Reposted by Chris Streeter
Authoritarian regimes rely on unpredictability to maintain psychological dominance. When a leader changes rules arbitrarily, it trains the populace into passivity. The aim is learned helplessness.
April 11, 2025 at 4:33 AM
Authoritarian regimes rely on unpredictability to maintain psychological dominance. When a leader changes rules arbitrarily, it trains the populace into passivity. The aim is learned helplessness.
“In its place, Trumpism offers a purified national economy, mythic in its self-sufficiency and brutal in its social contract. Call it MAGAnomics. […] But understand: the product isn't prosperity. It's isolation” (5/5)
April 12, 2025 at 10:47 AM
“In its place, Trumpism offers a purified national economy, mythic in its self-sufficiency and brutal in its social contract. Call it MAGAnomics. […] But understand: the product isn't prosperity. It's isolation” (5/5)
The nut:
“These tariffs are not aimed at fairer trade. They are aimed at less trade. Less interdependence. Less cooperation. Less mobility. Less immigration. Less multilateralism. Less of the messy, pluralistic, borderless complexity that defined the post-WWII liberal order.” (4/5)
“These tariffs are not aimed at fairer trade. They are aimed at less trade. Less interdependence. Less cooperation. Less mobility. Less immigration. Less multilateralism. Less of the messy, pluralistic, borderless complexity that defined the post-WWII liberal order.” (4/5)
April 12, 2025 at 10:47 AM
The nut:
“These tariffs are not aimed at fairer trade. They are aimed at less trade. Less interdependence. Less cooperation. Less mobility. Less immigration. Less multilateralism. Less of the messy, pluralistic, borderless complexity that defined the post-WWII liberal order.” (4/5)
“These tariffs are not aimed at fairer trade. They are aimed at less trade. Less interdependence. Less cooperation. Less mobility. Less immigration. Less multilateralism. Less of the messy, pluralistic, borderless complexity that defined the post-WWII liberal order.” (4/5)
She addresses the apparent core of Trump’s aims with the tariff debacle – both their appeal (to some) and their incredible danger. (3/5)
America, the Isolated
This is a superpower in freefall—self-sabotaging through tariffs, jingoism, and imperial fantasy.
www.theindex.media
April 12, 2025 at 10:47 AM
She addresses the apparent core of Trump’s aims with the tariff debacle – both their appeal (to some) and their incredible danger. (3/5)
I’m really enjoying @joanwestenberg.com’s site The Index during this time of tumult and media dieting. Reading rational commentary that scratches the itch of my own progressive outrage feels like a healthy alternative to cable news (no matter which channel). This one rang very true today. (2/5)
April 12, 2025 at 10:47 AM
I’m really enjoying @joanwestenberg.com’s site The Index during this time of tumult and media dieting. Reading rational commentary that scratches the itch of my own progressive outrage feels like a healthy alternative to cable news (no matter which channel). This one rang very true today. (2/5)