The two things I remember most vividly from the Catalog:
1. A treatise on how to hitchhike, which talked about not being pissed because you're not getting a ride, and ended with "look like the people you want to ride with."
1. An item about having good tools and taking care of them. Something like "Sit in a circle and pass around the good screwdriver. This driver only drives screws. This driver doesn't open paint cans, doesn't pry wood" etc etc.
It is wonderful that we are still able to have a passionate discussion about Don Quixote's state of mind. The world would be a better place if our arguments were about books, music and pictures. Miguel de Cervantes book is a national treasure, probably Spain's most important novel, describing the difficult transition from the Middle Ages to new times. What Don Quixote is to the Spanish, Captain Ahab used to be for Americans. Now please don't ask me who Ahab was...
"In short, his wits being quite gone, he hit upon the strangest notion that ever madman in this world hit upon, and that was that he fancied it was right and requisite, as well for the support of his own honour as for the service of his country, that he should make a knight-errant of himself, roaming the world over in full armour and on horseback in quest of adventures, and putting in practice himself all that he had read of as being the usual practices of knights-errant; righting every kind of wrong, and exposing himself to peril and danger from which, in the issue, he was to reap eternal renown and fame. Already the poor man saw himself crowned by the might of his arm Emperor of Trebizond at least; and so, led away by the intense enjoyment he found in these pleasant fancies, he set himself forthwith to put his scheme into execution."
Alonso Quixano decided to become a knight errant in times when knights were long extinct, renamed himself Don Quixote and amongst other "feats" attacked windmills in the belief that they were giants. That sounds a bit deluded to me. But then you might have been facetious, it is hard to tell these days.
"Esoteric writing" refers to a style of writing that is intended for a select few, often containing hidden meanings or complex concepts only accessible to those with specialized knowledge, while "exoteric writing" is readily understandable by a general audience, presenting information in a clear and accessible manner, essentially meaning "outer" or public knowledge compared to the "inner" esoteric knowledge.
Based on other comments to this post, it looks like we have another comment troll (or the same one, rebranded). Although the responses here are good, best not to feed the trolls.
I think MAGA brain is also trauma brain, seeking pleasure from others pain, bc MAGA brain didn’t get their basic human need met of ENOUGH love, compassion and empathy. What’s left is greed, hate, and a desire for power. All his minions love him bc he mirrors their despair. IMHO.
Now that I’m thinking about it, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, Teach your Children would work well as my musical CODA. 🫶🏼
The MAGA brain (or AfD, RN, Vox, ...) is more devious than that. They know that the problem is not there, but still push it to a broad audience that believe them at face value. Next they come up with their miracle solution... for a problem that doesn't even exist. Fair enough to fall into that trap for the part of the population that informs itself poorly. The problem however is that the super-rich, applauding loudly during the inauguration, know that most of Trump's speech are just lies, but shut up, smile, and nod in agreement.
I've never seen a more striking example of "The emperor's new clothes."
That and they believe only their worldview is valid annd only their tribe is fit to rule - they abandoned governing when it didn’t lead to the results they want.
That particular story has been on my mind since the beginning of the Trump I administration. However, I've long feared that in the U.S. of A., the child who spoke the truth would have been torn limb from limb by the furious crowd.
I'm from Belgium, the country of René Magritte. We know a thing or two about surrealism 😶. I think that Audrey is right: during the entire inauguration nothing was what it seemed.
Blood Red Texas gets 28.6% of it's power from wind. Amazing that the blood red states have the most to lose here. Someone needs to tell the DC Village Idiot that wind doesn't cost anything. Amazing. Trump is also looking to eliminate EV tax breaks. You know here most if not all EV battery plants in the USA are located? Red States. Did you all know that if we didn't pay Oil Subsides the price of a gal of gas would be $12? Once again Republicans have voted to screw themselves and all I guess just so they could feel good about being racist? I'm 67 and I've never seen a president so much supported by the people he screws over the most. Jim Jones 2.0.
When you have a few go to Investopedia and look up US Gov Subsides and look at the top of the list. And Paul is right, Trump on National TV told the Oil Industry to give him a billion and they would get whatever they want. Trump has figured out that legal or illegal doesn't matter, the only thing that matters is can he defeat whatever means exist to hold him to account. He has proven that is the hole in our system the founders didn't see. And Trump will exploit these by every possible means. Roy Cohen tactics plain and simple.
