Democrats do the same thing. You justify your hate of Trump/MAGA by telling yourselves and each other that Trump supporters are ignorant white trash who belong to a cult but there are a great many democrats who belong to the Woke cult and have no objection to things like open borders and dumbing down standards for the sake of equity. Last August the DNC was here in Chicago. What did they think of the out of control crime and dreadful schools here? They didn’t think anything at all of it. They were too busy joyfully celebrating their hate of Trump and his supporters. Do you think equity will help us compete with China?
Bill Maher on Kamala Harris and Chicago public schools.
“Chicago Teachers Union: Tests are racist.” (2 min)
I think Trump's leadership mechanics breeds a sort of cultish behavior, but I do not believe everyone who voted for him is dumb or in his cult. I think there are plenty of reasons to doubt the Democrats' leadership and philosophies. But that's not really what we're talking about. We're talking about what Trump is doing. And he's dominated his party in a way that no Democrat has done. Obama hasn't, Clinton (the original one who won two elections) hasn't. They may have been *able* to, but they have not demanded it. Trump does. Like it or not, he is in a different category.
“I think Trump's leadership mechanics breeds a sort of cultish behavior,”
Many things breed a sort of cultish behavior. Some excerpts below from a Quillette review of a book about the irrational side of human nature. The last one says: “One comes away with the sense that civilization operates on narrow margins and is always on the verge of collapsing into irrationality.” That sure is the truth.
“Mackay makes the case, often in gory detail, that episodes of collective mania seem to be an inevitable consequence of human nature. Humans in every time and place have cast aside their better judgment and allowed themselves to be caught up in all manner of irrational hoopla.“
“His chapters on the Swabian Peasants’ War and Anabaptist uprisings are terrifying depictions of the end-times frenzy that wreaked havoc on northern Europe throughout the 16th and 17th centuries. The distance between these events in the German-speaking world and, say, the Reign of Terror in France or the Chinese Cultural Revolution is not that great. And the speed with which apparently reasonable people moved from the embrace of a new theological idea to a willingness to torture those whose own theological ideas diverged even slightly is startling.“
“There is plenty to recommend about The Delusions of Crowds. It is laden with great anecdotes and the writing is always engaging. One comes away with the sense that civilization operates on narrow margins and is always on the verge of collapsing into irrationality.”
Are you suggesting that the fact that Trump's leadership style isn't the only thing that breeds cultish behavior means we shouldn't talk about it? Shouldn't criticize it? Shouldn't try to persuade people that this method of doing business is destructive and we should oppose it?
We lack a common reality, have become incomprehensible to each other and can no longer communicate. Where is the common ground in such an infinitely wide divide? There obviously is none. We always just talk past each other. It is what it is. No point crying about it.
I’m speaking of democrats in general rather than you in particular. Where are the democrats who object to open borders and dumbed down schools? Perhaps you do but the silence in general says it all about the mentality of your party. I live in Chicago which has 50,000 “migrants,” mostly Venezuelans and has spent $500M taking care of them and now the mayor wants to raise taxes to help cover the city budget shortfall. I recently saw video of Eric Adams asked by republicans at a congressional hearing how much NYC has spent on migrants. He said “$6.9 Billion.” This is insane but where are the democrats who object to this?
“Chicago residents call mayor ‘loser, criminal’ as council votes down $300M property tax increase.” (4 min)
Where are the Republlcans who objected to the ‘dumbed down’ schools envisioned by such luminaries as DeSantis in Florida and Abbot in Texas?
And speaking of the border, you may recall that the last bi-partisan attempt to deal with that was torpedoed by Trump solely so that he could continue to use it in his own campaign.
As I noted in my longer response to this threat, you would cherry pick single issues where you think Democrats went wrong while ignoring the totality of Trump’s assault on every front imaginable in his pursuit of personal power and the complete destruction of our Republic. You may deny it if you choose, but that won’t change what he’s attempting.
“You may deny it if you choose, but that won’t change what he’s attempting.”
Many people believe that America is simply too big and too powerful to collapse but many people also believed that about the Soviet Union. No one in 1985 would have believed that the USSR, the mighty "Evil Empire,” would be a disintegrating mess in just a few years. I told that to someone last year who said "But the Soviet Union was a collection of separate countries.” What we have here though is a collection of separate realities which is a much deadlier situation. Could it be that the reason why America is so rapidly unraveling externally is because it has already ceased to exist as a country internally? Could it be that the disastrous failure of the American experiment is evidence that the human experiment is also doomed to failure? Only AI can save our sinking ship. We sure can’t save ourselves. Hope springs eternal. The best of times. The worst of times.
