Dr. Krugman, the sanewashing happens because admitting that Trump is a deranged criminal suffering dementia would also mean admitting that the media and the voters and the entire GOP are, similarly, insane and deranged. And nobody is going to admit that about themselves, not even the one who aren't too stupid to recognize it.
You left out an extremely important group — Wall Street financial “experts”. Chris Hayes had a great discussion on his show the other night with Stephanie Ruhle and Catherine Rampell about how shocked they are by how shocked all those Wall Street “experts” they talk to are by Trump imposing tariffs. Ruhle pointed out these people (mostly men) are paid big bucks for their expertise on financial issues which requires expertise on political issues yet they indulged in naive wishful thinking instead because they felt Trump would “ take care of the “ (cut their taxes). It’s long past time we held these “experts” to account and started mocking them for the self- centered fools they are.
You are right. And a lot of others should have been fired. Instead they were allowed to return to business as usual which includes opposing the regulations put in place to prevent another meltdown. It also apparently supported their tendency to engage in immature magical thinking.
There were some attempts to prosecute but they didn't go well and it was ambiguous whether laws had been broken, and which ones.
We passed new laws after the financial crisis so that the things that caused it were UNAMBIGUOUSLY crimes. Amid many other regulations that took a lot of risk out of the banking system.
Mostly I just wish liberals would kick their habit of responding to the latest news story about Republicans being awful with something a Democrat did that pissed them off 15+ years ago.
Yes. Aside from Madoff, there were only a couple of successful prosecutions and they were South Asian immigrants who weren’t the principal culprits of the 2008 financial crisis. The jury system has its drawbacks if your peers aren’t willing to convict members of their group but are very willing to convict members of other groups.
The space needed to imprison the bankers, underwriters, rating agencies, real estate appraisers, buyers and sellers of residential real estate, and legal counsel, (did I get everyone?) responsible for the fraud behind the subprime mortgage meltdown is about the size of North Dakota.
Self-interest, not the national interest, propels the Wall Street crowd and their media claques, and all they cared about tRump's "plans" were: Moar Tax Cuts! and Deregulation! His tariff shite was waved away cos "campaign rhetoric".
And yet, here we are, a kneecapped economy, fascistic domestic policies, and a rudderless Ship of Fools piloted by a demented Queeg...spiffy, just spiffy...MAGA!
It's really amazing how the self-proclaimed "masters of the universe" can't see the danger in handing the reigns of power to a mad king. It's as surreal as seeing people's increasing acceptance of authoritarianism because they think they'll benefit, even though everyone, enemies of the power, members of the power structure, and those who try to keep their head down usually suffer instead.
"Ruhle pointed out these people (mostly men) are paid big bucks for their expertise on financial issues which requires expertise on political issues yet they indulged in naive wishful thinking instead because they felt Trump would “ take care of the “ (cut their taxes)."
In other words, the same wishful thinking that the entire political class has been indulging in since he was first elected.
Something I've noticed in years and years of studying and reading international relations is that even for the so-called "experts" who really are more in tune with the country they're studying and not just their own country's stereotypes about it... oftentimes, that "expertise" consists of nothing more than having really imbibed all the conventional wisdom of that country's chattering classes.
And when you know how disconnected, propagandized, chronically wrong, and just plain delusional our own mainstream media is, it becomes clear very quickly just how much they must still be missing.
"Gosh, it's crazy that no one saw the Iranian Revolution coming!" Is it? Where were all your "expert" diplomats, spies, and foreign correspondents getting their information from? From the generals, ministers, businessmen, socialites, and other courtiers that were doing great under the Shah? Then yes, it's no wonder you missed the Iranian Revolution. And so forth.
These "financial experts" basically did the same thing to their own country. Their job requires them to be politically literate, so they started reading a lot about politics, but unfortunately most of what they read was the kind of crap you find in the op-ed page of the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and so forth. And so they come out thinking they know everything, when really they don't know squat.
Which is why I have never invested in stocks nor hired a financial advisor. Either I learn how myself or tuck it away in safe places like high yielding CDs in Mexico where I now live.
The Wall Street financial “experts” didn’t vote Trump into the Presidency. The 70 million moronic US voters are now reaping the rewards of their idiocy.
While it is true that the media and many voters and the so-called GOP are, in an imprecise everyday sense of those words, “insane and deranged”, I’d like to understand more precisely what exactly is going on. It doesn’t look to me like a medical condition in the field of mental illness.
The so-called GOP is, I would argue, in a state where its main parts have been turned into a dangerous cult, and those who have not been turned into acolytes of Trumpism have been bullied into silence.
But how precisely should the state of the media and all those voters who are still not angry at Trump be characterized?
I think men, particularly those young men, bear some responsibility. Over 55% men(18-24) vote for Trump, because they have increasingly lost political influence in the left-wings groups. Social media traps these individuals in echo chambers, further fueling their hatred, while extreme Christian doctrines reinforced by fundamentalist ideologies propagate anti-intellectualism through these platforms.
There is nothing Christian about their ideology, it is the opposite of the teachings and example set by Jesus. It’s long past time true Christians speak out and reclaim that name. I’m not a believer but I studied the gospels in college. To call these people Christian is as crazy as calling Putin a pacifist.
There were Christian denominations who spoke out In the months following the Dobbs decision because their religious beliefs do not include life beginning at conception. They even joined lawsuits claiming the abortion bans violated the First Amendment because the bans impose a particular religious belief. They were unsuccessful. Then Bishop Marianne Budde of the National Cathedral spoke about the Christian tradition of welcoming the stranger during Trump’s inaugural prayer service and received death threats and insults. True Christians have been trying to speak out but are bullied and threatened by the political “Christians” who have sucked up most media attention for 50 years.
Thank you, Lee, for the term “political Christians.” It suits perfectly those who are now saying Jesus was wrong (about Love Thy Neighbor), and that empathy is a sin if it promotes tolerance of “others.”
They protested not because people's autonomy was being attacked, but because Dobbs disagreed with their particular beliefs. Beliefs are not facts. We're back to "how many angels can dance on the head of a pin."
I agree with you. While I recognize many devout, rational and kind Christians, there are individuals who exploit religious rhetoric to incite extremism, reject science and medical knowledge, and systematically propagate harmful ideologies through social media.
It has always struck me that these people always use the Old Testament — or occasionally Revelations — to justify their bigotry. They completely ignore what Jesus said and did even though most claim to believe Jesus is God.
I wouldn’t say “rarely”. It’s just that the people who do live like true Christians don’t get a lot of attention. They just quietly go about living a moral, compassionate life. I have known as many people like that as I have known pseudo-Christians who are MAGA types. And I have known—and still know—a lot of both. I grew up in Appalachia and have lived for 10 years in Texas and 30 in NC.
How about this then, there was no Christian era, ever, anywhere. There were powers that adopted Christianity. There were and are small segments of societies that marginally conform to Christian ideals, but Christianity has never been a widely accepted or practiced belief system your examples notwithstanding.
The problem with white evangelicals is they are far more white than evangelical. They just couldn't tolerate a black woman as president no matter how mentally irregular and lawless her opponent was.
and succeed. They want to prove themselves to be winners. In our competitive society, in which we’re exposed to images of aspirational consumerism through regular media, social media and peer groups, these young men may feel like it’s too hard, like they don’t have a chance. Along comes Trump telling them that it’s not their fault, that they’re being given a raw deal. He (and the Right Wing) offer scapegoats to blame, immigrants, DEI, childless cat ladies. Trump’s spiel makes them feel like they have a chance and that he’ll open the floodgates of opportunity. They want to believe his story tale.
A global economic recession is quietly taking place. Young people are becoming a "lost generation", turning more towards "opposing something" than "supporting something". Compared with the disadvantaged groups that are constantly enhancing their voice, the sense of disparity among men is particularly large.
Yes, they are insane and deranged. They have been doing this for nearly a decade. Being in a cult is, very truly, insane and deranged. If they are still not angry at Trump, yes, they are deluded.
Certainly since the MSM decided to ignore Newt Gingrich cheating on his wife with Callista in a limo in the senate garage while he was also chasing Clinton's penis all over the beltway.
As late as the 1992 election, the candidates' "personal lives" were famously off-limits to each other because everyone knew that HW was just as guilty as Clinton on that front, so it would've been mutually assured destruction. Clinton presumably thought the same rules would hold through his term of office, the same way they had for years.
The Clinton impeachment was something new in terms of the utter shamelessness shown, not only by Republican politicians, but by pretty much the entire Republican electorate and by the mainstream media, in terms of pretending that the same issue could be of nation-defining importance when a Democrat did it and an utter triviality when a Republican did it. So much of the coverage Democrats get since then stems from this moment.
This scenario (falling dollar + treasury weakness) has happened before. Hard to believe, but on October 25, 2000, a dollar would buy 1.25 Euros. The court's illegal awarding of the presidency to Bush on 12/12/00 unleashed a flood of capital back to Europe clearly seen on the currency, bond, and stock markets, and capital flow statistics. This was reinforced by the corporate scandals of 2001/2. But this time the yen and other Asian currencies seem to be joining in.
The GOP cult of personality really hit it's stride beginning with Ronald Reagan's election in 1980. It has grown & metastasized to be the abomination it is today. I'm waiting for RFK Jr to tell us we need to drink Kool-Aid for our TDS.
Access journalism, IMO. No Republican will talk to them if they started telling the truth about the cult, which those in mainstream media think would harm their credibility and alienate half of their potential customers.
Thank you for making those points, indeed it appears plausible enough that these aspects may well be a big part of the explanation.
I wonder though whether “no Republican will talk to them if they started telling the truth about the cult” is just speculation or a fear they may have, or is there evidence that that is an actual reality?
Of course there’s evidence. Wapo owner bezos pulled an endorsement for Harris and then started censoring op-ed writers after trump won. Similar things happened at CNN and NYT. The administration kicked the AP out of the White House press pool for not calling the Gulf of Mexico the “gulf of America.”How many articles do you see actually analyzing what the administration does with respect to our history and the obvious parallels with fascist movements in the 20th century?
After Biden took office the number of clicks on news media sites fells off dramatically, as did subscriptions. That resulted in layoffs. So the media abdicated its responsibility in a democratic republic to make money and went soft on the Trump circus because he had been good for their bottom line. It’s awful, but the ultimate responsibility lies with Americans who must be constantly entertained and will not spend 5 minutes reading a serious, straight news report. Plus, now that Trump’s back in office and unrestrained (thanks, SCOTUS), the probability these news outlets will be sued makes them cautious. The ABC case casts a long shadow.
I’ve bought access and I have read the article, which I’ve found to consist entirely of brief portraits of the viewpoints of a couple of Trump voters who still believe in him. Interesting and illuminating as far as it goes, but there is no analysis, no calling out that what is described is in fact a cult-like phenomenon. So it’s in effect yet another articles that contributes to normalizing Trumpism.
Mainstream. The shorthand lies in the tension between the cult-sect-established versions of religious belief and society. How it plays out in the growth and decline of religious movements is a fascinating field of study with wide ranging applications in social settings, aka politics.
Actually there is good research about the mental health issues involved in getting sucked into a cult and the serious mental health issues involved in getting out and avoiding getting sucked into another one.
Steven Hassan’s account of getting sucked into the Moonies and how he got out is very interesting. He is now an expert on cults helping people get out of cults.
In regard to “good research about the mental health issues involved in getting sucked into a cult and the serious mental health issues involved in getting out and avoiding getting sucked into another one”, is there something in particular that you’d recommend? (I have access to a good scientific library, so I’m not limited to what is available online.)
In regard to the author you mention, Steven Hassan, I’ve ordered a copy of his book “The Cult of Trump” which is evidently directly relevant to my questions.
They are responding to the their own self interest. Media professionals want access and scoops. Going hard (and honest) about Trump and his minions means losing access and being subject to threats and intimidation. Non-MAGA Trump voters responded to what they perceived as (and wanted to believe was) their own interests. They wanted lower costs on both consumer goods and taxes. If someone (us) tried to tell them the facts they reacted like an angry child whose birthday cake was being taken away.