It's not just the ACA that's at risk. Stealth privitization of Medicare has been going on for quite a while now. See Medicare Advantage and Medicare Plan B if you doubt this. And what's left of the publicly financed portion of Medicare will be financially unsustainable due to all the tax cuts, inflation and military spending increases we'll see over the next 2 to 4 years or so. It's always been the Right's plan to get rid of the government's social safety net programs by denying them funds. Trump is the best chance they've had to actually pull it off in generations.
They will not realise that, and why should they? They got rid of terrible Obamacare, and in response the diabolical left somehow murdered their beloved ACA. Those dastardly leftists!
It's a joke, but on a serious note, if you are going to rely on A"wait until they realise" you'll never win anything. Left wing also steadfast in refusal to realise anything. It's just how it is.
Just an observation concerning a misconception that’s been going on for years, AND NOT anything to be used in a policy or strategy argument. That being said, organizing with determination as the shit hits the fan is my actual suggestion.
Yes, the US is a rich country technically, but for anyone who has travelled at all, it is the poorest rich country in the world. And the worst rich country to live in if you aren't rich. Even the rich are poor outside their bubbles.
As a retired teacher I saw plenty of what you're calling "MAGA brain" in administrators who wouldn't accept any proposed solution to a perceived problem that didn't rely on fussing at and punishing people.
I believe it's a part of human nature that some of us have grown out of.
And add NIH work coming to a halt - that puts research on everything on hold.
300K at NIH, research at other institutions including every university and hospitals in jeopardy.
He has put Jay Bhattacharya who went to Stanford - and never touched a patient - and without residency training went to work for Hoover. Working as a shill for billionaire think tank - to make sure that healthcare is used to generate wealth for industry rather than take care of people.
He rose into prominence with Great Barrington Declaration to say all of us get herd immunity against a virus which the host cannot induce long term immunity - and then very successful in reining down all mitigations.
MAGA mush doesn’t do reason and it doesn’t do data. It does conspiracy theory, grievance and scapegoating. With MAGA mush, as with all cults, the irrational is king and the führer inerrant. No amount of reasoning and data will change the MAGA mind. It has to be deprogrammed. And that’s a subtle and difficult enough task where a single cult member is concerned. Deprogamming half the population of the Unites States is impossible. The only hope for the US, is a MAGA implosion. That’s not entirely out of the question. We’ll have to wait and see… I’m not holding my breath. Btw, MAGA doesn’t do democracy either. It’s the culmination of an anti-democratic political tendency in the US since its inception. MAGA mush needs to be led. It is deeply religious; as such it is accustomed to being led. All that to say, that we may be witnessing the irreversible conversion of a former bastion of democracy into an authoritarian dictatorship. May we live in interesting times…
I think that Professor Krugman is giving Donald too much credit for thinking. Now, I do think that Donald is clever and devious and intentionally does and says things for effect or as part of some plan. But a lot of his basic beliefs and things that he does are just instinctive.
Donald does not have to act "harsh and unfeeling." He is just that way without thinking about it. Donald, and many of his MAGA faithful, have a belief system in which it is believed that the world and society would be great if people would just do what they say. Many of them are ignorant and arrogant. Donald and MAGA have simple solutions to very complicated problems. They are also very much prejudiced in the belief that white men are the only ones capable of doing important things. Regardless of what Donald and MAGA might say in public, they very much believe that there are two classes of people: first class is heterosexual white men, second class is everyone else.
Notice that the only concrete plans that Hegseth has proposed for the Department of Defense is to end DEI and to bring back the names of Confederate Generals on military bases. He seems to know or care nothing about weapons systems, defense strategy, and so forth.
An old man once told me that he thought that the only cars worth having were those with back wheel drive. The big muscle cars. He did not seem to accept that there are some very good automobiles with front wheel drive -- which most cars are now.
Donald follows that thinking. Oil and gas made the country great so let's stick with oil and gas. Also, the petroleum companies have a lot of money to give Donald. And also, the liberals and progressives support green energy so that is a good reason to oppose it.
When Donald was young his father refused to rent or sell to Black People and Donald still follows that thinking. Nostalgia for the good old days of Jim Crow is still strong in some places.
Donald happened along when a large part of his thinking meshed with the thinking of a large group of people in the country. Race/culture/religion/nostalgia have been used in politics for many years in parts of the South. Donald just took it nationwide.
