THREAD: We were a few hundred thousand votes away from the most powerful and militarized nation on earth becoming an authoritarian dictatorship. We must understand why we got so this close to this disaster. /1

In my opinion this is a direct result of neoliberal ideology, which has resulted in gross wealth inequality. The gap between rich & poor is higher than ever, leading to a large proportion of the population being left behind with poor prospects & enduring very difficult lives. /2

This leads to resentment, social unrest and distrust of Government. The appetite for scapegoats and blame is then ripe for manipulation by conspiracy theory and disinformation. The ideal environment to fuel right wing nationalism. /3

At the other end of the spectrum, the super-rich fear the democratic process because the majority want policies that increase wages and improve work/life balance and security. These policies completely contradict the low tax, deregulation policies that the super-rich want. /4

Hence, the super-rich must subvert democracy to maintain their wealth and power, and they have the money and resources to do it through funding political parties, lobbying, funding think tanks, and promoting right wing media organisations. /5

Their key message is Government is bad. It gets in way of your “freedom” & controls your life. The answer is small Government with low taxes, deregulation & privatisation. Divide & rule then becomes a key mechanism to support unpopular policies eg privatising public services /6

Division is sowed through opposition to immigration. “Foreigners are taking your jobs”. This builds in nationalistic support to the movement that can stimulate a feeling of pride and belonging, which can be very powerful as we saw with #Brexit. It also secures the racist vote. /7

The whole operation requires investment, but it’s very worthwhile for the super-rich. A 1% tax cut gives them billions, so they can easily afford to fuel the business & market for right wing media and social media to make huge profits from peddling lies & conspiracy theories. /8

This results in millions being brainwashed into supporting right wing policies that make their own lives much worse, whilst increasing the wealth of the super-rich. However, in the long term this is unsustainable. Media Moguls and their political puppets get into power. /9

This results is chaos and authoritarianism. The total opposite of the freedom that was promised. Wealth inequality is terrible for the economy and the world, as is the climate change (denied by many of the super-rich). Eventually, some billionaires start to realise this. /10

I think this is the moment where some of those billionaires are waking up. The decisions of Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Apple and Google to address the disinformation machine is an example. Let’s hope this is just the beginning. Otherwise, expect more chaos /11