Hegelian Dialectics, as applied to American politics.
If you create enough of a problem to evoke a fear reaction, people will listen to (and are likely to favor) your proposed "solution", even if they know they'll suffer from it. Make them afraid enough, and they'll demand hardship in the name of relief.
How sure are you that I'm not some computer-generated bot posting this weird shit, and my creators have the real Mike stashed in an abandoned mine shaft somewhere up around Bonner's Ferry?
Oooooh - or we could go completely into the dark and say maybe Mike's actually been dead for years.
You don't know any of that. Not really. I do - I know it - I think.
Fortunately, my little blog here doesn't have that big a reach, so even if I am artificial, the damage I might do is limited.
To protect Trump, and because I'm a self-serving little prick. Doing whatever it takes to serve Trump's corrupt interests is how you prove you're a good soldier, and stay in his good graces.
What happened?
I went to prison.
Are you lying now?
No.
Why should we believe you?
Because I'm not protecting Trump, I'm still a self-serving little prick, and I don't wanna go back to prison, so I'm never gonna lie under oath again.
It's a good look at how fucked up American politics is, and how we may be able to get thru some of by applying a few techniques that sound like they came straight out of Family Counseling For Dummies. (I'm not mocking that btw - some things just kinda land funny for me sometimes)
Anyway, what's missing here is attention to an effort at finding the source of the problem. Like I said, she mentions politicians and wealthy benefactors, but she doesn't address the bad actors coming at us thru social media - and cable TV, and traditional media - that (IMO) are being sponsored &/or supported by the Russians or the Chinese or or or.
Manage the symptoms as best you can, and the patient either gets better or croaks pretty much on his own. But ya gotta nail the fuckin' diagnosis, y'know?
Leeja Miller has found some good guidance on how to de-escalate and maybe get ourselves a chance to avoid killing each other.