Donald and MAGA are/will do a lot of damage to the country and particularly the Federal Government. I would be the first to admit that there are things in the Federal Government which need reform. For example, the Pentagon could use a lot of new thinking. But to help the situation, the people looking at the Pentagon would need to know a lot about defense policy and defense strategy, weapons systems and so forth. Donald and MAGA want to avoid competence and knowledge at all costs.
But over the very long term, I think Donald and MAGA will lose out. People forget that the climate (or environment) and the economy both have minds of their own. The environment is going to change whether we like it or not and the earth will deal with climate change whether we like or not.
The same with the economy. Change is driven mostly by economics and technology. We are in a global economy because communication and shipping are cheaper (relatively) than they have ever been. We will have more electric vehicles and windmills in the future regardless of what anyone thinks. Donald and MAGA might slow it down, but they can't stop it.
Women, Black people, LGBT, immigrants and others will also continue to improve their situations.
Donald is clever and devious exactly like a four-year old (and I mean this literally) lethal threat that I used to babysit. No joke, this kid didn’t hesitate to use violent means to get what he wanted (a toy, to go to the park, my hair-tie), knew the value of a public scene, had a strong grasp on who was susceptible to a moral equivalence argument when he got “in trouble”, lied like he breathed, and was also the most charming and eloquent child you can imagine.
Donald’s development arrested before he turned five, of that I have no doubt, and in addition, he was born afflicted with the mental disorder of psychopathy.
That Swedish sage might have added "and so much greediness" to his observation. I think Trump is completely in bed with the fossil fuel energy oligarchs and the tech oligarchs who are desperate for enough energy to power their AI farms. And that's what he's all about. Beyond that, my honest (and excruciating) question is: Why are we so complacent?
Didn't the oil execs actually say they didn't want to 'drill, baby, drill'? These guys are capitalists; they understand where supply is at and what happens with increased production. And if supply increases while Trump's tariffs slow down the world's economy - hoo boy.
There's MAGA brain, but not to forget the mega-rich puppeteers pulling the strings and trying to control the stampede. (Whether stampedes have a brain at all is an open question.) Long-term thinking is not their forte.
Not that it makes it intelligible. It isn't. But it's understandable in a way that makes it possible for us to fight it. The point of authority isn't intelligibility, it's obedience. And submission. So, nothing to do with making sense.
It has to be beaten. Professing a belief in crazy shit is part of the bargain, and amounts to a vow of support. Membership dues. Crazier gets you a higher degradation ranking, and increased position and responsibility. Responsibility for the unquestioning implementation of the will of fearless leader. If 'higher degradation' has a weird ring of inconsistency or perversion to it that's the point. It locks you into the cult. They hope to the death. And many of the MAGA are on board with that, though you never know who's willing to die for the cause until it comes down to it, I think.
Yes! This is EXACTLY the issue! There’s no more pure expression of power than to have people accept your fake version of reality rather than the reality slapping you in the face. That’s what this “energy emergency” is, a raw expression of forced submission.
Deluded persons have fought windmills before...
Ha! Brilliant! You win the internet today.
Cool. And a very doughy JD Vance makes the prefect Sancho Panza to complement Trump's turn as Spain's demented knight.
I remember reading of home windmills in the Whole Earth Catalog back in the day. Back in the day when we were gonna run out of oil and food.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/may/05/stewart-brand-whole-earth-catalog
I loved the Whole Earth Catalog. I wish I still had mine.
I just remembered "Home Hydro"!!!! I actually saw one up in Hayfork in NorCal when visiting my school teacher mom in 1959.
The two things I remember most vividly from the Catalog:
1. A treatise on how to hitchhike, which talked about not being pissed because you're not getting a ride, and ended with "look like the people you want to ride with."
1. An item about having good tools and taking care of them. Something like "Sit in a circle and pass around the good screwdriver. This driver only drives screws. This driver doesn't open paint cans, doesn't pry wood" etc etc.
Who?
Another Don, Don Quixote.
It is wonderful that we are still able to have a passionate discussion about Don Quixote's state of mind. The world would be a better place if our arguments were about books, music and pictures. Miguel de Cervantes book is a national treasure, probably Spain's most important novel, describing the difficult transition from the Middle Ages to new times. What Don Quixote is to the Spanish, Captain Ahab used to be for Americans. Now please don't ask me who Ahab was...
Don Quixote was not deluded. Try reading.
