Social Reverberations of 8 years of Trump - Good or Bad?

[Hermit For Peace]

I asked a question previously about what a second term of Trump would look like.

Now I'm wondering about the social implications of it. What will be the reverberations of 8 full years of Trump as President?

Will bullying be normalized? Will threats and intimidation be the new standard of social discourse?

How will our kids be affected down the road? I have a feeling that our country may be going down the crapper the longer we keep such a controversial figure as Trump at the helm. He turns women's stomachs. The young ones are repelled by him. He does absolutely nothing to try to reach anybody but his base. What kind of leadership is this?

How can this be good for us as a country?
 

[T'Chenka]

I think it's safe to say that this is an epic last stand for white MAGA culture. This presidency is the cultural battle where Republicans either break through enemy lines and regain lost ground, or they die on the hill trying to protect every remaining inch of land. There will be no compromise from conservative anti-immigrant white America. They'e going to win or they're going to lose. Interpret the implications of that through whatever ideological lense you want.

[Middle-aged Europe]

One way or another, I think the Republicans are gonna impeach the next Democratic president. No matter what.

In pre-Trump era we already had the Benghazi hearings and e-mail investigations. And now when the Democrats have pulled the trigger on Trump, there will be no holding back anymore.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Giving Trump a second term will allow the GOP to continue to use dark money as a way of cheating. Pelosi and her campaign finance reform must pass Congress after 2021 when Dems assume trifecta or GOP will never learn and will Hack DNC a 3rd time

[Vaccinated Russian Bear]

If Trump gets re-elected, you should move to a small county in Europe, somewhere the rule of law still exists. You will not survive here. You are not a wolf, and this is a land of wolves now.

[Person Man]

The pendulum will either swing back or completely break. If it swings back, we will be having this conversation again in 16 years. If not, well... everything has to change eventually but I think it will not just be the beginning of the end of everything we know but the beginning of the beginning of something new.

[Person Man]

If Trump gets re-elected, you should move to a small county in Europe, somewhere the rule of law still exists. You will not survive here. You are not a wolf, and this is a land of wolves now.

You will give us what? A 10 or 15 year head start? Just to add some challenge, right?

[pbrower2a]

Either World War III or a second Great Depression, and America is an Evil Empire with a huge brain drain.

Figure that America's creative people are a mobile lot, and it can move to where it is welcome.

[Person Man]

Either World War III or a second Great Depression, and America is an Evil Empire with a huge brain drain.

Figure that America's creative people are a mobile lot, and it can move to where it is welcome.

There really isn’t a place right now for them. It could be decades if not centuries before they can have something like we are losing now. There just isn’t a country that is wealthy and free enough to bring great minds together.

[beaver2.0]

Oh the 2024 primaries will be a sh**tshow.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

One way or another, I think the Republicans are gonna impeach the next Democratic president. No matter what.

In pre-Trump era we already had the Benghazi hearings and e-mail investigations. And now when the Democrats have pulled the trigger on Trump, there will be no holding back anymore.

Only if they can get a majority in the House. If they do get such a majority, a Democratic president will be impeached continually. (Congress will truly get nothing else accomplished, nor would a Republican house want anything else, save complete Democratic capitulation.)

If they can't impeach the next Democratic President, they'll just take Mr. Trump's words to heart and try to kill her or him. (And then argue that killing public officials is what the Second Amedment is for - as long as the official is a Democrat.) It will be a part of the general Republican-led domestic terrorism we're going to see.

[Hermit For Peace]

The pendulum will either swing back or completely break. If it swings back, we will be having this conversation again in 16 years. If not, well... everything has to change eventually but I think it will not just be the beginning of the end of everything we know but the beginning of the beginning of something new.

I like that. There is nothing stopping us from learning from the predicament we are in. We do have the ability to create something new. We just need to get enough people onboard with wanting to do that.

Do people really want a bully tyrant conman for President? Or, have we learned our lesson and will we vote in someone who is a balanced personality, someone who gets things done and who isn't afraid of hard work and compromise, and who doesn't alienate everyone on the planet (but their shrinking base).

[Progressive Pessimist]

This country will be changed forever, for the worse. Maybe even the rest of the world too.