Thing is... there is something deeply wrong with EVERYBODY. Liberals are every single bit as fucked in the head as conservatives right now, we are just expressing it in a different way - as bottomless pessimism, hopelessness and melancholy, which is not as damaging as gleeful malice but is sure poorly suited for the moment.
There is a common cause to what is wrong with ALL of us, something that can lead to both intense in-group self-loathing and fanatical worship of a figurehead, depending on which side of the fence you're leaning on.
We should try to figure out what that cause is. The pandemic cranked everything to 11 but the problem had already been building. Unfortunately I have spent enough time in comment sections to know that everybody thinks that the cause is "politicians didn't do [thing I care about most]!"
There is no evidence that Biden or Trump suffer from dementia, so first of all, we should stop all ageism.
Secondly, no, the media and most voters aren't "insane and deranged". This claim is absurd and false. Many voters are ill-informed, and most journalists these days don't have a solid training in journalism anymore. Combine that with the fact that even the best media are corporations that prioritize profits, now getting out the most relevant facts in the most objective way, and that clickbait headlines are most profitable in an era where most people get their news online rather than buying print versions, and it becomes understandable how normal, decent, ordinary citizens can nevertheless vote for a neofascist.
And then of course there is the indispensable neofascist propaganda machine Fox, without whom none of this would have been possible in the first place. And the fact that most Trump voters are uneducated.
Most journalist don't have a solid training in journalism anymore? Are you for real? Most publications of note will not hire a journalist who doesn't have a journalism master's degree from an incredibly expensive journalism school! You talk like people writing for The Times or Reuters or WAPO or whatever they are reading have maybe an undergrad in journalism and it's not true at all. The education leve and barriers to enter into the field beyond one 's neighborhood are incredibly high.
So, then, what causes the folx to vote for a fascist wannabe dictator? Primarily propaganda which they don't recognize due to personal bias. They want what propaganda is selling because it conforms and confirms their worldview. They do not look at who owns the media companies to even understand that the content they are consuming is biased. I see this living in a relatively liberal state, yet out of the Metro area, where our local TV stations have a decidedly right wing slant - although not outright propaganda. Most of us Democratic voters know the companies that own the outlets are right leaning, so we aren't affected by it. If you don't know, you might be affected by it. But it's the bigger outlets, like OAN or Newsmax or even NewsNation, where people do not know who owns the companies nor who's doing the reporting. At these outlets, mostly founded by people who made money in marketing, are staffed by "journalists" or journalists educated in the field who were uncomfortable their networks or papers neglecting a conservative viewpoint ...
Because the fact is: the conservative viewpoint is almost always manufactured from spinning facts differently from what they actually represent. I've seen this done time and again with survey reports from reputable companies like Pew Research taken and turned on their head to gin up panic for the untimely demise of a particular conservative p.o.v. The demise is, actually, timely and based on the changing views of the public, but this isn't what the conservative networks desire to show people. Now, people hold their own bias going into a news show -- say a negative bias of Black youth-- then the spun fact becomes the confirmation of their bias.
The echo chambers of social media don't help either. Even after all the years we have had of social media, people still do not seem to understand that someone who chooses not to show their identity should never be a trusted source. Rather, their confirmation bias gets turned into conspiracy bias and the anonymous or discredited source becomes the truth teller.
The blame then should be leveled on people's own bias (how did they get so mean in the first place?) and the outlets owned by people who have an interest in making money from implicit bias, which trashes any journalistic integrity that may have existed.
Too easy. First of all, you seem to assume that if you pay a lot for a master's degree, then somehow, that must magically lead to a solid education? Education quality is supposedly eternal? No changes possible... ??
Secondly, it's the uneducated who mostly fall for the neofascist propaganda that the GOP has been putting out for two decades now. So no, you can't just treat them as if their social background doesn't count and being well-informed is merely a matter of individual willpower...
You speak as someone who may not know anything about the programs of, say, Columbia's J school, or how a journalism grad degree works so I'll chalk up your opinion on that to lack of knowledge and personal bias against higher education (until you perhaps demonstrate otherwise.)
To the other matter,, it is NOT completely the un-educated that have been falling for neofascist propaganda. First it's not that they are uneducated but perhaps poorly educated, in that they were never taught how to distinguish propaganda. Their environment, their peer group, the popular culture they might consume, their church might be planting the seeds of a viewpoint that causes them to skew neo-fascist. A defensive and negative mindset that sees itself always under siege will almost always skew neo-fascist because fascism gives easy answers to complex problems. Your assertion also assumes that people who are better educated will be immune to neo-fascism. I would say this is false. If someone is of a particular social class and religion, they are in many cases inclined to support regimes that desire to keep rigid class boundaries. They will reward the candidate to considers "illegals" unworthy of their charity because of their hidebound belief in "word of law.," and so forth. This is why people such as the Mercer family funded Breitbart....
You also dismiss the fair educations of the striving middle class who are many of my peers-- I would call them high school plus educated (plus being a community college and or some university and "life experience.) . Some of us are comfortable with the Democratic view because we have acheved a level of education and money that is Enough. We also have a root in either a liberal form of a traditional religion or no religion at all. However there are those among the striving middle class for whom what they have is never enough. They have internalized the negative and conspiratorial thinking that comes from the working class and feel to deny their roots would be disloyal. They keep their loyalty to a defensive posture and wear it as a badge of honor. And so they call for the QAnons and believe that "illegals" are both taking jobs and are lazy. They may have been taught to think critically but will not change when their loyalty is challenged. I've seen this in staunch Catholics who won't admit that their attitudes towards "illegals" flies in the face of Jesus' teachings.
So, who votes and accepts neo-fascism is far more complex than saying it is ONLY the un-educated. Rather it's groups within the spectrum of rich, educated, grievance driven loyalists of the middle and the poorly educated.
1. Studies show that two-thirds of those without a college degree (= what is traditionally meant by "the uneducated") voted for Trump, and two-thirds of those with a college degree (the "educated") for Harris. I wrote "mostly" the uneducated, not "completely" - let alone "ONLY".
2. Trump and all MAGA rhetoric strongly denounced fascism, so no, most MAGA voters didn't vote for neofascism at all.
3. It's too easy to assume that MAGA voters must have a "negative and defensive mindset". People who truly suffer tend to feel this way, and in the past, they often unionized and voted for the left, so suffering is not enough to go for MAGA.
4. What makes you imagine that the "working class" by definition has "negative and conspirational thinking"?
5. Conservative Christianity is pretty much hollowed out these days indeed, but once that's the case, egoism and clinging to fixed identities are the result, not the cause...
6. As to the education of journalists, just ask yourself this: how many NYT headlines last summer accurately summed up Harris's policies and provided the necessary context (including the history of policy-making, Harris's long record in public office, the Biden record)? They almost don't exist. Then ask yourself this: how many live interviews did she do with journalists who were themselves informed enough to be able to come up with their own questions (created out of their own research in major policy issues facing the country) rather than regurgitating fake Trump tweets and asking Harris to debunk them herself? And I won't even start mentioning the presidential "debate". When ALL legacy media terribly fail to do their job, year in year out, something is very very wrong with the education of journalists in this country for sure.
“Trump and all MAGA rhetoric strongly denounced fascism, so no, most MAGA voters didn't vote for neofascism at all.”
Alas, the GOP exhibits all the hallmarks of a fascist movement, including trump as the clown at the head of it as a fake strongman. Reality doesn’t care when trump lies or if voters don’t realize they voted for a fascist movement. It’s just reality.
1. To call those who did not go to college "the un-educated" is violently insulting and does not take into consideration the numbers of "educated" who voted for Trump. And yes, they are there. A study with no gray area in education gives a false-positive and plays into bias against working class folks who are not universal in their thinking.
2. To address your 4th point, how do I know this about the working class?? Lol....oh, honey, I've got some very deep working class roots. I got a full academic scholarship to a ritzy woman's college, but, as a friend described me, I'm "delightfully crass." Part of me has never fully left the working class. My husband, who is also highly educated, is also from a working class family. It's what I grew up with and still have a lot of interaction with working class folks -- probably more than you. While many of the people I know are very nice folks, when you get them going about politics, wow, some of them are all grievance and anger, even when they have little to be angry about. I could write you the most erudite and evidenced essay ( novella length) on the
For the most part, especially working class Whites, about half Trump's supporters aren't insane. They’re just ignorant or, when I'm in a less generous mood, stupid. They don't understand the world around them, so they glom onto anyone who exudes confidence while telling them that their problems are: a) not their fault, b) someone else's fault and c) easily fixed by going after the "others" that are screwing up their lives. I hope a bunch of Trump's people are just ignorant, because ignorance can be fixed. Stupid, however, can't. If Trump supporters really are just a bunch of stupid, insane clowns, then we as a nation are only at the very beginning of a long, long descent into the heart of darkness.
This is actually an extension of the diseased mind into society. Insanity is now part of the system. The “sanewashers” livelihood depends on trying to make sense of something that simply doesn’t. How many of us believe that we have to overlook the horrible effects of what we do, because not doing so would cause us to lose our jobs or suffer even worse consequences? When we don’t even ask ourselves that question we are living in a culture permeated by insanity. The original insane act was to allow a person, who under paranoid delusions used his position to unleash a riotous mob upon the capital only 4 years, 3 months and 5 days ago, to run for and be elected President of the United States. It wasn’t cynical, it wasn’t craven, it wasn’t rational business strategy. It was to be in the thrall of a folie a deux. In other words it was crackers. It’s hard to admit, but sooner we ALL realize it the better. Time spent trying to rationalize the position we are in is time wasted in a dystopian dreamland of our own making. Paul Krugman is spot on to call it what it is - insanity.
What really scares me are the previously rational, intelligent people I have known who got sucked into MAGA. They got pulled in back in the 90s when the mainstream media helped promote right wing pseudo-scandals about the Clintons. The NYT was the one pushing the Whitewater, Travegate, Filegate and Chinagate lies. Then they started watching Fox News .
I like the New York-ese argot we use for the Trumps of this world, he's a major "wack job". A wack job with a facile grasp of worldly affairs, let alone international trade or macroeconomics. Trying to second guess him or his motives beyond his morbid delusions of grievance will exhaust you and won't even register with him.
True but by supporting Trump they have very seriously hurt their own interests. They are finally waking up to the fact that trust in the US democracy is key to their financial health
Yes the idea of ‘drug’ treatment for 80 million is a challenge! Particularly when they get the drugs delivered for free, sort of. But the cost is coming directly at them!
The hell it is, everyone remotely Trump adjacent is getting away with everything short of murder (and RFK Jr. is rapidly approaching murder) because they have no shame.
My point was about those who supported Trump in delusion of expecting something else.
For elected Republicans, their shame could inhibit them from acting against Trump. Note that many elected Republicans have spoken out against Trump excesses, but have yet to act.
Now only if we can get them to override their shame ... it doesn't take many for impeachment in the House, and maybe gives a (slim) chance of conviction in the Senate.
Fully deserved. Actually, the US has always struck me, as a frequent visitor once, as a third world-ish country, its airports and cities particularly. And its social and education programs definitely, topped by health care. Yes, rich, but with huge income inequalities, absurd minimum wage, woeful public transportation, corrupt courts and political system. All these things resulted in Trump, not caused by him. Bring on the collapse of the US and a realignment and rebirth of a new international system.
I’m a US citizen and I completely agree with you. I first noticed this at 13 years old, upon returning from my first trip to Europe. I was suddenly struck by how dirty US cities were in comparison to European ones. And everything you’re saying about the inequalities, poor services etc (I work in healthcare and get to see that one up close) is true. We did make a little progress under Obama and Biden, but Dr Krugman’s point is that Trump is making an already shaky semi-first world country indisputably a third world one, and he’s right.
Oh, that was just a partial list! I really should have mentioned the institutionalized racism, and the mal-effects of religion and the media. Don't get me going! But one big takeaway from Professor Krugman is that the credibility of the US is lost for a generation, and like it or not, its reputation as a serious world power is irrevocably damaged. Almost humorous but illustrative, but today the head of the Greenland military base was fired for not being sufficiently obsequious to the Vances.
Thank you for telling us about the head of the Greenland military base being fired. Of course that didn’t make it into mainstream news . Not surprising. The Vances expect to be treated like royalty now like Trump. This is no longer a democracy!