"In short, his wits being quite gone, he hit upon the strangest notion that ever madman in this world hit upon, and that was that he fancied it was right and requisite, as well for the support of his own honour as for the service of his country, that he should make a knight-errant of himself, roaming the world over in full armour and on horseback in quest of adventures, and putting in practice himself all that he had read of as being the usual practices of knights-errant; righting every kind of wrong, and exposing himself to peril and danger from which, in the issue, he was to reap eternal renown and fame. Already the poor man saw himself crowned by the might of his arm Emperor of Trebizond at least; and so, led away by the intense enjoyment he found in these pleasant fancies, he set himself forthwith to put his scheme into execution."
Alonso Quixano decided to become a knight errant in times when knights were long extinct, renamed himself Don Quixote and amongst other "feats" attacked windmills in the belief that they were giants. That sounds a bit deluded to me. But then you might have been facetious, it is hard to tell these days.
No, he wasn't being facetious. He's just an idiot.
And rude about it, as well.
Maybe it was just bad eyesight that was responsible for the windmill incident. Dude was pretty old.
Sorry, which Don is it that we are talking about here?
He believed that the windmills were giants, even when he was told they were windmills.
Do you know what a metaphor is, Jacko?
L@U
What's the meaning of the phrase 'Tilting at windmills'?
To ’tilt at windmills’ is to attack imaginary enemies.
“Imaginary” means not real. A good metaphor for the Trump Administration.
Good to see you are into:
"Esoteric writing" refers to a style of writing that is intended for a select few, often containing hidden meanings or complex concepts only accessible to those with specialized knowledge, while "exoteric writing" is readily understandable by a general audience, presenting information in a clear and accessible manner, essentially meaning "outer" or public knowledge compared to the "inner" esoteric knowledge.
Similar to what Trump believes them to be. Destroyers of views and birds, bringers of noise-caused cancers.
you are on a fools errant...
Well he was a little deluded. Heroic, but deluded.
Based on other comments to this post, it looks like we have another comment troll (or the same one, rebranded). Although the responses here are good, best not to feed the trolls.
Is there a block him?
A way
Nice to see what a ratio looks like on an article. You must love self humiliation.
Excellent choice for musical CODA today, Paul.
I think MAGA brain is also trauma brain, seeking pleasure from others pain, bc MAGA brain didn’t get their basic human need met of ENOUGH love, compassion and empathy. What’s left is greed, hate, and a desire for power. All his minions love him bc he mirrors their despair. IMHO.
Now that I’m thinking about it, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, Teach your Children would work well as my musical CODA. 🫶🏼
Yes excellent choice today
Seeking pleasure from other people’s pain is called sadism.
"Puff, the Magic Dragon" would have been apropos of MAGA-land as well.
The MAGA brain (or AfD, RN, Vox, ...) is more devious than that. They know that the problem is not there, but still push it to a broad audience that believe them at face value. Next they come up with their miracle solution... for a problem that doesn't even exist. Fair enough to fall into that trap for the part of the population that informs itself poorly. The problem however is that the super-rich, applauding loudly during the inauguration, know that most of Trump's speech are just lies, but shut up, smile, and nod in agreement.
I've never seen a more striking example of "The emperor's new clothes."
That and they believe only their worldview is valid annd only their tribe is fit to rule - they abandoned governing when it didn’t lead to the results they want.
That particular story has been on my mind since the beginning of the Trump I administration. However, I've long feared that in the U.S. of A., the child who spoke the truth would have been torn limb from limb by the furious crowd.
The inauguration ceremony was a surreal experience on several levels.
I'm from Belgium, the country of René Magritte. We know a thing or two about surrealism 😶. I think that Audrey is right: during the entire inauguration nothing was what it seemed.
Like what? You don't say.
Wow, been years since I've heard that song.
Blood Red Texas gets 28.6% of it's power from wind. Amazing that the blood red states have the most to lose here. Someone needs to tell the DC Village Idiot that wind doesn't cost anything. Amazing. Trump is also looking to eliminate EV tax breaks. You know here most if not all EV battery plants in the USA are located? Red States. Did you all know that if we didn't pay Oil Subsides the price of a gal of gas would be $12? Once again Republicans have voted to screw themselves and all I guess just so they could feel good about being racist? I'm 67 and I've never seen a president so much supported by the people he screws over the most. Jim Jones 2.0.