A period of 'DeTrumpization" will be required in this country not unlike the Soviet Union's DeStalinization.

Trump will be remembered as being the worst President in American history though, one who will also be remembered as the most corrupt and most incompetent too. That future where that legacy is mainstream and taught that way in schools cannot come soon enough. It's really the only bright side.

[Hammy]

This country will be changed forever, for the worse. Maybe even the rest of the world too.

A period of 'DeTrumpization" will be required in this country not unlike the Soviet Union's DeStalinization.

Trump will be remembered as being the worst President in American history though, one who will also be remembered as the most corrupt and most incompetent too. That future where that legacy is mainstream and taught that way in schools cannot come soon enough. It's really the only bright side.

I dare say we were past the point of no return well before Trump--it's merely that his election was the logical conclusion of that social collapse.

Unfortunately any effects of Trump were here to stay as soon as he began campaigning. Losing the election, being reelected, it makes no difference, the worse elements of society who had been coming to the surface already had been emboldened by that point and there's no turning back at this point.

[Progressive Pessimist]

This country will be changed forever, for the worse. Maybe even the rest of the world too.

A period of 'DeTrumpization" will be required in this country not unlike the Soviet Union's DeStalinization.

Trump will be remembered as being the worst President in American history though, one who will also be remembered as the most corrupt and most incompetent too. That future where that legacy is mainstream and taught that way in schools cannot come soon enough. It's really the only bright side.

I dare say we were past the point of no return well before Trump--it's merely that his election was the logical conclusion of that social collapse.

Unfortunately any effects of Trump were here to stay as soon as he began campaigning. Losing the election, being reelected, it makes no difference, the worse elements of society who had been coming to the surface already had been emboldened by that point and there's no turning back at this point.

Good point. It has been evident since he first came down that escalator that Trump is a symptom, not the cause.

[Joe Republic]

Historians will look to this period as the key milestone in America's decline as a global superpower.  The rot truly came from within.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

This country will be changed forever, for the worse. Maybe even the rest of the world too.

A period of 'DeTrumpization" will be required in this country not unlike the Soviet Union's DeStalinization.

Trump will be remembered as being the worst President in American history though, one who will also be remembered as the most corrupt and most incompetent too. That future where that legacy is mainstream and taught that way in schools cannot come soon enough. It's really the only bright side.

I dare say we were past the point of no return well before Trump--it's merely that his election was the logical conclusion of that social collapse.

Unfortunately any effects of Trump were here to stay as soon as he began campaigning. Losing the election, being reelected, it makes no difference, the worse elements of society who had been coming to the surface already had been emboldened by that point and there's no turning back at this point.

What was the cause or causes, though?  I mean, the mechanism of  destruction, in the form of Republicans utter rejection of everything contrary to their own internally-warped fantasy bubble, is pretty clear. But how did we get here from the pre-Reagan era?

Was it Reagan? The end of the Fairness Doctrine in 1987? Cable tv? The internet? Social media? Or is the media just a tool, too, rather than a cause? Our government very clearly suffered from regulatory capture between the S&L crisis and the mortgage crisis, which certainly doesn't help.

I remember hearing Rush Limbaugh on the radio as a kid, ranting and raving about Clinton Conspiracies that changed from week to week. You'd catch a snippet one week where he was pushing one twisted theory, and then the next week, it would be the exact opposite. Much like Trump now, you have to be able to actively reject reason and critical thought in order to treat the Republican ideosphere as anything but painful noise. (The Democrats are far, far from perfect, but they appear to represent a system that actually involves functioning representative government and a a working society. Modern Republicans seem like sick parodies of human beings. They're alien.)

[Hermit For Peace]

This country will be changed forever, for the worse. Maybe even the rest of the world too.

A period of 'DeTrumpization" will be required in this country not unlike the Soviet Union's DeStalinization.

Trump will be remembered as being the worst President in American history though, one who will also be remembered as the most corrupt and most incompetent too. That future where that legacy is mainstream and taught that way in schools cannot come soon enough. It's really the only bright side.

I dare say we were past the point of no return well before Trump--it's merely that his election was the logical conclusion of that social collapse.