Singling out America for bashing should not be the point. There are complex historical motivations for the long-standing choice of Americans to have a less generous social
safety net than other countries, motivations which tend not to be well understood by those looking in from the outside.
The point is that rising autocracy is a worldwide political phenomenon caused by profound soci-economic changes, the world is still in the midst of these processes and we don’t know yet how well Canada and Europe will be able to avoid a similar fate to the U.S. in the near-term.
Given that before this moment in history passes , a slew of other countries may yet have their taste of autocracy, I am much less fearful that America’s
reputation as a serious world power will be “irrevocably” damaged than I am concerned about how we mobilize to counter-act the damage now underway.
Do tell us of the "complexities" of "Americans long-standing choice" to have "a less-than generous social safety net". I'll wait. The story as most of us understand it is that corporate and conservative forces transformed their ethos into something more fruitful for themselves by declaring that taxes were a stranglehold on profits; the working and lower middle-class unions cut into profits and skewed the holy order of free markets, therefore they must be diminished through busting and/or shipping jobs elsewhere; the succeeding generations of loser/lazy working- and lower middle-class citizens did worse and became yet another cost to bear what with their need to eat, get medical care, and other irritating social ills borne on the wings of their unpatriotic hopelessness; the Gods of Tech rose to help the revenue streams and glorious rise of hard-earned wealth, but then even it was burdened by market restrictions that prevented manipulation of the masses and the leftist insistence that these healthy new revenue streams go unhindered by any taxation whatsoever; the working and middle-classes perpetual whining about the cost of sending their children to university, curiously upset by the privatization of lending that ended up doubling, or better yet for the profit line, tripling the cost of education; and then the right's dismay at how horrible the public schools, entrusted to the citizenry, had become. All combined, and thank God the loyal soldiers in the Republican party lined up 45 years ago and, in true patriotic fashion, declared that a government that did anything to help the real downsides of these decisions for suffering citizens was THE problem. So they decided to give the Americans the "choice to have a less-generous social safety net," and the choice was to either be an evil, God-hating, socialist, commie feminist, or pull yourself up by the community, like all good Americans ever did! After all, the working- and middle-class can always encourage their kids to join the military, because no-tax, profit-loving, right-leaning corporations and their minions now need to rule the world. For profits. But gosh, don't worry, no one will see the body bags, and our Republican party will remain silent about the needy shame of the VA.
MAP, what puzzles me is why the Democrats do not put up a full-throated platform to help the working class (which would include all the struggling class). After all there’s many more of them than the pundits and the plutocrats. Start with Bernie’s idea and DOUBLE the minimum wage; even then it would move from $9/hour to only $18/hour. Has any of us tried to live on $72/day? And then, solve the single biggest cause of insecurity and stress for nearly all Americans: medical bills, and provide universal coverage (borrow from other systems: Switzerland; Canada; Australia). Start addressing inequality by more income redistribution including ending the absurd plutocrats’ tax-free inheritance rorts, and make sure working classes see the benefits. And sideline the extreme Left in the Dems: ditch all the identitarian fetishes to focus solely on “ordinary Joe’s” concerns; no more transgender affirmative orders on the first day in office while leaving the borders wide open for two years. Then, the Dems would have a positive platform to actually attack the Republicans for their malice and cruelty…and to mock them for their stupidity.
If you revisit the long slog Barack Obama had to try and create a federal health insurance plan, you'll understand why Democrats in Congress don't act more boldly on wage and healthcare issues -- they are also in the pockets of the lobbyists whose business models demand a unregulated marketplace. You can hand it to Obama, though, that her did achieve one victory and that is no more pre-existing condition refusals; insurance companies in the market must accept anyone who can pay their premiums. Access to affordable health insurance is better overall, but it depends upon what state you live in, and its still a system whose CEOs earn hundreds of millions a year, rather than an efficient national health plan. Too many young people 18-25 don't vote, and this is the central reason Trump won, alongside shifting allegiance from Latino males (affected by the Democrats habit of voicing concerns over transgender care access for children rather than schools improvement). It will take decades to solve our problems, if ever. Millions of us have seen this day comíng, but the USA has been so rich, so well-armed militarily and in the citizenry, that no one has had the courage to do something substantial. We'll have to suffer economically and with depradation of Trumpian values. I am just so sorry it affects the entire world because the USA has been "the game" for so long.
"Singling out America for bashing should not be the point. There are complex historical motivations for the long-standing choice of Americans to have a less generous social safety net than other countries, motivations which tend not to be well understood by those looking in from the outside."
Oh puleeze. 'The long-standing choice' is rooted, as today, in the centuries-old white supremacist stain on America, from the beginning to today. Anyone different than the current ruling class is a dirty unamerican cheater who doesn't deserve anything.
Nobody is going to even try and take over IMO. China has belt and road, but it’s not like they’re really going to step up beyond that. Plus it’s not like France or Britain were all that better stewards when they were more in charge. Take all the shots you want at America (many/all of them deserved!), but I think the world is going to stay unipolar long after many of us are long gone.
Can't think that Canada and Europe will be helping shore up that unipolar world. No security in it for them; nothing much in it for them. I think you're wrong, esp. if the US keeps going down this autocracy route. And the UK and France were awful, but the US is another magnitude.
Canada and Slovenia or whoever else you mean by “Europe” are more than welcome to start a new version of a United Nations Security Council, NATO and/or anything else they like without America. You can think they will, but I’m very confident they will not.
If the US backs out of NATO, it won't be long before Europe is another major world power. In another decade or 2, bigger militarily than the US if it continues down the autocratic route. And maybe in any case. They have more that 50% more population, a bigger economy, with the poorer countries developing rapidly.
Europe is a major part of why the US is currently a world power.
You don't get it. There will be no UN, Nato, etc. if the US goes on like this. There will be nothing to lead. The days of the US as a world leader are over. Other alliances will evolve. But the US is not forever. Now go away.
Actually, the erosion of our judicial system is a relatively recent and definitely incomplete phenomenon. The judicial branch and the military are our only real hope. God help us.
I'd put more faith in - and I can't believe I'm writing this - the military, but only because we don't know how far the rot has gone there, whereas the rot in the judicial system goes all the way.
In the past from time to time visiting the US, I would get a lot of unsolicited feedback of how they envied our health system (which isn't perfect) or our peaceful environment (we have very few shootings).
I wondered why people didn't do more to get that, then started to realize that there are strong forces fighting progress.
Maybe trumpism will push the people to insist on what is the right of everyone in a country that can afford it ... as the ÙS surely can.
I worked hard to get the ACA passed. So did countless others. The myth that we are a country of individuals that pull themselves up by their bootstraps is incredibly strong. Too many have no compassion for neighbors.
Obama brought improvements with the ACA, but unfortunately resistance caused it to avoid universal health insurance.
Private insurance drives up health costs.
I've heard that myth of everyone for themselves from many on visits to the US. Fron those against it, expressing envy of the Canadian system which takes care of others.
I hope the damage of the current trumpism helps turn the tide.
A lot of what is right in western Europe & Japan was set in place with US help during the post WW2 period. Many good examples.
Obama and others focused on what could be done, not all we wanted to. Despite numerous efforts by Republicans, the ACA continues to cover tens of millions who previously had no health insurance. Yes, private insurance raises costs, as does the requirement for hospitals to treat the uninsured. It would be great if Americans would develop more compassion, but it will take more time.
America has a bad historic race system that is still problematic. As well as countless other problems. It’s not like we’re not trying though. Plus it’s not like Britain, France, Australia, Japan, Canada or anyone else should really be throwing stones IMO. We all have our problems.
I don’t think the US is third world country but it does have third world thinking. Believing in foolish conspiracies and deep state is typical of dictator countries. I don’t know of a single dictator who doesn’t adhere to a conspiracy theory. A lot of the problems in the US are and have been self inflicted. I don’t blame politicians as much as other but actually the people. It’s the people that is the major problems as much as the politicians. It’s like the drug war, you can’t just blame the drug dealer but also the drug user. Trump is a result of the people who voted for him.
Canada spends much less on health care (public & private) than the US, and everyone is covered by quality health care.
Private health insurance is costly and inefficient.
Everyone has access to quality education, at least to high school graduation, where conditional funding to regional govts guarantees quality in poorer areas.
Canada isn't unique, it is true for most industrialized countries. Many have free post-secondary education as well.
The US is the big exception.
Education is variable in the US because federal funding does not co-opt the states to cooperate to ensure quality.
The big difference between the US & Canada is that health care INSURANCE is universal & public, as opposed to insurance being private & thus much more expensive in the US. This is controled by each province, partially financed by the federal govt.
Doctors are paid on a fee for service basis in Canada, like in the US.
Another difference is that starting in the 1950s, hospitals are financed and controled by govt, even if some remain technically private.
As well, the federal govt provides conditional financing to the provinces to ensure that everyone, even the poor, has access to quality health care & quality education.
(Those with lower incomes pay reduced or no health insurance premiums, while those with higher incomes pay a fixed amount.)
We also have a federal unemployment insurance scheme, unlike the US where that is handled by each state.
This required a constitutional amendment during the great depression of the 1930s.
As for as health & education in the US, it is evidently quite variable in quality, which is indeed a characteristic of 3rd world countries, where the well off can have excellent health care & education, but many don't. Of course the US is much better than most 3rd world countries.
Comparing a unitary state like the UK with a federal state like the US is indeed like comparing apples with oranges.
However the federal govt could play a bigger or more effective role. Canada is only one federal system of many that could show options for improvement.
The mad king is not reasonable at all and has never been. Big business, big media, the Republican Congress and the Republican Supreme Court will do little to nothing to try to restrain him, if that is even possible at this point. The mad king is bringing our country to its knees and will destroy it before he is done. One way or the other, he must not be allowed to further transform our democracy into an autocracy. How, I don’t know, but Trump must be contained or replaced.
That’s what the power-sharing basis of the Constitution was supposed to ensure. However, the Framers never anticipated a situation where all three branches of government would be in one man’s hand, as they are now. Turns out the US Constitution hasn’t stood the test of time.
We're now face to face with the realization that all along it was dependent on the "honor" system. The framers couldn't imagine that someone with no honor would ascend to the throne. Now we know.
Indeed. And that’s why abolishing all traces of presidential immunity must be a top priority when the new Constitution is written.
Any sport has rules, and penalties for those who disobey them. A game where one player has a free pass to do whatever he wants will inevitably descend into anarchy. Same thing here: one must always anticipate what to do when, not if, someone breaks the rules.
In previous comments here, I have said that CDs, bank certificates of deposit, are a safe place to ride out the Trump Tempest. That's because, like the banks, they are insured by the FDIC, so no one can lose money, unless Trump attacks the FDIC. Guess what? A little research shows that Trump is indeed attacking the FDIC.
CD don't really protect your wealth, it protects your USD against... USD! If today 100 USD buys one widget imported from China and you need 120 USD in a year from now, your CD at 4% won't do it. I've often heard over the years that USA export their inflation, but that is what is changing.
I agree, mostly, but consider that a new CD at 5% will do it. Alternatively, don't buy the tariffed product, or find a substitute. I know, easier said than done.
What exactly did Trump expect from the clear rejection he and his administration are showing toward foreign capital entering the U.S.? Every year, massive amounts of European — and global — funds flow into the American market because of the strong return on investment the U.S. typically guarantees. But how can anyone invest confidently in America when the VIX, a key measure of market volatility, is reaching levels comparable to the March 2020 pandemic crash?
This kind of instability can only weaken the position of U.S. assets.
On top of that, blocking or even just obstructing global trade with the U.S. — which is exactly what tariffs do — will inevitably harm the global economy. And a weaker global economy means fewer funds available to invest in U.S. bonds. The rising yields on Treasury bonds are already making this clear.
We are seeing a kind of “Argentinization” of the U.S. economy. All the warning signs are there: a weakening currency, the prospect of sustained high inflation, and rising interest rates on public debt. And it’s important to note that over the next year, the U.S. will need to refinance roughly $7 trillion in government debt. Higher interest rates in that context are not just inconvenient — they’re dangerous.