When you have a few go to Investopedia and look up US Gov Subsides and look at the top of the list. And Paul is right, Trump on National TV told the Oil Industry to give him a billion and they would get whatever they want. Trump has figured out that legal or illegal doesn't matter, the only thing that matters is can he defeat whatever means exist to hold him to account. He has proven that is the hole in our system the founders didn't see. And Trump will exploit these by every possible means. Roy Cohen tactics plain and simple.
If you think this is bad wait until they repeal the hated Obama Care and MAGA realizes Obama Care = ACA.
They have begun by cutting its funding, since repeal will be hard. Cost of insurance predicted to go up 25%. No more Medicaid expansion. Cancelled.
Q: Why? Other than hatred of Obama and Biden?
A: It will give insurers a chance to raise their prices.
It's not just the ACA that's at risk. Stealth privitization of Medicare has been going on for quite a while now. See Medicare Advantage and Medicare Plan B if you doubt this. And what's left of the publicly financed portion of Medicare will be financially unsustainable due to all the tax cuts, inflation and military spending increases we'll see over the next 2 to 4 years or so. It's always been the Right's plan to get rid of the government's social safety net programs by denying them funds. Trump is the best chance they've had to actually pull it off in generations.
They will not realise that, and why should they? They got rid of terrible Obamacare, and in response the diabolical left somehow murdered their beloved ACA. Those dastardly leftists!
It's a joke, but on a serious note, if you are going to rely on A"wait until they realise" you'll never win anything. Left wing also steadfast in refusal to realise anything. It's just how it is.
Just an observation concerning a misconception that’s been going on for years, AND NOT anything to be used in a policy or strategy argument. That being said, organizing with determination as the shit hits the fan is my actual suggestion.
My first thought was Texas and it's independent power grid during winter freezes and summer heat.
Yes, the US is a rich country technically, but for anyone who has travelled at all, it is the poorest rich country in the world. And the worst rich country to live in if you aren't rich. Even the rich are poor outside their bubbles.
As a retired teacher I saw plenty of what you're calling "MAGA brain" in administrators who wouldn't accept any proposed solution to a perceived problem that didn't rely on fussing at and punishing people.
I believe it's a part of human nature that some of us have grown out of.
"Believing" doesn't mean it's true.
That's right - very good.
And add NIH work coming to a halt - that puts research on everything on hold.
300K at NIH, research at other institutions including every university and hospitals in jeopardy.
He has put Jay Bhattacharya who went to Stanford - and never touched a patient - and without residency training went to work for Hoover. Working as a shill for billionaire think tank - to make sure that healthcare is used to generate wealth for industry rather than take care of people.
He rose into prominence with Great Barrington Declaration to say all of us get herd immunity against a virus which the host cannot induce long term immunity - and then very successful in reining down all mitigations.
Thanks for this background, Rahul and Divya.
Jay Bhattacharya is a champion of the virus community, then? Viruses are natural, why mitigate?
You are welcome.
Add: in our state of Georgia-
https://bsky.app/profile/670rv.bsky.social/post/3lgeip47bis2o
Thank you again for the musical codas an essential lift to the morning. -
MAGA mush doesn’t do reason and it doesn’t do data. It does conspiracy theory, grievance and scapegoating. With MAGA mush, as with all cults, the irrational is king and the führer inerrant. No amount of reasoning and data will change the MAGA mind. It has to be deprogrammed. And that’s a subtle and difficult enough task where a single cult member is concerned. Deprogamming half the population of the Unites States is impossible. The only hope for the US, is a MAGA implosion. That’s not entirely out of the question. We’ll have to wait and see… I’m not holding my breath. Btw, MAGA doesn’t do democracy either. It’s the culmination of an anti-democratic political tendency in the US since its inception. MAGA mush needs to be led. It is deeply religious; as such it is accustomed to being led. All that to say, that we may be witnessing the irreversible conversion of a former bastion of democracy into an authoritarian dictatorship. May we live in interesting times…
None of this would be happening without the decades-long funding by the rich to bring it about. Randy Newman was right.
https://youtu.be/cS06eprlj2I
👍 I wish Randy would run for office! ✌️
I think that Professor Krugman is giving Donald too much credit for thinking. Now, I do think that Donald is clever and devious and intentionally does and says things for effect or as part of some plan. But a lot of his basic beliefs and things that he does are just instinctive.
Donald does not have to act "harsh and unfeeling." He is just that way without thinking about it. Donald, and many of his MAGA faithful, have a belief system in which it is believed that the world and society would be great if people would just do what they say. Many of them are ignorant and arrogant. Donald and MAGA have simple solutions to very complicated problems. They are also very much prejudiced in the belief that white men are the only ones capable of doing important things. Regardless of what Donald and MAGA might say in public, they very much believe that there are two classes of people: first class is heterosexual white men, second class is everyone else.