Actually I think the main reason for all this in one of the inherent weaknesses of democracy; its insistence on the ascendency of individual rights over the needs of the community as whole. That would include the right to think that my opinion has just as much value and merit as yours. The result is democracy’s near fatal tendency, lacking a clear external and present external threat to eat itself alive from the inside out.
The classic example is, of course, classical Athens. Faced with the Persian invasion, the mightiest empire of the time, smaller but far more determined Athenian forces twice defeated the Persians at Marathon and Salamis. But once the Persian threat receded, they descended into internal strife and demagoguery, eventually falling to the Spartans, a thoroughly authoritarian state.
I am European and on the centre-right. I agree with you on the stupidity and harmfulness of the woke nonsense. What Trump is doing however is even worse and is probably going to make the wokesters double down when the shoe will be on the other foot. The answer to extremism isn’t the opposite extremism.
I agree that Trump is a disaster and worse than Biden. What I object to is the ignoring the fact that Biden and the democrats paved the way to the White House for Trump with their endless lawfare, open borders and war on meritocracy for the sake of equity aka race based equal outcomes which has even dumbed down our medical schools for the sake of equity. If a country like America with all its advantages can so easily become insane and self-destruct then what country can survive? And it’s certainly not the first time this has happened. The dreadful twentieth century has many examples of it. I believe only AI can save us. We’ll soon see about that.
Since all that is not submissive to Trump can only be an enemy of Trump, all that is not submissive to Trump must be destroyed in "self-defense".
Democrats do the same thing. You justify your hate of Trump/MAGA by telling yourselves and each other that Trump supporters are ignorant white trash who belong to a cult but there are a great many democrats who belong to the Woke cult and have no objection to things like open borders and dumbing down standards for the sake of equity. Last August the DNC was here in Chicago. What did they think of the out of control crime and dreadful schools here? They didn’t think anything at all of it. They were too busy joyfully celebrating their hate of Trump and his supporters. Do you think equity will help us compete with China?
Bill Maher on Kamala Harris and Chicago public schools.
“Chicago Teachers Union: Tests are racist.” (2 min)
Illinois Policy. Oct 28, 2024
https://youtu.be/xp1DsUDCj1Q?si=cNST9rE_WvM_5qRw
“Maybe We Should Stop Calling Them Schools.”
Real Clear Education. Mar 26, 2025
https://www.realcleareducation.com/articles/2025/03/26/maybe_we_should_stop_calling_them_schools_1100065.html
I think Trump's leadership mechanics breeds a sort of cultish behavior, but I do not believe everyone who voted for him is dumb or in his cult. I think there are plenty of reasons to doubt the Democrats' leadership and philosophies. But that's not really what we're talking about. We're talking about what Trump is doing. And he's dominated his party in a way that no Democrat has done. Obama hasn't, Clinton (the original one who won two elections) hasn't. They may have been *able* to, but they have not demanded it. Trump does. Like it or not, he is in a different category.
“I think Trump's leadership mechanics breeds a sort of cultish behavior,”
Many things breed a sort of cultish behavior. Some excerpts below from a Quillette review of a book about the irrational side of human nature. The last one says: “One comes away with the sense that civilization operates on narrow margins and is always on the verge of collapsing into irrationality.” That sure is the truth.
“Mackay makes the case, often in gory detail, that episodes of collective mania seem to be an inevitable consequence of human nature. Humans in every time and place have cast aside their better judgment and allowed themselves to be caught up in all manner of irrational hoopla.“
“His chapters on the Swabian Peasants’ War and Anabaptist uprisings are terrifying depictions of the end-times frenzy that wreaked havoc on northern Europe throughout the 16th and 17th centuries. The distance between these events in the German-speaking world and, say, the Reign of Terror in France or the Chinese Cultural Revolution is not that great. And the speed with which apparently reasonable people moved from the embrace of a new theological idea to a willingness to torture those whose own theological ideas diverged even slightly is startling.“
“There is plenty to recommend about The Delusions of Crowds. It is laden with great anecdotes and the writing is always engaging. One comes away with the sense that civilization operates on narrow margins and is always on the verge of collapsing into irrationality.”
