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[QUICK THREAD: DESPOTISM]
1/25
One evening, over some of the most delectable rawas tikkas known to mankind and much alcohol, a friend and I had a chat. As always, a lot was discussed writing down all of which would be a humungous endeavor (trust me, we're verbose).
1/25
One evening, over some of the most delectable rawas tikkas known to mankind and much alcohol, a friend and I had a chat. As always, a lot was discussed writing down all of which would be a humungous endeavor (trust me, we're verbose).
2/25
One of the things we discussed was our selfie queen (of course) and how he came this enticingly close to practical dictatorship and is managing to blow it all up with his idiocy (thankfully). This quick thread is a summary of our observations.
One of the things we discussed was our selfie queen (of course) and how he came this enticingly close to practical dictatorship and is managing to blow it all up with his idiocy (thankfully). This quick thread is a summary of our observations.
3/25
No dictatorship has ever come out of thin air. Nearly every example thereof, at least in modern human history, has been a product of runaway democracy. That's a paradox the world would be better off acknowledging — the liberals, more so than anyone else.
No dictatorship has ever come out of thin air. Nearly every example thereof, at least in modern human history, has been a product of runaway democracy. That's a paradox the world would be better off acknowledging — the liberals, more so than anyone else.
4/25
One man can't just suddenly up and appoint himself the boss. Doesn't work like that. People, however gullible, would never accept that audacity. Dictatorship has to be worked toward. Trickled in. One calculated move at a time.
Charity before trechery.
One man can't just suddenly up and appoint himself the boss. Doesn't work like that. People, however gullible, would never accept that audacity. Dictatorship has to be worked toward. Trickled in. One calculated move at a time.
Charity before trechery.
5/25
You win your folks over before you blindside them with the darker bits of your agenda. Sincere altruism is the name of the game until the point you can comfortably take over.
Take, for instance, Hitler. He didn't invent antisemitism. He just rode it. Repurposed it.
You win your folks over before you blindside them with the darker bits of your agenda. Sincere altruism is the name of the game until the point you can comfortably take over.
Take, for instance, Hitler. He didn't invent antisemitism. He just rode it. Repurposed it.
6/25
European antisemitism is older than Hitler's oldest ancestor; was neither born with him, nor did it die with him. But before he pulled out that card, he'd already done the groundwork. He didn't buy Germany's loyalty with antisemitism, he bought it with something else.
European antisemitism is older than Hitler's oldest ancestor; was neither born with him, nor did it die with him. But before he pulled out that card, he'd already done the groundwork. He didn't buy Germany's loyalty with antisemitism, he bought it with something else.
7/25
Germany was in ruins after the humiliation at Versailles. Disarmed, starved, penniless — It desperately needed a hero. That's the void our man rushed to fill. This void couldn't be filled with mere xenophobia. Something more tangible, more immediate was warranted.
Germany was in ruins after the humiliation at Versailles. Disarmed, starved, penniless — It desperately needed a hero. That's the void our man rushed to fill. This void couldn't be filled with mere xenophobia. Something more tangible, more immediate was warranted.
8/25
That's exactly what he did. He not only re-armed Germany and restored its dignity by reviving German claims on Saar and Ruhr, he pulled his country out of the worst recession Germany has ever known. Sure, not completely, but he showed promise.
That's exactly what he did. He not only re-armed Germany and restored its dignity by reviving German claims on Saar and Ruhr, he pulled his country out of the worst recession Germany has ever known. Sure, not completely, but he showed promise.
9/25
He legislated a grant of 1,000 interest-free reichsmarks (9 months' salary at the time) to married couples to set up homes and start families. Under his watch, Germany banned smoking, actively pursued environment-preservation activities, and banned animal abuse.
He legislated a grant of 1,000 interest-free reichsmarks (9 months' salary at the time) to married couples to set up homes and start families. Under his watch, Germany banned smoking, actively pursued environment-preservation activities, and banned animal abuse.
10/25
He was the first to float 5-day workweek in Germany and offered perks from radios to highly subsidized international vacations to every citizen. Every German was covered by a free public health system, something pre-Nazi Germany hadn't known.
He was the first to float 5-day workweek in Germany and offered perks from radios to highly subsidized international vacations to every citizen. Every German was covered by a free public health system, something pre-Nazi Germany hadn't known.
11/25
This is just a handful of what morphed Germany from a lost cause into a reasonable economy in 4 years flat. He executed it all with a messianic zeal.
When you bury your people in a mountain of favors as he did, you entitle yourself to their loyalty. Hate comes later.
This is just a handful of what morphed Germany from a lost cause into a reasonable economy in 4 years flat. He executed it all with a messianic zeal.
When you bury your people in a mountain of favors as he did, you entitle yourself to their loyalty. Hate comes later.
12/25
To him, antisemitism was just a catalyst, not the entirety of what propelled him into power. Every despotic endeavor comes with a shelf life. You can only stretch it so far, not escape the inevitable fall. Hitler stretched his using a lot of things other than mere Jew-hate.
To him, antisemitism was just a catalyst, not the entirety of what propelled him into power. Every despotic endeavor comes with a shelf life. You can only stretch it so far, not escape the inevitable fall. Hitler stretched his using a lot of things other than mere Jew-hate.
13/25
That hubris ended his bull run sooner than he hoped for is another conversation.
All other despots from Stalin to Mussolini and Mao to Castro worked the exact same strategy. They always gave their people a solid incentive before appealing to their more basal instincts.
That hubris ended his bull run sooner than he hoped for is another conversation.
