You can hardly blame President Donald Trump and his Republican Party for thinking they can get away with and do pretty much anything they want. After all, they control all three branches of government. The media are compliant. It’s not like anyone is protesting in the streets. If you were them, you’d probably do whatever you wanted, too.
Absolute Power Corrupts the Already Corrupt Even More Absolutely
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The strip makes me realize, absolute weakness corrupts just as absolutely. I’ve seen a few democrat protesters: amateurish signs, no clear end goal, not a single voter-registration table that you can see, none of them cornering the media and browbeating them for not doing more, no continual form of disruption. It’s almost as though, in some part of their collective mindscape, they actually do want Daddy Trump to lead them to the bedroom, long tie trailing behind him. “Leave the MAGA cap on,” they collectively whisper as the door swings closed.
Whoa! That got weird. But you’re obviously on point, the performative, but don’t actually do anything useful, aspect of all this dates way WAY back.. think back in the day when celebs wore “AIDS Awareness” ribbons.
EXACTLY! Remember who made a difference? Larry Kramer. He knew exactly how to play the media, he knew how to stage “performative” in a way that got coverage. He’d vomit if he saw these imbeciles in their berets. A beret isn’t going to fund protease inhibitors.
“If you were them, you’d probably do whatever you wanted, too”
Congratulations! Your writing speaks volumes about your talent and dedication. 😈
A well-designed political system does not hope that the ruling classes restrain themselves. It restrains them.
Oh really? And who exactly would be responsible for designing such an imaginary system? Is it the work of advanced AI, extraterrestrial beings, or perhaps a deity of your own invention?
It’s fascinating to consider the possibilities, but it raises important questions about the nature of creation and what shapes your understanding of reality.
There would need to be a revolution. Then the people would design such a system. It’s naive to hope for people to just be nice.
“It’s naive to hope for people to just be nice.”
It is even more naive to believe that any revolution could result in a perfectly designed political system. Such a belief is akin to that of a flat-earther.
Humans are inherently flawed beings. However, a few individuals have managed to rise above their imperfections. These are the ones who are actively restrained in the U.S. and are never ever going to be elected by any majority.
The “equation” may be backwards. People will explore and develop various modes of corruption to obtain power.
I think you’re right. People will self-corrupt. I suppose the fix would be to develop a system (somehow) in which it becomes impossible to acquire enough power to corrupt past a trivial level. “Marge always gets the biggest drumstick at the chicken fry. That’s because she’s the comptroller.”
Is that Hillary Clinton talking to him? She’d give her eye teeth to do what he’s doing.
IMHO it would take the defection of a substantial chunk of our military and the West Coast attempting to secede to spark anything approaching “a revolution” in this country. Even then, it would be under the control of Democrats who, like Ms. Clinton, feel more envy than anger.
Ranked voting could get us beyond the duopoly that is afraid to stand up to the billionaires. It’s taking too long to get widespread ranked voting, but then again we got marriage equality all of a sudden after many years of slow progress, so maybe there’s a chance of a similar tipping point.