“The Delusions of Crowds-A Review.”
Quillette. Feb 8, 2021
https://quillette.com/2021/02/08/the-delusions-of-crowds-a-review/
Are you suggesting that the fact that Trump's leadership style isn't the only thing that breeds cultish behavior means we shouldn't talk about it? Shouldn't criticize it? Shouldn't try to persuade people that this method of doing business is destructive and we should oppose it?
If so, that seems unpersuasive to me.
“that seems unpersuasive to me.”
We lack a common reality, have become incomprehensible to each other and can no longer communicate. Where is the common ground in such an infinitely wide divide? There obviously is none. We always just talk past each other. It is what it is. No point crying about it.
Please point to where in my comment I called Trump supporters "ignorant white trash" or anything similar.
I’m speaking of democrats in general rather than you in particular. Where are the democrats who object to open borders and dumbed down schools? Perhaps you do but the silence in general says it all about the mentality of your party. I live in Chicago which has 50,000 “migrants,” mostly Venezuelans and has spent $500M taking care of them and now the mayor wants to raise taxes to help cover the city budget shortfall. I recently saw video of Eric Adams asked by republicans at a congressional hearing how much NYC has spent on migrants. He said “$6.9 Billion.” This is insane but where are the democrats who object to this?
“Chicago residents call mayor ‘loser, criminal’ as council votes down $300M property tax increase.” (4 min)
America’s Talking Network. Nov 14, 2024
https://youtu.be/Bb3QDK1SK8M?si=U8PL24caB0XSCteX
Where are the Republlcans who objected to the ‘dumbed down’ schools envisioned by such luminaries as DeSantis in Florida and Abbot in Texas?
And speaking of the border, you may recall that the last bi-partisan attempt to deal with that was torpedoed by Trump solely so that he could continue to use it in his own campaign.
As I noted in my longer response to this threat, you would cherry pick single issues where you think Democrats went wrong while ignoring the totality of Trump’s assault on every front imaginable in his pursuit of personal power and the complete destruction of our Republic. You may deny it if you choose, but that won’t change what he’s attempting.
“You may deny it if you choose, but that won’t change what he’s attempting.”
Many people believe that America is simply too big and too powerful to collapse but many people also believed that about the Soviet Union. No one in 1985 would have believed that the USSR, the mighty "Evil Empire,” would be a disintegrating mess in just a few years. I told that to someone last year who said "But the Soviet Union was a collection of separate countries.” What we have here though is a collection of separate realities which is a much deadlier situation. Could it be that the reason why America is so rapidly unraveling externally is because it has already ceased to exist as a country internally? Could it be that the disastrous failure of the American experiment is evidence that the human experiment is also doomed to failure? Only AI can save our sinking ship. We sure can’t save ourselves. Hope springs eternal. The best of times. The worst of times.
“Open AI solved math. gg everyone.” (7 min)
David Shapiro. Apr 16, 2025
https://youtu.be/lGz80OP4klY?si=w26aKIL9sf8YMaIv
Actually I think the main reason for all this in one of the inherent weaknesses of democracy; its insistence on the ascendency of individual rights over the needs of the community as whole. That would include the right to think that my opinion has just as much value and merit as yours. The result is democracy’s near fatal tendency, lacking a clear external and present external threat to eat itself alive from the inside out.
The classic example is, of course, classical Athens. Faced with the Persian invasion, the mightiest empire of the time, smaller but far more determined Athenian forces twice defeated the Persians at Marathon and Salamis. But once the Persian threat receded, they descended into internal strife and demagoguery, eventually falling to the Spartans, a thoroughly authoritarian state.
I am European and on the centre-right. I agree with you on the stupidity and harmfulness of the woke nonsense. What Trump is doing however is even worse and is probably going to make the wokesters double down when the shoe will be on the other foot. The answer to extremism isn’t the opposite extremism.
I agree that Trump is a disaster and worse than Biden. What I object to is the ignoring the fact that Biden and the democrats paved the way to the White House for Trump with their endless lawfare, open borders and war on meritocracy for the sake of equity aka race based equal outcomes which has even dumbed down our medical schools for the sake of equity. If a country like America with all its advantages can so easily become insane and self-destruct then what country can survive? And it’s certainly not the first time this has happened. The dreadful twentieth century has many examples of it. I believe only AI can save us. We’ll soon see about that.