct in identifying the overriding cause of this catastrophe, and the unwillingness of every administration since Reagan to address it. And here we are.
Those of us who didn't vote for Dim-witted Donnie offer our lavish apologies! We are in shock too. The problem is his minions parsed our Constitution and found all the flaws which involved expecting people to follow accepted norms and he is busy violating all of them. You are soon to have a theofascist neighbor apparently determined to set the world on fire. This is what happens when there is low voter interest and turnout.
Voting should be mandatory, as it is in Australia.
I didn’t vote for him. You are exactly correct and if I were the rest of the world post MuT, I’d would let the US suffer greatly before stepping in with a plan to actually make the US a better place: universal health care, income equity and fair taxes for all to name a couple. I would make the US more like Canada and Europe.
I dont blame you for saying so, but you should know most of us where i live are just sick about it all.
I don't know about universal approbation. I'd say that the bulk of us are horrified and terrified (remember less than 1/2 of us voted for him) - with even some MAGAts learning that they voted to punch themselves in the face. "Dismay" is putting it mildly. That being said, I turned on a local news station yesterday (something I rarely do), and saw an anodyne news report about something "DOGE" was doing, where the pretty blonde reporter described its actions, without pausing for a second, as "its efforts to improve gov't efficiency...." Unnerving if that's the bilge that most people are getting....
Could have been a Sinclair station too
Beautifully written. I am so ashamed of the degree to which too many Americans and politicians have been willing to soil themselves and with it our nation’s standing. And they feast on stupidity, greed and hate.
You couldn't see your way clear to invading us, at some point? Just let us know, so we can get Canadian flags first..
Put up the flag; I will see it as I march by!
will you vouch me in before you guys close the border from your soon to be Southern invasion?
Consider it done!
Imagine, if you will, being a typical retiree, living on a combination of your Social Security pension and income off of the modest savings and investments you managed to squirrel away by living close to the bone for many decades. And now both income streams--pension and investments--are threatened by chaos. Not to mention Medicare. Hardly makes you want to plan a trip to visit your kids and grandkids, much less some sort of sightseeing/inspiring jaunt. And BTW the National Parks have taken a hit, too, as has airline safety, and the price of gas has started to climb again for reasons unclear. Oh, yeah. Happy days.
Making America great for sure - just haven’t figured out for who. I liked it when I didn’t need to worry about my retirement (that I worked for) being deposited, my investment savings were relatively secure (moved most into cash but I don’t know if it is secure) and yeah, I was thinking about that Alaska cruise I’ve been wanting to take most of my life. Nope, no travel plans but at least I have access to public lands where I can get away for the day, may redo my garden with the plants I have. I imagine I’m not the only one reconsidering things.
Make Aristocrats Grotesque Again!
https://bsky.app/profile/justinsg.bsky.social/post/3lj3zshog7k2q
The only future plans I have these days is cremation.
I have put off full retirement
I feel deeply sorry for a large number of Americans. I am from the UK and remember (still do) after the Brexit vote feeling bereft. The closest analogy is a death: something ripped from me that to some degree belonged to me and defined me. It was awful.
I imagine it must be similar and worse for you. A country that is suddenly alien, certain principles and beliefs that are abruptly not part of your community, feeling bewildered and lost.
So my sympathy and thoughts are with you.
(Hope that isn’t melodramatic)
The thought that I would wake up one day and see that my country, the USA was sided with Russia, China, and North Korea was beyond a bad dream. The USA was a standard bearer in the world for over 70 years. Trump always bloviates about how he went to Wharton. Actually he attended the University of Pennsylvania as Wharton is the graduate school. It is a shame that he must have been in a coma regarding the 30's and 40's and the Marshall Plan and the Cold War.
Did anyone actually see him in class?
We have far more clueless people here in, at least, my part of the USA. They think what is happening is great. We shall see how long that lasts.
I expect it'll last until they get the call to pick up Grandma from the nursing home...and pay for her prescriptions.
In my neck of the woods, my county went 60% in favor of Harris/Walz. We have two Democrats in the U.S. Senate and a Democratic member of the House. We have a Democratic governor.
I understand and sympathize with our Canadian neighbors. I ask that they do not generalize that all Americans support the present idiocracy. When things turn -- and they will -- there will be hell to pay for these billionaires and fascists.
