Em Adespoton @ adespoton @lemmy.ca

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2 yr. ago

This analysis is spot-on. And it’s not limited to Trump. There are malicious actors in all parts of life who use the same strategy.

Next time you’re in a meeting and that one guy takes up most of the time talking about nothing while sometimes making himself look like an idiot? Well, that’s time he doesn’t have to spend doing real work or answering real questions. He’s driving whatever discussion there is, leaving little time for everyone else to discuss and plan. It’s often not an accident.

However, even when it is, this is survival of the fittest in action: our society selects for this type of person; behaving in this manner tends to ensure survival of the individual, even when it’s to the detriment of the group. As long as the group can eventually work around the person, it’s a successful strategy.

So just like a lawyer or doctor or engineer or parent or artist or security analyst has to stay focused, keep perspective, and work intelligently to spend time on the wins that count, the same goes for politics and Trump. Don’t focus on what his team says, focus on how society is affected, and figure out the best response to that negative impact, not the latest news-bite.

And yeah, I think that even in Trump’s case, it’s not all intentional; he’s just risen to the top because society selects for blowhards like him unless there are intentional safeguards put in place. And others on his team have come up with strategies to slowly but surely dismantle the safeguards that were in place.

The solution isn’t to throw up your hands; it’s like with a kid throwing a tantrum; ignore the hubris and continue to not give them the cookie, and don’t treat them as if they’re going to respond rationally. They’ll respond to strength and action, and still take any opportunity you give them to push the boundaries.

The White House may never be for sale, but it does have a history of being burned to the ground when its occupant provokes its northern neighbour.

Interesting. Considering they’re handling a bunch of Amazon’s shipping now to avoid tariffs, they’ve got lots of bargaining power right now.

Because what everyone wants right now is to return to the polls….

Let’s see… infrastructure to connect northern Canada to the rest of the country, or an underpass?

Police surplus I bet….

We also need to keep a close eye on where the money is coming from.

The Socialist party already exists?

Only with the extreme Overton shift in the US. Democrats may be more progressive than Republicans, but that’s really not saying much. Most actual Democrat policy is right of center, to the frustration of representatives like Sanders and AOC.

The sad part for me is, my riding elected a Conservative, and in general he’s a pretty good guy. He’s old school conservative, and does a good job representing his constituency in parliament.

But the party he’s stuck with is not the party it was when Mulroney was PM; people in leadership positions are actively pushing fascist and populist ideology, and feeling it’s fine to actively deceive the Canadian public to gain more power.

That’s not something I can respect. Old school conservatism I often disagreed with, but at least I could respect those who stuck with the party line out of a sense of integrity. I could have good-faith discussions with them about the best way to govern. How do you do that with someone who is only telling you what they think you want to hear, all the while having totally different behaviour where it counts?

It’s time for the US to form a centrist party, instead of people having to choose between far right, right, and far left.

Essentially, Conservatives were seeing what topics were hot with that crowd, and campaigning on them… all while having no workable plan to actually address the issues they were railing on the Liberals for doing so poorly with.

So anyone experienced with politics saw it as a smokescreen, but the younger crowd fell for it because it resonated and they could see the actual harm that had been done to them by the Liberals.

To this group I say:

Don’t fall for fascism; it doesn’t work. Why not give the NDP a try? They have actual, workable solutions to the problems you face.

Thing is, I’ve talked to a number of Albertans — they all voted Conservative, and they all despise what the Conservative leadership has become.

But they despise the Liberals even more, and see them as being actively harmful to Albertan prosperity, instead of just the fascists they know.

They’re all voting anti-Liberal, not pro-Conservative.

Makes me think they all need to switch to NDP.

Florida bans fluoride, eh? Florida… man.

…and the Green Party took a single seat.

He’s decisively losing his riding with only 52 polls remaining.

Look everyone! I’m moving to shoot you in the feet less often!

“Don’t give our relationship away until AFTER I’m elected and it’s too late!”

At least it’s still a thing. Canada should definitely push WFH legislation that incentivizes businesses to go that direction when it’s an option though.

https://www.betterhomesbc.ca/rebates/energy-savings-program-heat-pump-offers/