Unfortunately any effects of Trump were here to stay as soon as he began campaigning. Losing the election, being reelected, it makes no difference, the worse elements of society who had been coming to the surface already had been emboldened by that point and there's no turning back at this point.

What was the cause or causes, though?  I mean, the mechanism of  destruction, in the form of Republicans utter rejection of everything contrary to their own internally-warped fantasy bubble, is pretty clear. But how did we get here from the pre-Reagan era?

Was it Reagan? The end of the Fairness Doctrine in 1987? Cable tv? The internet? Social media? Or is the media just a tool, too, rather than a cause? Our government very clearly suffered from regulatory capture between the S&L crisis and the mortgage crisis, which certainly doesn't help.

I remember hearing Rush Limbaugh on the radio as a kid, ranting and raving about Clinton Conspiracies that changed from week to week. You'd catch a snippet one week where he was pushing one twisted theory, and then the next week, it would be the exact opposite. Much like Trump now, you have to be able to actively reject reason and critical thought in order to treat the Republican ideosphere as anything but painful noise. (The Democrats are far, far from perfect, but they appear to represent a system that actually involves functioning representative government and a a working society. Modern Republicans seem like sick parodies of human beings. They're alien.)

That's what they say about the Dems. We have a disconnect, not a conversation going, and Trump ain't helping.

[pbrower2a]

Either World War III or a second Great Depression, and America is an Evil Empire with a huge brain drain.

Figure that America's creative people are a mobile lot, and it can move to where it is welcome.

There really isn’t a place right now for them. It could be decades if not centuries before they can have something like we are losing now. There just isn’t a country that is wealthy and free enough to bring great minds together.

Many educated Americans speak Spanish. Argentina and Spain could be very attractive for American intellectuals. Many educated Americans speak French.

Of course there are Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the UK, and Ireland. No language problem there. OK, South Africa is Anglophone -- sort of -- and poor.

Asian-Americans? Taiwan, South Korea, Japan? If I wanted to get away from a country increasingly becoming an anti-intellectual Sodom and Gomorrah... 

Many of the creative people are Jewish. Countries that might want a revival of Jewish culture to enrich theirs? I could think of a few countries that used to have large Jewish populations that no longer do. Were I Jewish I would rather live in a democratic Germany than a fascistic America, even if Donald Trump has a Jewish daughter. If he got angry at his daughter, things could go very bad very fast in America; such is the character of many Jew-haters who did not start out as such. Nazi Scheiss is illegal in Germany; Klan groups are active in America, and aside from different choices in symbols and historical myths... I am tempted to replace the "x" in "Ku Klux Klan" with a Nazi swastika.

This is a time in which much of the world  does not need more material production than it now has... but increasingly devours creative output. As it is now, figure that a country such as Germany gets much of its American imports from such entities as Disney/FoX, CBS/Paramount/Viacom, the American subsidiaries of Sony/Columbia, and Universal/Comcast/NBC. Many people are now spending more on cable and cell-phone payments for access to media than they are spending on car payments. This is not the 1950's anymore.   

Remember: a fascistic America is a nightmare for anyone capable of thinking outside the box of a right-wing orthodoxy willing to adopt left-wing memes. Donald Trump is an orthodox right-winger on economic matters (basically, no human suffering is in excess so long as it serves the economic elites, and any debasement of institutions to that effect is inexcusable) who has adopted some old Leftist memes as his.

What follows him if America's electoral process is debased with salami tactics that make an opposition impotent or irrelevant if not illegal? Trump has sought to force change in the political culture, and so far liberals have been asserting themselves loudly and protecting what they have while snipping away at the fraying edges of Trump loyalty. What happens if that comes to an end? Under an authoritarian or totalitarian regime, the secret of happiness is stupidity -- something largely incompatible with creativity.

[Inmate Trump]

I think it's safe to say that this is an epic last stand for white MAGA culture. This presidency is the cultural battle where Republicans either break through enemy lines and regain lost ground, or they die on the hill trying to protect every remaining inch of land. There will be no compromise from conservative anti-immigrant white America. They'e going to win or they're going to lose. Interpret the implications of that through whatever ideological lense you want.

