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This is what Yale Professor @TimothyDSnyder calls "governing by crisis and spectacle.
The purpose of a fascist government is to maintain order, which means keeping the ruling oligarchs rich and everyone else poor.
This raises a problem for fascist leaders . . .
1/ https://twitter.com/brianklaas/status/1362005790236770304
The purpose of a fascist government is to maintain order, which means keeping the ruling oligarchs rich and everyone else poor.
This raises a problem for fascist leaders . . .
1/ https://twitter.com/brianklaas/status/1362005790236770304
. . . how do they keep their constituents happy as they rob from them and keep them poor? (Things like give tax cuts to the rich and eliminate health care for all?)
They create a show. They do battle with enemies.
(Snyder quotes fascist philosopher Ivan Ilyin who explains)
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They create a show. They do battle with enemies.
(Snyder quotes fascist philosopher Ivan Ilyin who explains)
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Made-up enemies are safest.
The next best are powerless enemies. That's why Trump picked homeless migrants as enemies.
That way the ruling oligarchs don't get hurt and their property doesn't get damaged.
It's also why Oceania had always been at war with Eastasia.
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The next best are powerless enemies. That's why Trump picked homeless migrants as enemies.
That way the ruling oligarchs don't get hurt and their property doesn't get damaged.
It's also why Oceania had always been at war with Eastasia.
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If you are a fact-based leader, it defies common sense for Texas (of all places) to blame its power shortage on the Green New Deal.
If you are a crisis-and-spectacle leader, it makes perfect sense to blame the current crisis on those evil Democrats.
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If you are a crisis-and-spectacle leader, it makes perfect sense to blame the current crisis on those evil Democrats.
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Perry provides a perfect example. https://twitter.com/mjf_dfw/status/1362099478451265536
When I was in the South I saw billboards that said something like, "Dear Government: Stop helping me. I can't afford it."
Those unhinged from facts are good at propaganda because, well, they're unhinged from facts.
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When I was in the South I saw billboards that said something like, "Dear Government: Stop helping me. I can't afford it."
Those unhinged from facts are good at propaganda because, well, they're unhinged from facts.
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And this Texas mayor resigned after putting into words the entire Republican philosophy of governing, which is based on what @HC_Richardson calls the cowboy myth: The self-reliant man doesn't need government help.
Dupe people into embracing oligarchy by flattering them.
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Dupe people into embracing oligarchy by flattering them.
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And the Republicans all chant, "Thank goodness for a fair and competent federal government interested in the well-being of all Americans!"
Okay, well. There's that thing with feathers that springs eternal.
https://twitter.com/eilperin/status/1362134385034727426
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Okay, well. There's that thing with feathers that springs eternal.
https://twitter.com/eilperin/status/1362134385034727426
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This short thread is on my blog, here: https://terikanefield-blog.com/12198-2/
I am also (reluctantly) posting my threads again to Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/terikanefieldauthor