We do not, I assure you. We hope you will get through this.
For anyone not in the USA; the USA is massive. A 1-hour drive to get somewhere is considered a normal experience. It takes me 18 hours to drive from Canada to Florida and I will cross 5-10 states in the process. It takes me 32 hours to drive from New York to Los Angeles (non-stop-driving). The media spun narrative can make a guy in deep south Alabama hate California. If you are generalizing America then you have fallen for the media spun story. The USA is more like an empire loosely held together by capitalism rather than a coherent single minded country. The USA could easily have become 50 individual nations in my opinion.
That may be the direction we end up going. Except that its not a regional/state divide, its a educated urban, vs rural misinformation divide.
It's not melodramatic at all. I was just thinking about the before years - no matter how crazy things got (ok, no matter how crazy the Republicans were), we didn't imagine that in the course of a few short years, they would be willing to and well on the way to, destroying everything good the gov't has ever done- as well as it's ability to go on doing good.
Thank you for the kind words. I read a lot of comments from people from other countries ripping us a new one & I get why they are angry, but so many do not realize those of us in these comments sections DID not vote for this & are mourning & bereft at the loss of our country. We are protesting & doing all we can do. It’s not easy to just go take the White House or whatever they suggest we do from the comfort of their homes. I appreciate the empathy you displayed in your comment.
Not melodramatic at all and thank you. I wake up shaking each morning. At one time that would have seemed beyond melodramatic. Not anymore.
I’m a Brit living in the US and I’m feeling the grief you talk about twice, once for Brexit and now in the US. I’m getting ready to leave here to live in Europe again, but I fear that “you can run but you can’t hide” applies. Trump and his horrible administration will affect the world as a whole. At least Brexit mostly hurt just Britain.
I feel empathy for individual Americans. I feel no sympathy American culture. You (collectively) did this. Driving Cult myths for generations: American dream were everyone is an entrerenuer, Free markets fix everything, Government is always the worse alternative (unless its defense and then, well you know, its defense...) - none of these right wing dreams are true in the absolute, but on on on you persist that they are. - Well, we're all going to get to sit back and watch it unfold...
Free markets fix everything until the Oligarchs have a bad year and get bailed out by the government.
And ‘Free Markets’ sure as hell aren’t free
My thoughts exactly. Thank you.
Thank you for your words.
Canada has a bigger GDP than Russia (with about a quarter of the population)
I guess Americans can do whatever they want to themselves - they did vote for this government. But I hate what the US (and you are your government) is doing to the rest of the vworld. None of us voted for him.
Trump pulls numbers out of thin air and then makes decisions based on these imaginary numbers. He has zero respect for any person. He listens only to supplicants and that is to make them lick harder.
Did. Not. Vote. For. This.
Thank you as always for your clarity. It helps us (me anyway) face the reality we’re in.
Well, upon hearing some news that the FDIC is weakening yesterday, my husband and I had the first serious conversation we've ever had about a safe in our house. Talk about a lack of consumer confidence...
A weakening of the FDIC coupled with the dismantling of CPFB leads one to really rethink where to stash one's money.
Exactly, I was wondering if any commenter felt as I did. I'll actually follow up on this.
Here comes the bank run...
There doesn’t seem to be much coverage. Would like to get comments from those inside government outlining potential scenarios.
Two things, financially that is, frighten me, losing the FDIC and the Fed losing its independence.
Me thinks we are heading for a Depression. I just hope it doesn't result in a Nazi-like takeover of the country. We are in deep trouble.
The Nazi takeover (Nazi, not Nazi-like) has already occurred.
Herr Trump ist der neu Führer und Herr Musk der neu Deputy Führer.
Methinks you are a bit late to the party.
Heck NO. I voted for Harris/Walz. Been voting Democrat all my life and I've attended many a protest. I'm well aware of what a disaster this all is and have been so from the get-go.
Need to inject some positivity here. The Weimar Republic in Germany had lived 15 years. Contrast that with US democracy of 250 years. In this country we have lived under the tenets of the US Constitution for 250 years and this tradition is just so much harder to eradicate from our "genes". Moreover, the end of the Weimar Republic coincided with the worldwide spread of the Great Depression, while Germany still suffered from an overzealous peace agreement of 1919, where territorial losses were combined with an extremely harsh war reparation requirements from the Entente (in spite of Woodrow Wilson's best efforts to keep British and French demands under control).
