Tag: American Ancien Regime

A Perfect Storm

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

This summer, it seems as though we are determined to careen directly into a techno-government-economic perfect story clusterfuck. All three of those elements of our society could be “disrupted” in a big way for various reasons and it will all happen at the same, exact time.

The key thing everyone is missing, of course, is Trump would rather murder people in cold blood than relinquish power. And, what’s more, the press is so beholden and co-opted by the fascist Trump MAGA regime that whatever protests there are would have been REALLY BIG and last for a LONG TIME before they would be willing to give them the proper attention.

Though, I suppose if the Social Security Administration collapses then there is a good chance that Trump will be in SERIOUS TROUBLE….but not enough to be deposed. We’re suck with the fucker for the rest of his life.

So, lulz, my prediction is if there are some protests that Trump will just declare martial law and that will be that. That will give him the excuse he needs to start shooting people or rounding them up and maybe even going so far as to end regular elections — at least on the Federal level.

There’s a chance that he will let state and local elections continue as either a safety valve for discontent or make them so unfree and fair that they’re moot anyway.

Meanwhile, as all of this is happening, what might otherwise be a moderate recession might become a severe one as AI causes a huge disruption. The economy will stumble as huge swaths of it are revolutionized by extensive AI use.

At the moment, it seems as though programming and advertising will be two sectors that will be really disrupted in a huge way. They will either contract or be so revolutionized that thousands — millions? — of people simply will not be able to find a job in those fields anymore because of AI.

A lot of people are so wrapped up with how excited they are about the new developments in AI that they totally miss the cold, hard reality of this new world: I just don’t see how many jobs will be left in any number of fields because the changes are just happening too quickly.

We’re Stuck With Fucking Trump For The Rest of His Fucking Life, Baring A Revolution (Ugh)

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Despite all the gnashing of teeth by liberals and progressives, Trump simply is going nowhere for as long as he lives. He’s going to be president for life. I don’t know, exactly, he’ll do it, but he will.

He’s going to destroy everything before he shuffles off this mortal coil and it will take decades — generations maybe — for us to sort things out afterwards. I think that’s Trump’s historical purpose — to destroy the Second American Republic founded by Lincoln.

What happens after that, I don’t know.

Probably some sort of dystopian techno-autocracy is my best guess. Maybe the Singularity will come while Trump’s still alive and Elon Musk will upload Trump’s into the cloud and he’ll be our Max Headroom-style AI overlord.

Now, obvious, we might have a revolution — especially if Social Security checks stop being cut on time — but then we’d have a civil war and I really would prefer not to have either one of those things happen.

I just want to live in a traditional liberal (Western) democracy. But that is not to be because we just don’t have to grit to fight back against Trump. We’re totally fucked. Totally, completely fucked at least for the rest of my life.

Leave the country if you have the means.

Why I Don’t Think The Trump-Musk Dope Show Is A ‘Smash & Grab’ Operation

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Anyone who thinks the next major Federal election will be free and fair is a fool. The whole thing is going to be so rigged that the already cocky MAGA is going to take things to the next level. That’s why I think all this talk about the reason why Trump and Musk are acting so fast is it’s a “smash and grab” operation before the next election is just dumb.

We’re totally, completely fucked. Totally. The end. It’s over. Stick a fork in America, it’s cooked. There’s no going back. Either we have a revolution then a civil war (which I don’t want) or we turn into a legalistic autocracy like in Russia.

There is no longer any middle grown, no more “muddling through.” That option is long gone.

So, get out of the country while you still can. Maybe my novel will be a hit and I can get out eventually, too. But the way things are going, I’m going to be pushed out a window by either a weaponized ICE or FBI.

Sigh.

I’m Beginning To Worry In A Concrete Way About My Personal Safety Because Of My Politics

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

It’s clear that This Is It. The End. Something new is going to arise from the ashes of the Second American Republic and there are absolutely no assurances that it will be a Third Republic. It could very well be a full-blown legalistic autocracy like that they have in Russia.

I still have my doubts that Trump will end regular Federal elections. It might run for a illegal third term, but just calling off elections when he can rig them and use them to validate his ego seems more likely.

But we continue to lurch more and more into a situation where people like me — who are harmless loudmouth cranks — could very well cross the regime. Everything from simply getting arrested, to being pushed out a window to being one of those people the Soviets drugged up in looney bins is on the table.

What I feel like doing is protesting at the nearest circuit court with a sheet of paper that has the 1st Amendment on it. Given how small the nearest town to me is, there’s a 50 / 50 chance that I’d be arrested for doing that just because it would unnerve people.

Anyway. It’s over, guys. Stick a fork in American democracy, it’s dead. It’s cooked. The end, end of story. Blues just don’t have the leadership necessary to do anything constructive about Trump and he will stay in office for the rest of his life, one way or another.

Countdown To American Collapse: Rich People Have a Point

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Apparently, a lot of wealthy Americans are buying second homes outside the country in preperation for “domestic upheaval.” Sadly, I think they have a point. I think it’s at least possible — maybe 50 / 50 — that something will happen well before the next four years are up that will cause Trump to enact martial law.

One issue I struggle with is if Trump would cancel elections altogether. I have my doubts. Why cancel the elections — which would upset people — when you can just make them so unfree and so unfair that you win in a landslide and you can point to that during your illegal third term.