And they'll do whatever they can to win.  Even if it means collaborating with a hostile foreign government to meddle with our elections.

[Person Man]

This country will be changed forever, for the worse. Maybe even the rest of the world too.

A period of 'DeTrumpization" will be required in this country not unlike the Soviet Union's DeStalinization.

Trump will be remembered as being the worst President in American history though, one who will also be remembered as the most corrupt and most incompetent too. That future where that legacy is mainstream and taught that way in schools cannot come soon enough. It's really the only bright side.

I dare say we were past the point of no return well before Trump--it's merely that his election was the logical conclusion of that social collapse.

Unfortunately any effects of Trump were here to stay as soon as he began campaigning. Losing the election, being reelected, it makes no difference, the worse elements of society who had been coming to the surface already had been emboldened by that point and there's no turning back at this point.

What was the cause or causes, though?  I mean, the mechanism of  destruction, in the form of Republicans utter rejection of everything contrary to their own internally-warped fantasy bubble, is pretty clear. But how did we get here from the pre-Reagan era?

Was it Reagan? The end of the Fairness Doctrine in 1987? Cable tv? The internet? Social media? Or is the media just a tool, too, rather than a cause? Our government very clearly suffered from regulatory capture between the S&L crisis and the mortgage crisis, which certainly doesn't help.

I remember hearing Rush Limbaugh on the radio as a kid, ranting and raving about Clinton Conspiracies that changed from week to week. You'd catch a snippet one week where he was pushing one twisted theory, and then the next week, it would be the exact opposite. Much like Trump now, you have to be able to actively reject reason and critical thought in order to treat the Republican ideosphere as anything but painful noise. (The Democrats are far, far from perfect, but they appear to represent a system that actually involves functioning representative government and a a working society. Modern Republicans seem like sick parodies of human beings. They're alien.)

That's what they say about the Dems. We have a disconnect, not a conversation going, and Trump ain't helping.

If by “disconnect” you mean half the country just goes off to create a new country without the other half.

[Hermit For Peace]

This country will be changed forever, for the worse. Maybe even the rest of the world too.

A period of 'DeTrumpization" will be required in this country not unlike the Soviet Union's DeStalinization.

Trump will be remembered as being the worst President in American history though, one who will also be remembered as the most corrupt and most incompetent too. That future where that legacy is mainstream and taught that way in schools cannot come soon enough. It's really the only bright side.

I dare say we were past the point of no return well before Trump--it's merely that his election was the logical conclusion of that social collapse.

Unfortunately any effects of Trump were here to stay as soon as he began campaigning. Losing the election, being reelected, it makes no difference, the worse elements of society who had been coming to the surface already had been emboldened by that point and there's no turning back at this point.

What was the cause or causes, though?  I mean, the mechanism of  destruction, in the form of Republicans utter rejection of everything contrary to their own internally-warped fantasy bubble, is pretty clear. But how did we get here from the pre-Reagan era?

Was it Reagan? The end of the Fairness Doctrine in 1987? Cable tv? The internet? Social media? Or is the media just a tool, too, rather than a cause? Our government very clearly suffered from regulatory capture between the S&L crisis and the mortgage crisis, which certainly doesn't help.

I remember hearing Rush Limbaugh on the radio as a kid, ranting and raving about Clinton Conspiracies that changed from week to week. You'd catch a snippet one week where he was pushing one twisted theory, and then the next week, it would be the exact opposite. Much like Trump now, you have to be able to actively reject reason and critical thought in order to treat the Republican ideosphere as anything but painful noise. (The Democrats are far, far from perfect, but they appear to represent a system that actually involves functioning representative government and a a working society. Modern Republicans seem like sick parodies of human beings. They're alien.)

That's what they say about the Dems. We have a disconnect, not a conversation going, and Trump ain't helping.

If by “disconnect” you mean half the country just goes off to create a new country without the other half.

I just mean we aren't having a conversation anymore. It's just us vs them on steroids. Something has got to break the impasse.

[Person Man]

This country will be changed forever, for the worse. Maybe even the rest of the world too.

A period of 'DeTrumpization" will be required in this country not unlike the Soviet Union's DeStalinization.