Hitler had been viewed as a way out of the terrible socioeconomic state in Germany of the early 30s. Contrast it with the US of 2024: strong economy with a perhaps uninspiring leadership on top despite its strong legislative record. Then the electorate - that can't prioritize between boring and terrible - puts Trump/Musk in charge who inherit a strong economy with the safest socioeconomic environment in the 21st century that they are hellbent to drive into the ground for their own benefit. I still can't believe that Americans will be willing to put up with that.
Dear Prof Krugman,
I agree with you that it’s difficult to forecast future economic growth.
My humble opinion: let’s poll how many hours of good sleep many of us lost since November 5th.
I think it will be a fair prediction of how deep it will be the coming downturn.
That number is too big. It'll crash the pollsters software.
So sad, so true
“But having ignorant men with poor impulse control running things has to be bad for business. And you really have to question the judgment of people — including, alas, many voters — who imagined otherwise”
Seriously, have we become a nation of masochists, or does this country possibly suffer from short-term amnesia? We’ve seen this movie before; it was a nightmare the first time around, and now this! And uncertainty isn’t even the worst of it.
He’s taking a sledgehammer to the Constitution; destroying the programs that bring the US good will, and trying to destroy the second largest economy in the world; just to help the worlds largest gas station with nukes. Seriously, we have four states with larger GDP’s than Russia. And our rule of law is about to be on par with Russia’s; so what could possibly go wrong? I’m sure this is going to attract lots of future foreign investment; So WTF!!!!!
Instead, we have a cabinet full of DUI hires, rapists, and perennial grifters—fraudsters. Good times!…:)
I don't think we're a nation of masochists, but the short term amnesia is pretty well documented. Good times indeed!
Note: Today is National Boycott Day. Don't buy anything you don't absolutely need, especially from Walmart, Target and most of all Amazon.
Thank you. I dropped my Amazon prime months ago, including subscriptions to HBO and other paid subscriptions. Amazon is dead to me. And thank you, I don’t shop at Walmart, or target, but I won’t be doing shopping this weekend, and only in local stores if I do; not big chains…:)
We saw some of this same churn in Trump's financial policies during his first term, albeit on a much smaller scale. At the time, I suspected that some of this churn was motivated by a pump and dump scheme on a large scale. That is, Trump and his cronies know in advance what policies he was going to float that jerked the market one way or the other. They could then bet on a sure thing with puts and calls. We thought that was a big deal at the time, but it's back on steroids with Trump 2.0.
AKA, insider information, but in this case actually creating it rather than just knowing it.
Trump is the ulimate disrupter. What do you think puts a gleam in his eye? Default on the national debt. What do you think they are going to short?
White men are responsible for this chaos, ignorance, and megalomania. Democrats need to elevate more women of color. They will save democracy and lead us to a progressive future: https://democracydefender2025.substack.com/p/women-will-save-our-democracy
We definitely need to restore DEI, but It's not ALL white men who are bad. Tim Walz, Pete Buttigieg, Jamie Raskin, and Chuck Schumer are examples of good white men.
Although I frequently want to slap Schumer in the face. Maybe he's stopped now, but even after Cheeto started doing some of this extreme shi-t, he was still talking about being "bipartisan." Ugh.
This approach will make sure the Democrats lose, again and again. We need unifying, not divisive themes.
We need the truth. Always. We need facts. But you are right, we need a cohesive fighting force. We are building it right now. Don't buy anything today. Who knows if it'll make a big difference. But it's pulling our forces together...
Being a white man against Trump and his acolytes in France, it's so depressing when I see people genuily thinking that "White man are the culprit".
XXIth century, and we're still not past the point of clans and what color is your skin for most of the world it seems sometimes, even in the progressives side.
My (white) husband and son hate this as much as I do. But apparently 60% of white men voted for Trump. Sixty percent! (With a shameful 53% of white women following suit.) So, yeah, white men are a problem, followed closely by white people generally. As an old white lady, I see this pretty clearly.