And, yet, some people far smarter — and far more successful — than I, seem to believe Trump wants to be “president for life” without allowing any elections — free and fair or otherwise — from happening.

I do think that Trump is so fucking stupid that it’s inevitable that he will do something that actually provokes Democrats into action. At the moment, Trump has free reign to do whatever the fuck he wants because Democrats are such pantywaists that they can’t get their act together to oppose him.

I worry about Trump finally doing something so stupid that he gets deposed then there’s a civil war because Red States get mad. Ugh.

We’re Ripe For *Something* Big To Happen

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I’m getting a very pre-9/11 vibe from the USA right now. Sure there are a lot of big events happening as Trump consolidates power like Putin in the early years of his regime, but…I fear something *huge* might be about to happen.

Anything from a war with Iran, to Trump declaring martial law after huge protests because the Social Security Administration has collapsed seem on the table at the moment. And that doesn’t begin to address the possibility that a very poorly managed FBI might miss a major terrorist attack on US soil because it’s too busy sucking Trump’s cock.

But I can’t predict the future. Who knows what is going to happen. Maybe we’ll just drift into a legalistic autocracy, Trumplandia, and that will be that.

The Second American Republic Is Dying

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

There have been two American Republics to date — one founded by George Washington and another founded by Abraham Lincoln. The last one, the current one, is dying and the question is What Come’s Next?

It could go either way at the moment.

We could either simply slip into full-blown autocracy and that will be that or we depose Trump, have a civil war, the Good Guys (Blues) win and we establish a Third Republic.

I really, really don’t want a civil war, I’m just saying given how fucking tribal everything is, it seems like a civil war is the only way to eliminate MAGA as a political force. MAGA is a cancer that is eating our political system alive and we need some serious chemotherapy to get rid of it.

It’s not going to be fun and it’s not going to be pretty.

Again, I’m not advocating anything untoward, just saying what would have to be done to get rid of MAGA as a political force. As such, I think we’re stuck with MAGA and soon enough ICE or the FBI will murder me in cold blood because I won’t shut the fuck up about how much of a cocksucker I think Trump is.

Sigh.

I’m Officially Beginning To Worry About The Social Security Administration

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

The chatter around the Social Security Administration is growing pretty dark at an alarming rate, with the current leader of the organization suggesting he might shut the whole thing down.

Now, this has obviously not happened yet. So, it could be just a bunch of MAGA rhetoric and bluster, but…I’m getting nervous. Doing something like that would dramatically upend the lives of millions of people — most of the the most vulnerable in society.

It would also be a huge shock to the economy, if suddenly a lot of people just did not have any money to spend.

And, yet, Trump has consolidated power already to the point that, lulz, it’s possible even this would not be enough to cause people to risk their “lives and scared honors” in the real fucking world.

A lot would depend, of course, ono how long the shutdown — or interruption of benefits — lasted. If it was days, that’s one thing, but weeks or months is a different issue altogether.

And, of course, it’s possible that Trump could use any mass protests because of this dumb event to establish martial law and that would be that. He would create his own Reichstag Fire event that we would lurch into true fascism.

Only time will tell, I suppose.

‘Let Them Eat Cake’

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

It definitely seems as though April’s Social Security checks are now in danger, the way people in the Trump regime are talking. If that happened, if nothing else, it will make a lot of people who are rather blasé about politics sit up and take notice.

A lot would depend on how long the delay was. If it was just a few days, that is one thing, but if it dragged on for weeks or months, that is a different matter altogether. People might actually get mad enough to risk their “lives and scared honor” IN THE REAL WORLD.

But…I have my doubts. Trump is an dictator and people are lulzing it. So it definitely seems as though this frog, as they say, is cooked. The country is just too big, to beholden to plutocrats — especially the media — for anything of note to happen.

And Trump has all the cards, all the power.

I just never see us having another free and fair election on the Federal level and Trump is probably going to run for an illegal third term and STILL people will lulz it all.

They’re Going To Deport Me To South Korea, The Way Things Are Going (FUCK TRUMP)

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

As I constantly say, you go bankrupt gradually, then all at once and I’m growing a bit unnerved that ICE or the FBI is going to come after me at some point in the not-too-distant future.

I’m totally harmless and there’s no reason for anyone to want to lock me up other than I hate MAGA and can get into a diatribe about that fact here on this blog every once in a while.

And, yet, Trump is slowly circling the US like an anaconda and soon enough he will consolidate power to the point that he can strangle what little is left of our democracy altogether.

Really, the only issue is how far he will ultimately go. It is clear to me that he is probably finally going to do something really bad to the point that either he is deposed (don’t know how that will happen) or we lurch into being a legalistic autocracy like Russia.

It seems as though the thing Trump and Musk will do that will finally cause a lot of otherwise blasé people to sit up and take notice is something to do with the Social Security Administration. If it really does collapse and checks are delayed for a significant amount of time, that would probably be enough for massive demonstrations or maybe, just maybe some sort of General Strike.

But I have severe doubts about that. Americans just don’t think in those terms and ultimately Trump will consolidate power, run for an illegal third term, shuffle off this mortal coil and then whomever succeeds him will be our dictator for the rest of my life.