This is not the behavior of a stable, trusted reserve currency issuer. It’s what we expect from emerging markets in crisis — not from the United States.
As soon as it became clear the degree to which loyalty to Trump and yesman-ism were the requirements for office (and that competence was irrelevant), it should have been obvious to anyone that the country would head to third-world status. The only surprise to me is how fast it is happening.
The problem isn’t that people underestimated Trump’s stupidity or intransigence. Trump told us who he is, and what he would do.
The problem is people thought he was an actual businessman, who thinks and acts rationally. In other words, they couldn’t separate the “showman” or reality TV star, from the incompetent clown Trump is, and always was.
And it’s not like we didn’t experience four years of his destruction during COVID. He tried to do many of the same things, but the guardrails and grown up’s in the room, were able to keep him in check.
People heard what they wanted to hear, disregarding all the warning signs. And we had ample evidence of his lack of business acumen; four casino bankruptcies, and his entire real state empire crashing down in 1990.
Furthermore, during all these years, no bank would do business with Trump. His money came from Russia, and the only bank to eventually lend him money was Deutsche Bank; the bank that paid hundreds of millions in fines for laundering …wait for it….wait for it; Russian mob money, and sanctioned Russian Oligarchs (straw men for Putin).
Bottom line: the evidence was staring us in the face all the time, most of us just decided to ignore it: Trump is a Russian STOOGE! IMHO…:)
I read somewhere that the extreme disruption of COVID caused many to >not remember< just how bad Trump was four years before. Hey, there's gotta be some rational reason why he was elected!
You would think the supposedly august NYT, would have seen fit to mention all of this, You and I, and many others knew it. Yet they never saw fit to point it out in one coherent narrative. "But her emails" by the hundreds, matched later by "Biden is old" headlines by the hundreds were printed.
It’s the enabling, stupid. Every step of the way, he has been and continues to be enabled, by Congress and the Extreme Court, most obviously, but also big corporate media, big fat stinking rich law firms, big fat stinking rich billionaires, and the 45% of this country that hasn’t the brains to see what’’s right in front of their faces. Poll after poll still, STILL!!, shows his approval in the low 40’s. Can it get any more depressing? It tells me that there is literally nothing he can do to lose his support. Let’s not delude ourselves, 2026 and certainly 2028 aren’t going to change a thing. The rest of my life will be spent refusing to succumb to the overwhelming stupidity.
I do believe there is a whole lot of stupid involved, and I wholly agree with you that we should focus on the willing and conscious enablers who definitely know they could do better, particularly in Congress and SCOTUS, but among the powerful law firms as well.
But I don't really trust a lot of the polling as being the truth.
Remember, the Republicans were not only careful to buy out radio first (Sinclair), then set up their own propaganda TV channel (Fox), then get their oligarchs to buy out major newspapers and destroy local ones (Bezos at WAPO, Murdoch's influence at NYTimes, and the increasing number of local news deserts out there), but Republicans also bought out most of the polling firms as well, and the minute they did, there was a curious skewing towards Republicans, over and over again.
The general strategy is for this minority of power seekers to pretend they are the majority. They are not. They want us to despair and withdraw in frustration.
But guess what? They are doing so much damage to America, destroying Democracy and even our health and wellbeing, that we cannot afford to withdraw. Which brings us back to enablers.
The country may never recover from the destruction being done by Trump 2.0 and his enablers. It won't even begin unless or until they are all held to account for what they are doing. What does that mean? It means that they need to be put on notice today, all of them From Trump, Vance and Musk on down, that there will be investigations and prosecutions for the crimes they are committing. By 2029 the destruction might be so bad that Roberts may reconsider the damage he did by giving Trump any immunity for official acts, but then again, a good prosecutor can easily argue that little Trump is doing are official acts as most of what he is doing is illegal or unconstitutional or both.
Except 6/9 of the SUPREMES declared tRump immune to prosecution. and he will just pardon the rest of his regime. One incredibly corrupt president supported by many fanatic and greedy enablers is going to bring down the Republic.
True, for now. Do not forget that King Dipshit is 78 years old, morbidly obese, with a terrible diet and obvious dementia. He may not last long enough to pardon anyone. And there is no successor as cult leader...
But there are people involved in the Trumpist government who are using Trump as their useful idiot in their pursuit of their agenda of turning the US into a fascist state with themselves as part of the ruling cabal.
If for reasons of health issues on the part of Trump, his presidency ends before the end of his term, that’ll change the flavour of the nightmare that is this government, but it won’t end the nightmare.
But JD would. He is there to give the Oligarchs continued influence. The MAGAts don't like him, but that is not necessary if we don't have any more elections.
IMO, that's just skilled photography and a bit of Photoshop. During the campaign, there were many shots of him with a seemingly normal complexion. All Photoshop work.
You will need a Constitutional reform. The flaws in this 250-year-old document are now too obvious to ignore. However, that can only happen post-MAGA, lest things become even worse.
FINALLY Anne Applebaum just concurred that the guardrails have COMPLETELY FAILED. 250 years of theory and hoped for restraints but/and the first actual encounter with a tyrant and the checks/balances/guardrails NEVER worked at all. complete failure. (The Atlantic)
I've been saying it since before Jan 20, 2025 and hers is the first voice of the 'experts' on democracy who has also stated it in just that term: FAILURE of the guardrails theorized/planned/hoped for in the constitution. completely non-operational.
Humans will push any system to its breaking point. It's why I have been saying we need a new Constitution with some actual teeth in it and a reasonable method to recall an unsatisfactory president. And we just cannot let one person to wield this much power. Maybe an executive council of 5-7 elected members.
Roberts rethinking his position? - ha!! Hell will freeze over before that cabal will step up. Alito? Gorsuch? Kavenaugh? Possibly Coney Barrett, though I won't hold my breath.
Professor Krugman: how on Earth can this sort of economic, political and policy chaos continue for even a few months longer before the nation implodes and collapses? what will happen to americans then?
It can't. Abject poverty is what happens to those of us who aren't already there. Then comes the explosion of rage and the subsequent guillotining of the culprits.
Just to remind everyone, none of the sound and fury of the last week or so changed anything about Trump's tariffs on Canada and Mexico. The tariffs he already put on steel, aluminum and the auto industry stayed at the high level they were at. The US's top three trading partners all have stupid tariffs on their products, and, in the case of Canada and Mexico, in violation of the agreement Trump himself negotiated and was so proud of in his first administration.
The world, that does pay attention to our politics, like Americans pay attention to reality TV shows, also sees a GOP congress who are unwilling to reign him in.
If it was clear that there were guardrails, I do not think we would be seen as such a risky bet, and Trump talking about a "third term" does not help.
Congress could eliminate Trump's tariff powers which he is clearly stretching, as well, but the House axed the proposal, and I assume they would need a veto proof number to pass it.
How far do we have to unravel for congress to act?
Considering that what happened on Jan 6th was not enough... and people chose to not even believe their own eyes...
On the news the other day, Trump was compared to the UK's Truss, but we can't quickly unseat our leaders like they can.
The world sees that some in charge here have bought into the GOPs political and economic talking point nonsense spread by right-wing media that was only supposed to dupe the masses into voting for them, not those who would hold office. Sadly, it seems like after decades of these lies, many who grew up with them as their parents watched right-wing cable news, actually believe it is all real and/or accept it as fact and many now even hold office.
Instead of addressing this crisis, they just passed a budget framework to add trillions more to deficits and debt and are doubling down on all the nonsense.
The GOP only get one simple majority BR a year. They might want to save it to use in order to save our economy instead.
We may have brainwashed out of being a superpower and a wealthy innovative economy by decades of right-wing nonsense.
However, even this does not fully explain Trump and his enablers because I am even seeing some right-wing think tank people on the PBS NewsHour who seem quite sane by comparison and see the danger here and who are now not making excuses for this administration (a bit too little too late).
Decades of lies and GOP grifting have snowballed into this.
No one talks about the desperate need to stop this downward spiral in the country. Not only tariffs but the continued blackmailing of universities, disappearing people, taking away legal social security benefits, the desecration of all minorities, white supremacy . . . on and on and on.
I think the point of the tariffs is that it's the only way the administration can raise revenue from the middle and lower economic class es to 'pay for' more big tax cuts for the rich and large corporations.
Trump and his flying monkeys may think they can replace income tax revenue with tariff revenue, but it simply won’t work. A 100% universal tariff would generate $3 trillion a year in a perfect world, but 100% universal tariffs would cause imports to drop dramatically AND draw massive retaliation that would dramatically reduce other forms of government revenue. There’s no situation in which tariffs will meaningfully offset income tax.
Paul said this last week. It’s a ruse. It was never meant to be true. How many times can we be fooled and played. Another diversion to pretend other countries are paying for the tax cut for the comfort capitalist class. It doesn’t have to be true to fool the lower class that doesn’t read. Doesn’t listen to paul. Doesn’t care about politics because in their opinions politicians are all stooges and money grubbers. The ignorance is astounding on so many levels.
Dr. Krugman, the sanewashing happens because admitting that Trump is a deranged criminal suffering dementia would also mean admitting that the media and the voters and the entire GOP are, similarly, insane and deranged. And nobody is going to admit that about themselves, not even the one who aren't too stupid to recognize it.
You left out an extremely important group — Wall Street financial “experts”. Chris Hayes had a great discussion on his show the other night with Stephanie Ruhle and Catherine Rampell about how shocked they are by how shocked all those Wall Street “experts” they talk to are by Trump imposing tariffs. Ruhle pointed out these people (mostly men) are paid big bucks for their expertise on financial issues which requires expertise on political issues yet they indulged in naive wishful thinking instead because they felt Trump would “ take care of the “ (cut their taxes). It’s long past time we held these “experts” to account and started mocking them for the self- centered fools they are.
Maybe if some of them had been sent to prison for the subprime collapse in 2008 they would have played nicer.
You are right. And a lot of others should have been fired. Instead they were allowed to return to business as usual which includes opposing the regulations put in place to prevent another meltdown. It also apparently supported their tendency to engage in immature magical thinking.
There were some attempts to prosecute but they didn't go well and it was ambiguous whether laws had been broken, and which ones.
We passed new laws after the financial crisis so that the things that caused it were UNAMBIGUOUSLY crimes. Amid many other regulations that took a lot of risk out of the banking system.
Mostly I just wish liberals would kick their habit of responding to the latest news story about Republicans being awful with something a Democrat did that pissed them off 15+ years ago.
Yes. Aside from Madoff, there were only a couple of successful prosecutions and they were South Asian immigrants who weren’t the principal culprits of the 2008 financial crisis. The jury system has its drawbacks if your peers aren’t willing to convict members of their group but are very willing to convict members of other groups.
Liberals and Republicans? or Democrats and Fascists?
Have Democrats kicked their "look forward, not back" habit yet?
The space needed to imprison the bankers, underwriters, rating agencies, real estate appraisers, buyers and sellers of residential real estate, and legal counsel, (did I get everyone?) responsible for the fraud behind the subprime mortgage meltdown is about the size of North Dakota.
The rating agencies were paid to provide inaccurate ratings by the banks so their true (low) value would be hidden from the investors.
If I paid an appraiser to estimate a high price for my house without notifying the buyer both me and the appraiser would be in jail.
The heads of the banks and rating agencies were the ones who committed fraud and should have been fined billions and thrown in jail.
Same as it ever was
Plenty of room 😜 n El Salvador
Self-interest, not the national interest, propels the Wall Street crowd and their media claques, and all they cared about tRump's "plans" were: Moar Tax Cuts! and Deregulation! His tariff shite was waved away cos "campaign rhetoric".
And yet, here we are, a kneecapped economy, fascistic domestic policies, and a rudderless Ship of Fools piloted by a demented Queeg...spiffy, just spiffy...MAGA!
It's really amazing how the self-proclaimed "masters of the universe" can't see the danger in handing the reigns of power to a mad king. It's as surreal as seeing people's increasing acceptance of authoritarianism because they think they'll benefit, even though everyone, enemies of the power, members of the power structure, and those who try to keep their head down usually suffer instead.