The majority, 60% of white men and 53% of white women. But in EVERY demographic we have Trump voters. Blacks had 15% give or take going for Trump. We have other have solidarity and love. They are the haters. Love always wins.
But i'm not responsible of any action made by some racist stupid white guy i've never met.
The same way i'm not responsible of my father's actions if some day he decided to murder someone and so on.
This is this never-ending public debate about the collective guilt of the White guys / arabs / trans / muslims / whatever group depending on your political belief that i find depressing to hear all the time.
Maybe we're more debating about semantics here, because i 100% agree that some white man have completely gone bonkers and seem to return to 1900's colonial system.
But the essentialization of groups does more harm than good, all the time.
we can't pretend race does not exist. In France you are shoving one culture on everyone in the name of unity. In the US, we will lead the way with recognizing difference, not as a way to bash, but to say: "hey you be you as long as you are peaceful."
If by race you mean that having the gene to change your skin color to white or black also changes other things in your psyche, i'm sorry but no, this is XIXth century bullshitt.
Maybe the language barrier makes me misunderstand you here, but in French, race has only this meaning, not any other.
Race in American has ramifications that it really does not have elsewhere. Unfortunately, American insanity on race has been exported along with all the other aspects of American culture.
When a Frenchman says "race," he does not mean the same thing an American does.
Think Troll. Think MAGA or Russian bot.
Huh. So would you have advocated "unifying" with the Nazis post-1933?
Kamala Harris didn't manage to do that.
Women of any color. Most of us lighter skin women didn’t do anything to you but did experience the same misogyny as you. And yes, it is getting worse for ALL women.
Although, sadly, 53% of white women voted for Cheeto. Pretty f'ing shameful.
I blame indoctrination of the church. Sadly I know many of them. They’re all religious & know nothing about politics, couldn’t name 2 senators including their own, know nothing about economics, what causes inflation. They just thought Trump was saving late term abortions from happening & would make eggs cheaper. Can’t talk reason into those people. I’ve tried.
Some people we just need to cut loose and recognize them for the danger they are and will continue to be.
I’m low or no contact with most of them. Some like my mother I make sure to send news articles to like price increases on insulin (which affects her directly) or any news about Social security cuts. Have to make sure she recognizes the consequences of voting for Trump. I don’t think she’ll get the news otherwise.
That would be 53% of the women who actually did vote were white. Don’t forget about the one-third of eligible voters did not vote at all in 2024.
Divisive talk.
As we have seen recently, this country won't even vote for a white woman, much less a woman who's a POC. The misogyny is apparently every bit as toxic as the racism.
More so. We’ve had a Black president but never a woman president & I doubt we will in my lifetime. (I’m 41). Mexico has had a woman president before us!
your attitude is what got us into this mess in the first place. I admit that Harris would have been far better than Trump but running a white man would have been strategically better for the country. White women also voted for Trump.
Reality is politically incorrect.
My solution to America's problems: any white guy over 50 loses the right to vote
Time to let the kids, women, and minorities take over. I'm a 69 year old white guy; I'd hate losing my vote, but it would be worth it.
Just my opinion.
----------------------------------------------------
Edit added 5 hours later:
With all due respect to all, I apologize for starting what has turned into an unpleasant thread.
Nope, wrong approach. Divisive.
Let's fight racism with more racism, but let's just change the victim!
Gones are the days when people dreamed that the color of your skin or you gender shall not define your status in a society it seems.
With all due respect: I have never lived in France so I'm not sure how things work there. But I have lived in America my entire life, and we have always been a very racist nation. We may have made an effort to overcome it and we may have dreamed of equality, but Trump made racism acceptable and fashionable again.
I was reacting to your first comment about white guys needing to lose the right to vote.
Racism and bigotry is unfortunately not exclusive to white guys, although they've been in the last 2 centuries the most efficient to brutalize others.
But this hatred and thinking of "us vs. them" is deep into human psyche, and exists in all countries, albeit in a more or less pronunced way.
And all reactions about a "white man guilt" only fuel the extreme right popularity: these quotes are repeated ad nauseam by far right media when told by some famous / controversial people, and ensure new fear and supporters.
It should not be "my foot on your neck" or "your foot on my neck".