All other despots from Stalin to Mussolini and Mao to Castro worked the exact same strategy. They always gave their people a solid incentive before appealing to their more basal instincts.
14/25
Xenophobia ought to be tailored; that takes time and can't be done on empty bellies.
This is where our selfie queen is making the unforgivable mistake. He rode into power on a wave of Muslim hate. But he got lazy. And cocksure of his people's troth.
Xenophobia ought to be tailored; that takes time and can't be done on empty bellies.
This is where our selfie queen is making the unforgivable mistake. He rode into power on a wave of Muslim hate. But he got lazy. And cocksure of his people's troth.
15/25
It's a capital blunder to assume that xenophobia can keep fueling your rise ad infinitum. Even trolls need to be paid. Even the occasional lynch artist needs to bring food to the table. Not educating them, might work. Not feeding them? Recipe for doom.
It's a capital blunder to assume that xenophobia can keep fueling your rise ad infinitum. Even trolls need to be paid. Even the occasional lynch artist needs to bring food to the table. Not educating them, might work. Not feeding them? Recipe for doom.
16/25
Not addressing any of the core plagues in the society, he continues to bank on the saffronista's appetite for blood. Yes he gave them the validation they were starving for, but blood and validation don't fill tummies, do they? That takes real, literal food.
Not addressing any of the core plagues in the society, he continues to bank on the saffronista's appetite for blood. Yes he gave them the validation they were starving for, but blood and validation don't fill tummies, do they? That takes real, literal food.
17/25
With no useful incentive to base this loyalty on, the house of Namo cards was always destined to fall.
And that's how the toffee-nosed clodpole is losing the plot.
But wait, didn't he just win two back-to-back landslides?
With no useful incentive to base this loyalty on, the house of Namo cards was always destined to fall.
And that's how the toffee-nosed clodpole is losing the plot.
But wait, didn't he just win two back-to-back landslides?
18/25
Yes, he did. Because the bellies weren't empty enough. They still aren't.
But eventually they will. And that's when his streak ends. Could be this term, could be one more. Could've been many more.
But the dolt is practically sitting on the accelerator!
Yes, he did. Because the bellies weren't empty enough. They still aren't.
But eventually they will. And that's when his streak ends. Could be this term, could be one more. Could've been many more.
But the dolt is practically sitting on the accelerator!
19/25
There's only so much negativity even a village barbarians can take before it start unraveling. And India right now is unraveling in ways it hasn't in living memory. The most telling sign is the unraveling of allies.
No, not parliamentary allies, the ones in the streets.
There's only so much negativity even a village barbarians can take before it start unraveling. And India right now is unraveling in ways it hasn't in living memory. The most telling sign is the unraveling of allies.
No, not parliamentary allies, the ones in the streets.
20/25
Men who partook in the same xenophobic carnage that wheeled him into the PMO are now courting arrests and laying siege on the capital. The same khaps that voted his brand of criminal politics are now pledging their troth to the biggest revolution of our generation.
Men who partook in the same xenophobic carnage that wheeled him into the PMO are now courting arrests and laying siege on the capital. The same khaps that voted his brand of criminal politics are now pledging their troth to the biggest revolution of our generation.
21/25
That may or may not be preface to some immediate deliverance, but the direction this man's fate is headed is less than fuzzy.
It's only a matter of time, like I said earlier.
The man's headed downhill without brakes and so is the country.
That may or may not be preface to some immediate deliverance, but the direction this man's fate is headed is less than fuzzy.
It's only a matter of time, like I said earlier.
The man's headed downhill without brakes and so is the country.
22/25
This is not a political obituary, that'd be stupidly premature. This is just an illustration that even evil doesn't come without efforts. Not sustained evil, at the very least. No effortless gratification.
In politics, fortune isn't consistently unconditional.
This is not a political obituary, that'd be stupidly premature. This is just an illustration that even evil doesn't come without efforts. Not sustained evil, at the very least. No effortless gratification.
In politics, fortune isn't consistently unconditional.
23/25
Am glad he fails to realize something this basic. Am glad his successor, if any, will fail to realize it too.
The smartest a tyrant, the longer they last. And our man is no Eleven Jing Ping. If dictatorship is an art, this man is my 10-month-old nephew. Not Van Gogh.
Am glad he fails to realize something this basic. Am glad his successor, if any, will fail to realize it too.
The smartest a tyrant, the longer they last. And our man is no Eleven Jing Ping. If dictatorship is an art, this man is my 10-month-old nephew. Not Van Gogh.
24/25
I just hope this doesn't get read as an ode to Hitler's xenophobia, or xenophobia in general. I also hope this doesn't get read as a lament over the bearded cringelord's failures. If anything, I'm glad he's failing.
And will continue being told he isn't.
By his own.
I just hope this doesn't get read as an ode to Hitler's xenophobia, or xenophobia in general. I also hope this doesn't get read as a lament over the bearded cringelord's failures. If anything, I'm glad he's failing.
And will continue being told he isn't.
By his own.
25/25
Hitler went to mad lengths to rebuild Germany. Man had a vision for his nation. That's hard to fathom both to his critics and his cheerleaders. He was evil but with a vision. Our Barbie is just plain vanilla evil. No vision. That's what makes him a clown.
And me hopeful.
Hitler went to mad lengths to rebuild Germany. Man had a vision for his nation. That's hard to fathom both to his critics and his cheerleaders. He was evil but with a vision. Our Barbie is just plain vanilla evil. No vision. That's what makes him a clown.
And me hopeful.