"Ruhle pointed out these people (mostly men) are paid big bucks for their expertise on financial issues which requires expertise on political issues yet they indulged in naive wishful thinking instead because they felt Trump would “ take care of the “ (cut their taxes)."
In other words, the same wishful thinking that the entire political class has been indulging in since he was first elected.
Something I've noticed in years and years of studying and reading international relations is that even for the so-called "experts" who really are more in tune with the country they're studying and not just their own country's stereotypes about it... oftentimes, that "expertise" consists of nothing more than having really imbibed all the conventional wisdom of that country's chattering classes.
And when you know how disconnected, propagandized, chronically wrong, and just plain delusional our own mainstream media is, it becomes clear very quickly just how much they must still be missing.
"Gosh, it's crazy that no one saw the Iranian Revolution coming!" Is it? Where were all your "expert" diplomats, spies, and foreign correspondents getting their information from? From the generals, ministers, businessmen, socialites, and other courtiers that were doing great under the Shah? Then yes, it's no wonder you missed the Iranian Revolution. And so forth.
These "financial experts" basically did the same thing to their own country. Their job requires them to be politically literate, so they started reading a lot about politics, but unfortunately most of what they read was the kind of crap you find in the op-ed page of the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and so forth. And so they come out thinking they know everything, when really they don't know squat.
Amen. They should use those brains and their collective power to do something. Think outside the box!
Which is why I have never invested in stocks nor hired a financial advisor. Either I learn how myself or tuck it away in safe places like high yielding CDs in Mexico where I now live.
He’ll cut income taxes but tariffs are a tax themselves.
The Wall Street financial “experts” didn’t vote Trump into the Presidency. The 70 million moronic US voters are now reaping the rewards of their idiocy.
While it is true that the media and many voters and the so-called GOP are, in an imprecise everyday sense of those words, “insane and deranged”, I’d like to understand more precisely what exactly is going on. It doesn’t look to me like a medical condition in the field of mental illness.
The so-called GOP is, I would argue, in a state where its main parts have been turned into a dangerous cult, and those who have not been turned into acolytes of Trumpism have been bullied into silence.
But how precisely should the state of the media and all those voters who are still not angry at Trump be characterized?
Deluded by normalcy bias?
“Fucking evil assholes” does it for me.
👆🎯
I think men, particularly those young men, bear some responsibility. Over 55% men(18-24) vote for Trump, because they have increasingly lost political influence in the left-wings groups. Social media traps these individuals in echo chambers, further fueling their hatred, while extreme Christian doctrines reinforced by fundamentalist ideologies propagate anti-intellectualism through these platforms.
There is nothing Christian about their ideology, it is the opposite of the teachings and example set by Jesus. It’s long past time true Christians speak out and reclaim that name. I’m not a believer but I studied the gospels in college. To call these people Christian is as crazy as calling Putin a pacifist.
There were Christian denominations who spoke out In the months following the Dobbs decision because their religious beliefs do not include life beginning at conception. They even joined lawsuits claiming the abortion bans violated the First Amendment because the bans impose a particular religious belief. They were unsuccessful. Then Bishop Marianne Budde of the National Cathedral spoke about the Christian tradition of welcoming the stranger during Trump’s inaugural prayer service and received death threats and insults. True Christians have been trying to speak out but are bullied and threatened by the political “Christians” who have sucked up most media attention for 50 years.
Thank you, Lee, for the term “political Christians.” It suits perfectly those who are now saying Jesus was wrong (about Love Thy Neighbor), and that empathy is a sin if it promotes tolerance of “others.”
They protested not because people's autonomy was being attacked, but because Dobbs disagreed with their particular beliefs. Beliefs are not facts. We're back to "how many angels can dance on the head of a pin."
I agree with you. While I recognize many devout, rational and kind Christians, there are individuals who exploit religious rhetoric to incite extremism, reject science and medical knowledge, and systematically propagate harmful ideologies through social media.
It has always struck me that these people always use the Old Testament — or occasionally Revelations — to justify their bigotry. They completely ignore what Jesus said and did even though most claim to believe Jesus is God.
Christianity has rarely been practiced by Christians, at least for the last two thousand years or so.
I wouldn’t say “rarely”. It’s just that the people who do live like true Christians don’t get a lot of attention. They just quietly go about living a moral, compassionate life. I have known as many people like that as I have known pseudo-Christians who are MAGA types. And I have known—and still know—a lot of both. I grew up in Appalachia and have lived for 10 years in Texas and 30 in NC.
How about this then, there was no Christian era, ever, anywhere. There were powers that adopted Christianity. There were and are small segments of societies that marginally conform to Christian ideals, but Christianity has never been a widely accepted or practiced belief system your examples notwithstanding.
https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8jBn14x/
The problem with white evangelicals is they are far more white than evangelical. They just couldn't tolerate a black woman as president no matter how mentally irregular and lawless her opponent was.
Just saw these articles at Salon.com addressing the “insecure masculinity” factor:
“MAGA's war on empathy exposes misogynist fears
Elon Musk and the Christian right call empathy "toxic" and "suicidal" — blame their shared misogyny”
https://www.salon.com/2025/04/11/magas-on-empathy-exposes-misogynist-fears/
This one is even more bonkers:
“Fox News, desperate to defend Trump's tariffs, exploits MAGA's masculinity delusions
Right-wing social media has decided soaring inflation will somehow grant them all tradwives”
https://www.salon.com/2025/04/09/fox-news-desperate-to-defend-tariffs-exploits-magas-masculinity-delusions/
Young man, generally, feel pressure to achieve
and succeed. They want to prove themselves to be winners. In our competitive society, in which we’re exposed to images of aspirational consumerism through regular media, social media and peer groups, these young men may feel like it’s too hard, like they don’t have a chance. Along comes Trump telling them that it’s not their fault, that they’re being given a raw deal. He (and the Right Wing) offer scapegoats to blame, immigrants, DEI, childless cat ladies. Trump’s spiel makes them feel like they have a chance and that he’ll open the floodgates of opportunity. They want to believe his story tale.
A global economic recession is quietly taking place. Young people are becoming a "lost generation", turning more towards "opposing something" than "supporting something". Compared with the disadvantaged groups that are constantly enhancing their voice, the sense of disparity among men is particularly large.
That loss of political influence is killing us.
Yes, they are insane and deranged. They have been doing this for nearly a decade. Being in a cult is, very truly, insane and deranged. If they are still not angry at Trump, yes, they are deluded.
They've been doing it for a lot longer than that. TrumPox is merely the culmination of what's been happening since around 1953.
Certainly since the MSM decided to ignore Newt Gingrich cheating on his wife with Callista in a limo in the senate garage while he was also chasing Clinton's penis all over the beltway.
Their hypocrisy is boundless.
Yeah, I really think that was a watershed moment.
As late as the 1992 election, the candidates' "personal lives" were famously off-limits to each other because everyone knew that HW was just as guilty as Clinton on that front, so it would've been mutually assured destruction. Clinton presumably thought the same rules would hold through his term of office, the same way they had for years.
The Clinton impeachment was something new in terms of the utter shamelessness shown, not only by Republican politicians, but by pretty much the entire Republican electorate and by the mainstream media, in terms of pretending that the same issue could be of nation-defining importance when a Democrat did it and an utter triviality when a Republican did it. So much of the coverage Democrats get since then stems from this moment.
The two biggest lies in American politics:
* The mainstream media is "liberal."
* Republicans are good for the economy.
Callista being a congressional staffer. At least we taxpayers didn't pay for Monica.
This scenario (falling dollar + treasury weakness) has happened before. Hard to believe, but on October 25, 2000, a dollar would buy 1.25 Euros. The court's illegal awarding of the presidency to Bush on 12/12/00 unleashed a flood of capital back to Europe clearly seen on the currency, bond, and stock markets, and capital flow statistics. This was reinforced by the corporate scandals of 2001/2. But this time the yen and other Asian currencies seem to be joining in.
Yup. I remember that. Even back then we knew it put us on a slippery slope. We were right. Unfortunately.
This goes back eons. Not decades. A small group seeks to dominate a large one. No holds barred.
The GOP cult of personality really hit it's stride beginning with Ronald Reagan's election in 1980. It has grown & metastasized to be the abomination it is today. I'm waiting for RFK Jr to tell us we need to drink Kool-Aid for our TDS.
It’s a cult. That’s really all the understanding required.
But why are the media, even those that are not part of the cult, largely sanewashing and normalizing it?
Access journalism, IMO. No Republican will talk to them if they started telling the truth about the cult, which those in mainstream media think would harm their credibility and alienate half of their potential customers.
Thank you for making those points, indeed it appears plausible enough that these aspects may well be a big part of the explanation.
I wonder though whether “no Republican will talk to them if they started telling the truth about the cult” is just speculation or a fear they may have, or is there evidence that that is an actual reality?
Of course there’s evidence. Wapo owner bezos pulled an endorsement for Harris and then started censoring op-ed writers after trump won. Similar things happened at CNN and NYT. The administration kicked the AP out of the White House press pool for not calling the Gulf of Mexico the “gulf of America.”How many articles do you see actually analyzing what the administration does with respect to our history and the obvious parallels with fascist movements in the 20th century?
It's not considered "polite" to say the leader of the free world is an ignoramus in your headlines.
After Biden took office the number of clicks on news media sites fells off dramatically, as did subscriptions. That resulted in layoffs. So the media abdicated its responsibility in a democratic republic to make money and went soft on the Trump circus because he had been good for their bottom line. It’s awful, but the ultimate responsibility lies with Americans who must be constantly entertained and will not spend 5 minutes reading a serious, straight news report. Plus, now that Trump’s back in office and unrestrained (thanks, SCOTUS), the probability these news outlets will be sued makes them cautious. The ABC case casts a long shadow.
Thank you for making those points, indeed it appears plausible enough that these aspects may well be a big part of the explanation.
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The WSJ has a good article today on the cult-like aspects of Trumpism:
Trust Unshaken: Trump Voters Are Sticking With Their Guy
https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/trust-unshaken-trump-voters-are-sticking-with-their-guy-865cde58?mod=mhp
I’ve bought access and I have read the article, which I’ve found to consist entirely of brief portraits of the viewpoints of a couple of Trump voters who still believe in him. Interesting and illuminating as far as it goes, but there is no analysis, no calling out that what is described is in fact a cult-like phenomenon. So it’s in effect yet another articles that contributes to normalizing Trumpism.
Like all media, they have a “show both sides” technique. They don’t say “they’re cultists” but I personally thought that most described were cultists.
Sect, cult, and established are precise categories in the sociology of religion.
What’s “established?”
My understanding is that cults aren’t necessarily religions sociologically speaking. Is that wrong?
Mainstream. The shorthand lies in the tension between the cult-sect-established versions of religious belief and society. How it plays out in the growth and decline of religious movements is a fascinating field of study with wide ranging applications in social settings, aka politics.
In denial and working hard to stay there.
Actually there is good research about the mental health issues involved in getting sucked into a cult and the serious mental health issues involved in getting out and avoiding getting sucked into another one.
Steven Hassan’s account of getting sucked into the Moonies and how he got out is very interesting. He is now an expert on cults helping people get out of cults.
Thank you so much for these pointers!
In regard to “good research about the mental health issues involved in getting sucked into a cult and the serious mental health issues involved in getting out and avoiding getting sucked into another one”, is there something in particular that you’d recommend? (I have access to a good scientific library, so I’m not limited to what is available online.)
In regard to the author you mention, Steven Hassan, I’ve ordered a copy of his book “The Cult of Trump” which is evidently directly relevant to my questions.
They are responding to the their own self interest. Media professionals want access and scoops. Going hard (and honest) about Trump and his minions means losing access and being subject to threats and intimidation. Non-MAGA Trump voters responded to what they perceived as (and wanted to believe was) their own interests. They wanted lower costs on both consumer goods and taxes. If someone (us) tried to tell them the facts they reacted like an angry child whose birthday cake was being taken away.
Thank you for making those points, indeed it appears plausible enough that these aspects may well be a big part of the explanation.
Thing is... there is something deeply wrong with EVERYBODY. Liberals are every single bit as fucked in the head as conservatives right now, we are just expressing it in a different way - as bottomless pessimism, hopelessness and melancholy, which is not as damaging as gleeful malice but is sure poorly suited for the moment.