Notice that the only concrete plans that Hegseth has proposed for the Department of Defense is to end DEI and to bring back the names of Confederate Generals on military bases. He seems to know or care nothing about weapons systems, defense strategy, and so forth.
An old man once told me that he thought that the only cars worth having were those with back wheel drive. The big muscle cars. He did not seem to accept that there are some very good automobiles with front wheel drive -- which most cars are now.
Donald follows that thinking. Oil and gas made the country great so let's stick with oil and gas. Also, the petroleum companies have a lot of money to give Donald. And also, the liberals and progressives support green energy so that is a good reason to oppose it.
When Donald was young his father refused to rent or sell to Black People and Donald still follows that thinking. Nostalgia for the good old days of Jim Crow is still strong in some places.
Donald happened along when a large part of his thinking meshed with the thinking of a large group of people in the country. Race/culture/religion/nostalgia have been used in politics for many years in parts of the South. Donald just took it nationwide.
Donald and MAGA are/will do a lot of damage to the country and particularly the Federal Government. I would be the first to admit that there are things in the Federal Government which need reform. For example, the Pentagon could use a lot of new thinking. But to help the situation, the people looking at the Pentagon would need to know a lot about defense policy and defense strategy, weapons systems and so forth. Donald and MAGA want to avoid competence and knowledge at all costs.
But over the very long term, I think Donald and MAGA will lose out. People forget that the climate (or environment) and the economy both have minds of their own. The environment is going to change whether we like it or not and the earth will deal with climate change whether we like or not.
The same with the economy. Change is driven mostly by economics and technology. We are in a global economy because communication and shipping are cheaper (relatively) than they have ever been. We will have more electric vehicles and windmills in the future regardless of what anyone thinks. Donald and MAGA might slow it down, but they can't stop it.
Women, Black people, LGBT, immigrants and others will also continue to improve their situations.
Sorry to ramble on.
Donald is clever and devious exactly like a four-year old (and I mean this literally) lethal threat that I used to babysit. No joke, this kid didn’t hesitate to use violent means to get what he wanted (a toy, to go to the park, my hair-tie), knew the value of a public scene, had a strong grasp on who was susceptible to a moral equivalence argument when he got “in trouble”, lied like he breathed, and was also the most charming and eloquent child you can imagine.
Donald’s development arrested before he turned five, of that I have no doubt, and in addition, he was born afflicted with the mental disorder of psychopathy.
we knew all this in 2015.
What makes you think they are interested in effective government?
That Swedish sage might have added "and so much greediness" to his observation. I think Trump is completely in bed with the fossil fuel energy oligarchs and the tech oligarchs who are desperate for enough energy to power their AI farms. And that's what he's all about. Beyond that, my honest (and excruciating) question is: Why are we so complacent?
Didn't the oil execs actually say they didn't want to 'drill, baby, drill'? These guys are capitalists; they understand where supply is at and what happens with increased production. And if supply increases while Trump's tariffs slow down the world's economy - hoo boy.
There's MAGA brain, but not to forget the mega-rich puppeteers pulling the strings and trying to control the stampede. (Whether stampedes have a brain at all is an open question.) Long-term thinking is not their forte.
An accurate understanding of MAGA brain ...
https://www.berkeleyside.org/2017/05/02/berkeley-author-george-lakoff-says-dont-underestimate-trump
Not that it makes it intelligible. It isn't. But it's understandable in a way that makes it possible for us to fight it. The point of authority isn't intelligibility, it's obedience. And submission. So, nothing to do with making sense.
It has to be beaten. Professing a belief in crazy shit is part of the bargain, and amounts to a vow of support. Membership dues. Crazier gets you a higher degradation ranking, and increased position and responsibility. Responsibility for the unquestioning implementation of the will of fearless leader. If 'higher degradation' has a weird ring of inconsistency or perversion to it that's the point. It locks you into the cult. They hope to the death. And many of the MAGA are on board with that, though you never know who's willing to die for the cause until it comes down to it, I think.
Yes! This is EXACTLY the issue! There’s no more pure expression of power than to have people accept your fake version of reality rather than the reality slapping you in the face. That’s what this “energy emergency” is, a raw expression of forced submission.