As for France, well, we're only a few years behind America unfortunately, but the political environment has already become much more violent than 15 years ago.
will there ever be a day the men of France will let women decide what they should wear when they walk out in public?
-> Speaks about the need to stop collective guilt / categorization.
-> One man answers with what "men of France" do.
Not sure i made my point clear ^^
There is no such thing as one big entity of "men of France".
Personnaly i don't tell women what to wear in public.
There are people here that judge women if they wear too little, and some other that have a heart attack if they wear burqas.
That is these people problem, and to these people you should adress your (rightful) criticism, not me.
please stop white racist LYING? There is definitely such a thing as men of France. French men and men who culturally dominate France don't exist? That is the best lie you can tell? YOUR GOVERNMENT is dominated by French men is OBSESSED with telling women what to wear (as in as little as possible). We used to think you guys were into liberty. Now we know better and your LYING does not hide it anymore.
Well seems i'm part of a conspiracy i didn't know it ever existed, and it seems that I support the interdiction of burqas, even though I never voted for this, and would vote against it if I had the occasion!
Plus you do know that topless is getting more and more forbidden in France right? And that nudism is in sharp decline since decades in my country? Not sure you know the country apart from some media.
The issue is conservatism winning, certainly not hedonism
We have to reach as many white working class voters as possible. We are all rightly angry at the stupidity they put on display in November, but Dems believe we all sink or swim together. The Oligarchs are the ones who believe in forever dividing and looking down on everyone not like them...ps Ian Haney Lopez is still in my head.
That's a pretty dumb comment. White men are also responsible for just about everything good about western society. Including (until now) the country itself. Also, just to mention one small item, the elimination or dramatic reduction in the incidence of the most deadly diseases, including those that afflict blacks far more than whites (sickle cell, malaria, TB, river blindness, etc., etc.) Also rates of child mortality and maternal death have been slashed to near zero. If you grew up in a place without white men, you might not be as happy as you imagine.
The New York Times lost perhaps the best “explainer” as to all things economic. Thanks for this every day. These factual analyses point to the ultimate tipping point when it comes to this insanity. MONEY ! Only self interest will motivate real challenges to this insanity. It is like Bill McKibben said about climate catastrophe . People will only pay attention when their insurance premiums go up to the point of unacceptability. The price of eggs you will remember was a reason people did not vote for Kamala Harris. This insanity is going to be dry painful.
The New York Times beer some responsibility for this election outcome.
They savaged Joe Biden, and sane washed Trump. Paul Krogman was hobbled at the New York Times so he left. We are lucky to have him here every day. He is a voice of reason.
I (finally) cancelled my NY Times subscription yesterday. After Krugman left, I was there only b/c of Margaret Renkl and Jamelle Bouie (and the food section) - but the Times' recent coverage on-going coverage which has been very much "oh, this is kind of just politics as usual," finally pushed me over the edge.
It's not a question of if, but when the recession/depression will start. Rationally it's better for it to happen sooner rather than later
You know, it's horrifying to contemplate, but you might be right. The sooner reality strikes, the sooner Americans will wake up. It's a damn shame that it would take such a catastrophe though.
Awesome handle BTW.
They'll just blame it on Biden.
Or Obama or just "the libtards" generally. That's what Fox will tell the MAGAts, and most of them will believe it.
As usual. And all "the libs".
While mostly true, remember that it's enough to reverse the thinking of a few people and get a few people off their butts to go vote. Trump's win was weak tea and hardly the "mandate" he claims.
I do not speak for my agency. One brief response to Dr. Krugman’s statement that Europe would be obviously a better investment target than Russia based on the sizes of their respective current GDPs: that depends on your investment goals and your other beliefs about the future. So the Baltic republics and Russia stumbled into the sunlight following the breakdown of the Soviet Union at the same time, and the Baltics have done more than fine whereas Russia is still Russia. The potential for growth in Russia is still very great, but one reason nothing ever “takes” isn’t uncertainty that Russian institutions will improve but near certainty that they will not.
In the words of Joseph Schumpeter back in 1942, "The problem with Russia is not that she is Communist. The problem is that she is Russia."
The investment goal is to purloin, plunder and pillage. From both Russians and Americans - not to mention Ukraine.