There is a common cause to what is wrong with ALL of us, something that can lead to both intense in-group self-loathing and fanatical worship of a figurehead, depending on which side of the fence you're leaning on.
We should try to figure out what that cause is. The pandemic cranked everything to 11 but the problem had already been building. Unfortunately I have spent enough time in comment sections to know that everybody thinks that the cause is "politicians didn't do [thing I care about most]!"
Speak for yourself!
Unaffected by potential pain would be one way to characterize the placid populace.
'It's easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled'
There is no evidence that Biden or Trump suffer from dementia, so first of all, we should stop all ageism.
Secondly, no, the media and most voters aren't "insane and deranged". This claim is absurd and false. Many voters are ill-informed, and most journalists these days don't have a solid training in journalism anymore. Combine that with the fact that even the best media are corporations that prioritize profits, now getting out the most relevant facts in the most objective way, and that clickbait headlines are most profitable in an era where most people get their news online rather than buying print versions, and it becomes understandable how normal, decent, ordinary citizens can nevertheless vote for a neofascist.
And then of course there is the indispensable neofascist propaganda machine Fox, without whom none of this would have been possible in the first place. And the fact that most Trump voters are uneducated.
Most journalist don't have a solid training in journalism anymore? Are you for real? Most publications of note will not hire a journalist who doesn't have a journalism master's degree from an incredibly expensive journalism school! You talk like people writing for The Times or Reuters or WAPO or whatever they are reading have maybe an undergrad in journalism and it's not true at all. The education leve and barriers to enter into the field beyond one 's neighborhood are incredibly high.
So, then, what causes the folx to vote for a fascist wannabe dictator? Primarily propaganda which they don't recognize due to personal bias. They want what propaganda is selling because it conforms and confirms their worldview. They do not look at who owns the media companies to even understand that the content they are consuming is biased. I see this living in a relatively liberal state, yet out of the Metro area, where our local TV stations have a decidedly right wing slant - although not outright propaganda. Most of us Democratic voters know the companies that own the outlets are right leaning, so we aren't affected by it. If you don't know, you might be affected by it. But it's the bigger outlets, like OAN or Newsmax or even NewsNation, where people do not know who owns the companies nor who's doing the reporting. At these outlets, mostly founded by people who made money in marketing, are staffed by "journalists" or journalists educated in the field who were uncomfortable their networks or papers neglecting a conservative viewpoint ...
Because the fact is: the conservative viewpoint is almost always manufactured from spinning facts differently from what they actually represent. I've seen this done time and again with survey reports from reputable companies like Pew Research taken and turned on their head to gin up panic for the untimely demise of a particular conservative p.o.v. The demise is, actually, timely and based on the changing views of the public, but this isn't what the conservative networks desire to show people. Now, people hold their own bias going into a news show -- say a negative bias of Black youth-- then the spun fact becomes the confirmation of their bias.
The echo chambers of social media don't help either. Even after all the years we have had of social media, people still do not seem to understand that someone who chooses not to show their identity should never be a trusted source. Rather, their confirmation bias gets turned into conspiracy bias and the anonymous or discredited source becomes the truth teller.
The blame then should be leveled on people's own bias (how did they get so mean in the first place?) and the outlets owned by people who have an interest in making money from implicit bias, which trashes any journalistic integrity that may have existed.
Too easy. First of all, you seem to assume that if you pay a lot for a master's degree, then somehow, that must magically lead to a solid education? Education quality is supposedly eternal? No changes possible... ??
Secondly, it's the uneducated who mostly fall for the neofascist propaganda that the GOP has been putting out for two decades now. So no, you can't just treat them as if their social background doesn't count and being well-informed is merely a matter of individual willpower...
You speak as someone who may not know anything about the programs of, say, Columbia's J school, or how a journalism grad degree works so I'll chalk up your opinion on that to lack of knowledge and personal bias against higher education (until you perhaps demonstrate otherwise.)
To the other matter,, it is NOT completely the un-educated that have been falling for neofascist propaganda. First it's not that they are uneducated but perhaps poorly educated, in that they were never taught how to distinguish propaganda. Their environment, their peer group, the popular culture they might consume, their church might be planting the seeds of a viewpoint that causes them to skew neo-fascist. A defensive and negative mindset that sees itself always under siege will almost always skew neo-fascist because fascism gives easy answers to complex problems. Your assertion also assumes that people who are better educated will be immune to neo-fascism. I would say this is false. If someone is of a particular social class and religion, they are in many cases inclined to support regimes that desire to keep rigid class boundaries. They will reward the candidate to considers "illegals" unworthy of their charity because of their hidebound belief in "word of law.," and so forth. This is why people such as the Mercer family funded Breitbart....
You also dismiss the fair educations of the striving middle class who are many of my peers-- I would call them high school plus educated (plus being a community college and or some university and "life experience.) . Some of us are comfortable with the Democratic view because we have acheved a level of education and money that is Enough. We also have a root in either a liberal form of a traditional religion or no religion at all. However there are those among the striving middle class for whom what they have is never enough. They have internalized the negative and conspiratorial thinking that comes from the working class and feel to deny their roots would be disloyal. They keep their loyalty to a defensive posture and wear it as a badge of honor. And so they call for the QAnons and believe that "illegals" are both taking jobs and are lazy. They may have been taught to think critically but will not change when their loyalty is challenged. I've seen this in staunch Catholics who won't admit that their attitudes towards "illegals" flies in the face of Jesus' teachings.
So, who votes and accepts neo-fascism is far more complex than saying it is ONLY the un-educated. Rather it's groups within the spectrum of rich, educated, grievance driven loyalists of the middle and the poorly educated.
1. Studies show that two-thirds of those without a college degree (= what is traditionally meant by "the uneducated") voted for Trump, and two-thirds of those with a college degree (the "educated") for Harris. I wrote "mostly" the uneducated, not "completely" - let alone "ONLY".
2. Trump and all MAGA rhetoric strongly denounced fascism, so no, most MAGA voters didn't vote for neofascism at all.
3. It's too easy to assume that MAGA voters must have a "negative and defensive mindset". People who truly suffer tend to feel this way, and in the past, they often unionized and voted for the left, so suffering is not enough to go for MAGA.
4. What makes you imagine that the "working class" by definition has "negative and conspirational thinking"?
5. Conservative Christianity is pretty much hollowed out these days indeed, but once that's the case, egoism and clinging to fixed identities are the result, not the cause...
6. As to the education of journalists, just ask yourself this: how many NYT headlines last summer accurately summed up Harris's policies and provided the necessary context (including the history of policy-making, Harris's long record in public office, the Biden record)? They almost don't exist. Then ask yourself this: how many live interviews did she do with journalists who were themselves informed enough to be able to come up with their own questions (created out of their own research in major policy issues facing the country) rather than regurgitating fake Trump tweets and asking Harris to debunk them herself? And I won't even start mentioning the presidential "debate". When ALL legacy media terribly fail to do their job, year in year out, something is very very wrong with the education of journalists in this country for sure.
“Trump and all MAGA rhetoric strongly denounced fascism, so no, most MAGA voters didn't vote for neofascism at all.”
Alas, the GOP exhibits all the hallmarks of a fascist movement, including trump as the clown at the head of it as a fake strongman. Reality doesn’t care when trump lies or if voters don’t realize they voted for a fascist movement. It’s just reality.
I'm only going to address a few of your points
1. To call those who did not go to college "the un-educated" is violently insulting and does not take into consideration the numbers of "educated" who voted for Trump. And yes, they are there. A study with no gray area in education gives a false-positive and plays into bias against working class folks who are not universal in their thinking.
2. To address your 4th point, how do I know this about the working class?? Lol....oh, honey, I've got some very deep working class roots. I got a full academic scholarship to a ritzy woman's college, but, as a friend described me, I'm "delightfully crass." Part of me has never fully left the working class. My husband, who is also highly educated, is also from a working class family. It's what I grew up with and still have a lot of interaction with working class folks -- probably more than you. While many of the people I know are very nice folks, when you get them going about politics, wow, some of them are all grievance and anger, even when they have little to be angry about. I could write you the most erudite and evidenced essay ( novella length) on the
You're blind!
Highly rational argument :-).
What do you disagree with more precisely, and why?
I apologize-this comment was not meant for you but the comments by Patricia Grier.
Thanks, apologies accepted.
For the most part, especially working class Whites, about half Trump's supporters aren't insane. They’re just ignorant or, when I'm in a less generous mood, stupid. They don't understand the world around them, so they glom onto anyone who exudes confidence while telling them that their problems are: a) not their fault, b) someone else's fault and c) easily fixed by going after the "others" that are screwing up their lives. I hope a bunch of Trump's people are just ignorant, because ignorance can be fixed. Stupid, however, can't. If Trump supporters really are just a bunch of stupid, insane clowns, then we as a nation are only at the very beginning of a long, long descent into the heart of darkness.
This is actually an extension of the diseased mind into society. Insanity is now part of the system. The “sanewashers” livelihood depends on trying to make sense of something that simply doesn’t. How many of us believe that we have to overlook the horrible effects of what we do, because not doing so would cause us to lose our jobs or suffer even worse consequences? When we don’t even ask ourselves that question we are living in a culture permeated by insanity. The original insane act was to allow a person, who under paranoid delusions used his position to unleash a riotous mob upon the capital only 4 years, 3 months and 5 days ago, to run for and be elected President of the United States. It wasn’t cynical, it wasn’t craven, it wasn’t rational business strategy. It was to be in the thrall of a folie a deux. In other words it was crackers. It’s hard to admit, but sooner we ALL realize it the better. Time spent trying to rationalize the position we are in is time wasted in a dystopian dreamland of our own making. Paul Krugman is spot on to call it what it is - insanity.
Dunning-Krueger at its best…
What really scares me are the previously rational, intelligent people I have known who got sucked into MAGA. They got pulled in back in the 90s when the mainstream media helped promote right wing pseudo-scandals about the Clintons. The NYT was the one pushing the Whitewater, Travegate, Filegate and Chinagate lies. Then they started watching Fox News .
I like the New York-ese argot we use for the Trumps of this world, he's a major "wack job". A wack job with a facile grasp of worldly affairs, let alone international trade or macroeconomics. Trying to second guess him or his motives beyond his morbid delusions of grievance will exhaust you and won't even register with him.
Grim eh?
Grimm
True but by supporting Trump they have very seriously hurt their own interests. They are finally waking up to the fact that trust in the US democracy is key to their financial health
Underneath every conversation with the magaverse is your fundamental point Connie.
Yes the idea of ‘drug’ treatment for 80 million is a challenge! Particularly when they get the drugs delivered for free, sort of. But the cost is coming directly at them!
Yes, it would imply that 49.5% of the voters were ignorant, morons, bigots, or malign.
It doesn’t imply that, it provides evidence of it. The clearest evidence? Trump is in the White House; MTG, Boebert and Tuberville are in congress.
By definition, they can't. The insane don't realize they're insane, they genuinely believe the instructions they get from the mothership are real.
Indeed.
Shame is a powerful inhibitor of positive action.
The hell it is, everyone remotely Trump adjacent is getting away with everything short of murder (and RFK Jr. is rapidly approaching murder) because they have no shame.
My point was about those who supported Trump in delusion of expecting something else.
For elected Republicans, their shame could inhibit them from acting against Trump. Note that many elected Republicans have spoken out against Trump excesses, but have yet to act.
Now only if we can get them to override their shame ... it doesn't take many for impeachment in the House, and maybe gives a (slim) chance of conviction in the Senate.
Fully deserved. Actually, the US has always struck me, as a frequent visitor once, as a third world-ish country, its airports and cities particularly. And its social and education programs definitely, topped by health care. Yes, rich, but with huge income inequalities, absurd minimum wage, woeful public transportation, corrupt courts and political system. All these things resulted in Trump, not caused by him. Bring on the collapse of the US and a realignment and rebirth of a new international system.
I’m a US citizen and I completely agree with you. I first noticed this at 13 years old, upon returning from my first trip to Europe. I was suddenly struck by how dirty US cities were in comparison to European ones. And everything you’re saying about the inequalities, poor services etc (I work in healthcare and get to see that one up close) is true. We did make a little progress under Obama and Biden, but Dr Krugman’s point is that Trump is making an already shaky semi-first world country indisputably a third world one, and he’s right.
