05-16-2020, 12:12 PM
(05-16-2020, 09:27 AM)Baggers link Wrote:The US, Pauly, has had deep divisions since the Civil War and hence major problems have become a way of life for most. And their decline has been steady for a couple of decades now.
I disagree totally with you however when suggesting that whatever problems the Orangutan creates pale next to the bigger picture. I don't see them as mutually exclusive. And I don't underestimate the importance of courageous leadership, visionary leadership... leadership that encourages and creates inclusiveness. Trumps leadership (**cough, splutter, gag **) is totally Machiavellian and exploits, manipulates and feeds the dysfunction and fears of the bigger picture you mention, of a fractured system, a system in crisis with the worst possible buffoon in charge.
Never underestimate the power of great leadership and its ability to affect meaningful change. There is evidence of this in other countries but the US is going to have to come up with someone, and quickly, to pull together a crumbling empire. .......................................
Your belief in the one man / great leader theory is one that I simply do not share. This difference of opinion is what caused our big blue on the senior coach issue, and I see little value in returning to the scene of the crime. Trump, Biden, Obama etc. have as much power as they're allowed to have, and whilst I'm not suggesting that Trump has no power or that he's harmless, I stand by my original statement - his power is not nearly as great as the corporate right wing oligarchs who really run the show.
Trump is not Machiavellian - he has no ideology except narcissism. He's not dumb, but he's a undisciplined, blatant, loose cannon, and has amazingly convinced the US population that he's an outsider just like them. The office of President means nothing to him IMO, which is why he treats it like trash.