As a U.S. citizen who has traveled the world, U.S. infrastructure has long been a shambles compared to its peer nations.
This is very sad but I fear is true! You did not mention vengeance and cruelty - not to mention idiocy.
Oh, that was just a partial list! I really should have mentioned the institutionalized racism, and the mal-effects of religion and the media. Don't get me going! But one big takeaway from Professor Krugman is that the credibility of the US is lost for a generation, and like it or not, its reputation as a serious world power is irrevocably damaged. Almost humorous but illustrative, but today the head of the Greenland military base was fired for not being sufficiently obsequious to the Vances.
Thank you for telling us about the head of the Greenland military base being fired. Of course that didn’t make it into mainstream news . Not surprising. The Vances expect to be treated like royalty now like Trump. This is no longer a democracy!
Well, it's on the front page of the BBC.
And in Canada!
And the New York Times.
Makes you want to melt an ice cap don't it!
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/creq99l218do
And the AP.
Vance is a buffoon, enthrawled by his imagined power.
Singling out America for bashing should not be the point. There are complex historical motivations for the long-standing choice of Americans to have a less generous social
safety net than other countries, motivations which tend not to be well understood by those looking in from the outside.
The point is that rising autocracy is a worldwide political phenomenon caused by profound soci-economic changes, the world is still in the midst of these processes and we don’t know yet how well Canada and Europe will be able to avoid a similar fate to the U.S. in the near-term.
Given that before this moment in history passes , a slew of other countries may yet have their taste of autocracy, I am much less fearful that America’s
reputation as a serious world power will be “irrevocably” damaged than I am concerned about how we mobilize to counter-act the damage now underway.
Do tell us of the "complexities" of "Americans long-standing choice" to have "a less-than generous social safety net". I'll wait. The story as most of us understand it is that corporate and conservative forces transformed their ethos into something more fruitful for themselves by declaring that taxes were a stranglehold on profits; the working and lower middle-class unions cut into profits and skewed the holy order of free markets, therefore they must be diminished through busting and/or shipping jobs elsewhere; the succeeding generations of loser/lazy working- and lower middle-class citizens did worse and became yet another cost to bear what with their need to eat, get medical care, and other irritating social ills borne on the wings of their unpatriotic hopelessness; the Gods of Tech rose to help the revenue streams and glorious rise of hard-earned wealth, but then even it was burdened by market restrictions that prevented manipulation of the masses and the leftist insistence that these healthy new revenue streams go unhindered by any taxation whatsoever; the working and middle-classes perpetual whining about the cost of sending their children to university, curiously upset by the privatization of lending that ended up doubling, or better yet for the profit line, tripling the cost of education; and then the right's dismay at how horrible the public schools, entrusted to the citizenry, had become. All combined, and thank God the loyal soldiers in the Republican party lined up 45 years ago and, in true patriotic fashion, declared that a government that did anything to help the real downsides of these decisions for suffering citizens was THE problem. So they decided to give the Americans the "choice to have a less-generous social safety net," and the choice was to either be an evil, God-hating, socialist, commie feminist, or pull yourself up by the community, like all good Americans ever did! After all, the working- and middle-class can always encourage their kids to join the military, because no-tax, profit-loving, right-leaning corporations and their minions now need to rule the world. For profits. But gosh, don't worry, no one will see the body bags, and our Republican party will remain silent about the needy shame of the VA.
MAP, what puzzles me is why the Democrats do not put up a full-throated platform to help the working class (which would include all the struggling class). After all there’s many more of them than the pundits and the plutocrats. Start with Bernie’s idea and DOUBLE the minimum wage; even then it would move from $9/hour to only $18/hour. Has any of us tried to live on $72/day? And then, solve the single biggest cause of insecurity and stress for nearly all Americans: medical bills, and provide universal coverage (borrow from other systems: Switzerland; Canada; Australia). Start addressing inequality by more income redistribution including ending the absurd plutocrats’ tax-free inheritance rorts, and make sure working classes see the benefits. And sideline the extreme Left in the Dems: ditch all the identitarian fetishes to focus solely on “ordinary Joe’s” concerns; no more transgender affirmative orders on the first day in office while leaving the borders wide open for two years. Then, the Dems would have a positive platform to actually attack the Republicans for their malice and cruelty…and to mock them for their stupidity.
If you revisit the long slog Barack Obama had to try and create a federal health insurance plan, you'll understand why Democrats in Congress don't act more boldly on wage and healthcare issues -- they are also in the pockets of the lobbyists whose business models demand a unregulated marketplace. You can hand it to Obama, though, that her did achieve one victory and that is no more pre-existing condition refusals; insurance companies in the market must accept anyone who can pay their premiums. Access to affordable health insurance is better overall, but it depends upon what state you live in, and its still a system whose CEOs earn hundreds of millions a year, rather than an efficient national health plan. Too many young people 18-25 don't vote, and this is the central reason Trump won, alongside shifting allegiance from Latino males (affected by the Democrats habit of voicing concerns over transgender care access for children rather than schools improvement). It will take decades to solve our problems, if ever. Millions of us have seen this day comíng, but the USA has been so rich, so well-armed militarily and in the citizenry, that no one has had the courage to do something substantial. We'll have to suffer economically and with depradation of Trumpian values. I am just so sorry it affects the entire world because the USA has been "the game" for so long.
That sums it up nicely
"Singling out America for bashing should not be the point. There are complex historical motivations for the long-standing choice of Americans to have a less generous social safety net than other countries, motivations which tend not to be well understood by those looking in from the outside."
Oh puleeze. 'The long-standing choice' is rooted, as today, in the centuries-old white supremacist stain on America, from the beginning to today. Anyone different than the current ruling class is a dirty unamerican cheater who doesn't deserve anything.
Nobody is going to even try and take over IMO. China has belt and road, but it’s not like they’re really going to step up beyond that. Plus it’s not like France or Britain were all that better stewards when they were more in charge. Take all the shots you want at America (many/all of them deserved!), but I think the world is going to stay unipolar long after many of us are long gone.
Can't think that Canada and Europe will be helping shore up that unipolar world. No security in it for them; nothing much in it for them. I think you're wrong, esp. if the US keeps going down this autocracy route. And the UK and France were awful, but the US is another magnitude.
Canada and Slovenia or whoever else you mean by “Europe” are more than welcome to start a new version of a United Nations Security Council, NATO and/or anything else they like without America. You can think they will, but I’m very confident they will not.
If the US backs out of NATO, it won't be long before Europe is another major world power. In another decade or 2, bigger militarily than the US if it continues down the autocratic route. And maybe in any case. They have more that 50% more population, a bigger economy, with the poorer countries developing rapidly.
Europe is a major part of why the US is currently a world power.
You don't get it. There will be no UN, Nato, etc. if the US goes on like this. There will be nothing to lead. The days of the US as a world leader are over. Other alliances will evolve. But the US is not forever. Now go away.
Yeah, the observation that the U.S. is in many ways a high-end version of a Third World country is not new, and it continues to be sadly relevant.
More guns than inhabitants.
Actually, the erosion of our judicial system is a relatively recent and definitely incomplete phenomenon. The judicial branch and the military are our only real hope. God help us.
I'd put more faith in - and I can't believe I'm writing this - the military, but only because we don't know how far the rot has gone there, whereas the rot in the judicial system goes all the way.
We need a new utopian dream.
We had better get our collective cognition coordinated or that rebirth will be directed by the fertilization president.
In the past from time to time visiting the US, I would get a lot of unsolicited feedback of how they envied our health system (which isn't perfect) or our peaceful environment (we have very few shootings).
I wondered why people didn't do more to get that, then started to realize that there are strong forces fighting progress.
Maybe trumpism will push the people to insist on what is the right of everyone in a country that can afford it ... as the ÙS surely can.
I worked hard to get the ACA passed. So did countless others. The myth that we are a country of individuals that pull themselves up by their bootstraps is incredibly strong. Too many have no compassion for neighbors.
Obama brought improvements with the ACA, but unfortunately resistance caused it to avoid universal health insurance.
Private insurance drives up health costs.
I've heard that myth of everyone for themselves from many on visits to the US. Fron those against it, expressing envy of the Canadian system which takes care of others.
I hope the damage of the current trumpism helps turn the tide.
A lot of what is right in western Europe & Japan was set in place with US help during the post WW2 period. Many good examples.
Obama and others focused on what could be done, not all we wanted to. Despite numerous efforts by Republicans, the ACA continues to cover tens of millions who previously had no health insurance. Yes, private insurance raises costs, as does the requirement for hospitals to treat the uninsured. It would be great if Americans would develop more compassion, but it will take more time.
America has a bad historic race system that is still problematic. As well as countless other problems. It’s not like we’re not trying though. Plus it’s not like Britain, France, Australia, Japan, Canada or anyone else should really be throwing stones IMO. We all have our problems.
Oh, for the love of god. And you're trying? Where have you been these last two months?
I don’t think the US is third world country but it does have third world thinking. Believing in foolish conspiracies and deep state is typical of dictator countries. I don’t know of a single dictator who doesn’t adhere to a conspiracy theory. A lot of the problems in the US are and have been self inflicted. I don’t blame politicians as much as other but actually the people. It’s the people that is the major problems as much as the politicians. It’s like the drug war, you can’t just blame the drug dealer but also the drug user. Trump is a result of the people who voted for him.
The
Canada spends much less on health care (public & private) than the US, and everyone is covered by quality health care.
Private health insurance is costly and inefficient.
Everyone has access to quality education, at least to high school graduation, where conditional funding to regional govts guarantees quality in poorer areas.
Canada isn't unique, it is true for most industrialized countries. Many have free post-secondary education as well.
The US is the big exception.
Education is variable in the US because federal funding does not co-opt the states to cooperate to ensure quality.
The big difference between the US & Canada is that health care INSURANCE is universal & public, as opposed to insurance being private & thus much more expensive in the US. This is controled by each province, partially financed by the federal govt.
Doctors are paid on a fee for service basis in Canada, like in the US.
Another difference is that starting in the 1950s, hospitals are financed and controled by govt, even if some remain technically private.
As well, the federal govt provides conditional financing to the provinces to ensure that everyone, even the poor, has access to quality health care & quality education.
(Those with lower incomes pay reduced or no health insurance premiums, while those with higher incomes pay a fixed amount.)
We also have a federal unemployment insurance scheme, unlike the US where that is handled by each state.
This required a constitutional amendment during the great depression of the 1930s.
As for as health & education in the US, it is evidently quite variable in quality, which is indeed a characteristic of 3rd world countries, where the well off can have excellent health care & education, but many don't. Of course the US is much better than most 3rd world countries.
Comparing a unitary state like the UK with a federal state like the US is indeed like comparing apples with oranges.
However the federal govt could play a bigger or more effective role. Canada is only one federal system of many that could show options for improvement.
The mad king is not reasonable at all and has never been. Big business, big media, the Republican Congress and the Republican Supreme Court will do little to nothing to try to restrain him, if that is even possible at this point. The mad king is bringing our country to its knees and will destroy it before he is done. One way or the other, he must not be allowed to further transform our democracy into an autocracy. How, I don’t know, but Trump must be contained or replaced.
That’s what the power-sharing basis of the Constitution was supposed to ensure. However, the Framers never anticipated a situation where all three branches of government would be in one man’s hand, as they are now. Turns out the US Constitution hasn’t stood the test of time.
We're now face to face with the realization that all along it was dependent on the "honor" system. The framers couldn't imagine that someone with no honor would ascend to the throne. Now we know.
Indeed. And that’s why abolishing all traces of presidential immunity must be a top priority when the new Constitution is written.
Any sport has rules, and penalties for those who disobey them. A game where one player has a free pass to do whatever he wants will inevitably descend into anarchy. Same thing here: one must always anticipate what to do when, not if, someone breaks the rules.
That's why it's imperative that we Rise! Resist! ✊✊✊
April 19 is the next nationwide rally, be there or be square!
//
Don't let up folks, it's working:
Boycott TE卐LA! Boycott Swastikar!
Short TE卐LA! Short Swastikar!
Boycott 卐tarlink!
Boycott 卐/Twitter!
Curb your DOGE!
https://generalstrikeus.com/strikecard
Do not forget Amazon/Whole foods and all things Meta. With a little in confidence we can take these fools down.
Oh yeah! Absolutely! A major nationwide general boycott would be great.
Where have you gone Lee Harvey Booth? Our nation turns its lonely eyes to you.
Or John Wilkes Oswald?
Sirhanadanaczolgosz too.
We now need The Jackal.
In previous comments here, I have said that CDs, bank certificates of deposit, are a safe place to ride out the Trump Tempest. That's because, like the banks, they are insured by the FDIC, so no one can lose money, unless Trump attacks the FDIC. Guess what? A little research shows that Trump is indeed attacking the FDIC.
CD don't really protect your wealth, it protects your USD against... USD! If today 100 USD buys one widget imported from China and you need 120 USD in a year from now, your CD at 4% won't do it. I've often heard over the years that USA export their inflation, but that is what is changing.
I agree, mostly, but consider that a new CD at 5% will do it. Alternatively, don't buy the tariffed product, or find a substitute. I know, easier said than done.
Predictably.
What exactly did Trump expect from the clear rejection he and his administration are showing toward foreign capital entering the U.S.? Every year, massive amounts of European — and global — funds flow into the American market because of the strong return on investment the U.S. typically guarantees. But how can anyone invest confidently in America when the VIX, a key measure of market volatility, is reaching levels comparable to the March 2020 pandemic crash?
This kind of instability can only weaken the position of U.S. assets.
On top of that, blocking or even just obstructing global trade with the U.S. — which is exactly what tariffs do — will inevitably harm the global economy. And a weaker global economy means fewer funds available to invest in U.S. bonds. The rising yields on Treasury bonds are already making this clear.
We are seeing a kind of “Argentinization” of the U.S. economy. All the warning signs are there: a weakening currency, the prospect of sustained high inflation, and rising interest rates on public debt. And it’s important to note that over the next year, the U.S. will need to refinance roughly $7 trillion in government debt. Higher interest rates in that context are not just inconvenient — they’re dangerous.
This is not the behavior of a stable, trusted reserve currency issuer. It’s what we expect from emerging markets in crisis — not from the United States.
As soon as it became clear the degree to which loyalty to Trump and yesman-ism were the requirements for office (and that competence was irrelevant), it should have been obvious to anyone that the country would head to third-world status. The only surprise to me is how fast it is happening.
The problem isn’t that people underestimated Trump’s stupidity or intransigence. Trump told us who he is, and what he would do.
The problem is people thought he was an actual businessman, who thinks and acts rationally. In other words, they couldn’t separate the “showman” or reality TV star, from the incompetent clown Trump is, and always was.
And it’s not like we didn’t experience four years of his destruction during COVID. He tried to do many of the same things, but the guardrails and grown up’s in the room, were able to keep him in check.
People heard what they wanted to hear, disregarding all the warning signs. And we had ample evidence of his lack of business acumen; four casino bankruptcies, and his entire real state empire crashing down in 1990.
Furthermore, during all these years, no bank would do business with Trump. His money came from Russia, and the only bank to eventually lend him money was Deutsche Bank; the bank that paid hundreds of millions in fines for laundering …wait for it….wait for it; Russian mob money, and sanctioned Russian Oligarchs (straw men for Putin).
Bottom line: the evidence was staring us in the face all the time, most of us just decided to ignore it: Trump is a Russian STOOGE! IMHO…:)
I read somewhere that the extreme disruption of COVID caused many to >not remember< just how bad Trump was four years before. Hey, there's gotta be some rational reason why he was elected!
When you figure it out, please let me know…:)
Elons teen goons playing with the voting machine
You would think the supposedly august NYT, would have seen fit to mention all of this, You and I, and many others knew it. Yet they never saw fit to point it out in one coherent narrative. "But her emails" by the hundreds, matched later by "Biden is old" headlines by the hundreds were printed.
This can’t continue for almost four years. A Jefferson Airplane song comes to mind.
https://youtu.be/Xaw--HWHecg?si=CQkt2cPqVGvMtnuD
Perfect!
I immediately thought it would be White Rabbit - 'one pill makes you smaller...'
Whatever Trumpski is on
Another true classic.
A true classic.
This is flushing out late 60s potheads! Or least the ones who have kept some of the ideals of that time.
It’s the enabling, stupid. Every step of the way, he has been and continues to be enabled, by Congress and the Extreme Court, most obviously, but also big corporate media, big fat stinking rich law firms, big fat stinking rich billionaires, and the 45% of this country that hasn’t the brains to see what’’s right in front of their faces. Poll after poll still, STILL!!, shows his approval in the low 40’s. Can it get any more depressing? It tells me that there is literally nothing he can do to lose his support. Let’s not delude ourselves, 2026 and certainly 2028 aren’t going to change a thing. The rest of my life will be spent refusing to succumb to the overwhelming stupidity.
I do believe there is a whole lot of stupid involved, and I wholly agree with you that we should focus on the willing and conscious enablers who definitely know they could do better, particularly in Congress and SCOTUS, but among the powerful law firms as well.
But I don't really trust a lot of the polling as being the truth.
Remember, the Republicans were not only careful to buy out radio first (Sinclair), then set up their own propaganda TV channel (Fox), then get their oligarchs to buy out major newspapers and destroy local ones (Bezos at WAPO, Murdoch's influence at NYTimes, and the increasing number of local news deserts out there), but Republicans also bought out most of the polling firms as well, and the minute they did, there was a curious skewing towards Republicans, over and over again.
The general strategy is for this minority of power seekers to pretend they are the majority. They are not. They want us to despair and withdraw in frustration.
But guess what? They are doing so much damage to America, destroying Democracy and even our health and wellbeing, that we cannot afford to withdraw. Which brings us back to enablers.
Minor correction: Murdoch at the WSJ.
The country may never recover from the destruction being done by Trump 2.0 and his enablers. It won't even begin unless or until they are all held to account for what they are doing. What does that mean? It means that they need to be put on notice today, all of them From Trump, Vance and Musk on down, that there will be investigations and prosecutions for the crimes they are committing. By 2029 the destruction might be so bad that Roberts may reconsider the damage he did by giving Trump any immunity for official acts, but then again, a good prosecutor can easily argue that little Trump is doing are official acts as most of what he is doing is illegal or unconstitutional or both.
Except 6/9 of the SUPREMES declared tRump immune to prosecution. and he will just pardon the rest of his regime. One incredibly corrupt president supported by many fanatic and greedy enablers is going to bring down the Republic.
True, for now. Do not forget that King Dipshit is 78 years old, morbidly obese, with a terrible diet and obvious dementia. He may not last long enough to pardon anyone. And there is no successor as cult leader...
But there are people involved in the Trumpist government who are using Trump as their useful idiot in their pursuit of their agenda of turning the US into a fascist state with themselves as part of the ruling cabal.
If for reasons of health issues on the part of Trump, his presidency ends before the end of his term, that’ll change the flavour of the nightmare that is this government, but it won’t end the nightmare.
But JD would. He is there to give the Oligarchs continued influence. The MAGAts don't like him, but that is not necessary if we don't have any more elections.
Suspect he is on ozempic (or similar). Some pictures show cheekbones emerging.
IMO, that's just skilled photography and a bit of Photoshop. During the campaign, there were many shots of him with a seemingly normal complexion. All Photoshop work.
You will need a Constitutional reform. The flaws in this 250-year-old document are now too obvious to ignore. However, that can only happen post-MAGA, lest things become even worse.
FINALLY Anne Applebaum just concurred that the guardrails have COMPLETELY FAILED. 250 years of theory and hoped for restraints but/and the first actual encounter with a tyrant and the checks/balances/guardrails NEVER worked at all. complete failure. (The Atlantic)
I've been saying it since before Jan 20, 2025 and hers is the first voice of the 'experts' on democracy who has also stated it in just that term: FAILURE of the guardrails theorized/planned/hoped for in the constitution. completely non-operational.
Humans will push any system to its breaking point. It's why I have been saying we need a new Constitution with some actual teeth in it and a reasonable method to recall an unsatisfactory president. And we just cannot let one person to wield this much power. Maybe an executive council of 5-7 elected members.
Roberts rethinking his position? - ha!! Hell will freeze over before that cabal will step up. Alito? Gorsuch? Kavenaugh? Possibly Coney Barrett, though I won't hold my breath.
We're going to need a lot of guillotines.
Professor Krugman: how on Earth can this sort of economic, political and policy chaos continue for even a few months longer before the nation implodes and collapses? what will happen to americans then?
It can't. Abject poverty is what happens to those of us who aren't already there. Then comes the explosion of rage and the subsequent guillotining of the culprits.
The French Revolution redux?
"Let them eat cake!" Chop!
Just to remind everyone, none of the sound and fury of the last week or so changed anything about Trump's tariffs on Canada and Mexico. The tariffs he already put on steel, aluminum and the auto industry stayed at the high level they were at. The US's top three trading partners all have stupid tariffs on their products, and, in the case of Canada and Mexico, in violation of the agreement Trump himself negotiated and was so proud of in his first administration.
It will be a long time, if ever, before Canada will fully trust the USA again.
Someone please convince me that Putin is not pulling all the strings on his puppet.
And it is not "just" Trump.
The world, that does pay attention to our politics, like Americans pay attention to reality TV shows, also sees a GOP congress who are unwilling to reign him in.
If it was clear that there were guardrails, I do not think we would be seen as such a risky bet, and Trump talking about a "third term" does not help.
Congress could eliminate Trump's tariff powers which he is clearly stretching, as well, but the House axed the proposal, and I assume they would need a veto proof number to pass it.
How far do we have to unravel for congress to act?
Considering that what happened on Jan 6th was not enough... and people chose to not even believe their own eyes...
On the news the other day, Trump was compared to the UK's Truss, but we can't quickly unseat our leaders like they can.
The world sees that some in charge here have bought into the GOPs political and economic talking point nonsense spread by right-wing media that was only supposed to dupe the masses into voting for them, not those who would hold office. Sadly, it seems like after decades of these lies, many who grew up with them as their parents watched right-wing cable news, actually believe it is all real and/or accept it as fact and many now even hold office.
Instead of addressing this crisis, they just passed a budget framework to add trillions more to deficits and debt and are doubling down on all the nonsense.
The GOP only get one simple majority BR a year. They might want to save it to use in order to save our economy instead.
We may have brainwashed out of being a superpower and a wealthy innovative economy by decades of right-wing nonsense.
However, even this does not fully explain Trump and his enablers because I am even seeing some right-wing think tank people on the PBS NewsHour who seem quite sane by comparison and see the danger here and who are now not making excuses for this administration (a bit too little too late).
Decades of lies and GOP grifting have snowballed into this.
It has started:
IDIOCRACY (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sP2tUW0HDHA)
No one talks about the desperate need to stop this downward spiral in the country. Not only tariffs but the continued blackmailing of universities, disappearing people, taking away legal social security benefits, the desecration of all minorities, white supremacy . . . on and on and on.
Dear Professor Krugman,
I think the point of the tariffs is that it's the only way the administration can raise revenue from the middle and lower economic class es to 'pay for' more big tax cuts for the rich and large corporations.
Michael
Trump and his flying monkeys may think they can replace income tax revenue with tariff revenue, but it simply won’t work. A 100% universal tariff would generate $3 trillion a year in a perfect world, but 100% universal tariffs would cause imports to drop dramatically AND draw massive retaliation that would dramatically reduce other forms of government revenue. There’s no situation in which tariffs will meaningfully offset income tax.
Paul said this last week. It’s a ruse. It was never meant to be true. How many times can we be fooled and played. Another diversion to pretend other countries are paying for the tax cut for the comfort capitalist class. It doesn’t have to be true to fool the lower class that doesn’t read. Doesn’t listen to paul. Doesn’t care about politics because in their opinions politicians are all stooges and money grubbers. The ignorance is astounding on so many levels.
I think that’s definitely one motivation, perhaps the main one.