Trump will be remembered as being the worst President in American history though, one who will also be remembered as the most corrupt and most incompetent too. That future where that legacy is mainstream and taught that way in schools cannot come soon enough. It's really the only bright side.

I dare say we were past the point of no return well before Trump--it's merely that his election was the logical conclusion of that social collapse.

Unfortunately any effects of Trump were here to stay as soon as he began campaigning. Losing the election, being reelected, it makes no difference, the worse elements of society who had been coming to the surface already had been emboldened by that point and there's no turning back at this point.

What was the cause or causes, though?  I mean, the mechanism of  destruction, in the form of Republicans utter rejection of everything contrary to their own internally-warped fantasy bubble, is pretty clear. But how did we get here from the pre-Reagan era?

Was it Reagan? The end of the Fairness Doctrine in 1987? Cable tv? The internet? Social media? Or is the media just a tool, too, rather than a cause? Our government very clearly suffered from regulatory capture between the S&L crisis and the mortgage crisis, which certainly doesn't help.

I remember hearing Rush Limbaugh on the radio as a kid, ranting and raving about Clinton Conspiracies that changed from week to week. You'd catch a snippet one week where he was pushing one twisted theory, and then the next week, it would be the exact opposite. Much like Trump now, you have to be able to actively reject reason and critical thought in order to treat the Republican ideosphere as anything but painful noise. (The Democrats are far, far from perfect, but they appear to represent a system that actually involves functioning representative government and a a working society. Modern Republicans seem like sick parodies of human beings. They're alien.)

That's what they say about the Dems. We have a disconnect, not a conversation going, and Trump ain't helping.

If by “disconnect” you mean half the country just goes off to create a new country without the other half.

I just mean we aren't having a conversation anymore. It's just us vs them on steroids. Something has got to break the impasse.

Maybe not. The Cold War lasted decades. This has been going on since 2000, right? So there’s a credible argument that there’s a 75% chance we have seen between a quarter or three quarters of it. (Citation later) Maybe  “something” will give some time in this cycle or next or maybe things will only get “better” when I barely know who I am if I’m still around. I’m in my 30s and another 60 years would make me 90. There is still an outside chance that things could stop this year or that this how things will be for anyone alive today.

[Yellowhammer]

Either World War III or a second Great Depression, and America is an Evil Empire with a huge brain drain.

Figure that America's creative people are a mobile lot, and it can move to where it is welcome.

There really isn’t a place right now for them. It could be decades if not centuries before they can have something like we are losing now. There just isn’t a country that is wealthy and free enough to bring great minds together.

Many educated Americans speak Spanish. Argentina and Spain could be very attractive for American intellectuals. Many educated Americans speak French.

Of course there are Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the UK, and Ireland. No language problem there. OK, South Africa is Anglophone -- sort of -- and poor.

Asian-Americans? Taiwan, South Korea, Japan? If I wanted to get away from a country increasingly becoming an anti-intellectual Sodom and Gomorrah...  

How about North Korea or the PRC?

Many of the creative people are Jewish. Countries that might want a revival of Jewish culture to enrich theirs? I could think of a few countries that used to have large Jewish populations that no longer do. Were I Jewish I would rather live in a democratic Germany than a fascistic America, even if Donald Trump has a Jewish daughter. If he got angry at his daughter, things could go very bad very fast in America; such is the character of many Jew-haters who did not start out as such. Nazi Scheiss is illegal in Germany; Klan groups are active in America, and aside from different choices in symbols and historical myths... I am tempted to replace the "x" in "Ku Klux Klan" with a Nazi swastika.

This is a time in which much of the world  does not need more material production than it now has... but increasingly devours creative output. As it is now, figure that a country such as Germany gets much of its American imports from such entities as Disney/FoX, CBS/Paramount/Viacom, the American subsidiaries of Sony/Columbia, and Universal/Comcast/NBC. Many people are now spending more on cable and cell-phone payments for access to media than they are spending on car payments. This is not the 1950's anymore.  

Remember: a fascistic America is a nightmare for anyone capable of thinking outside the box of a right-wing orthodoxy willing to adopt left-wing memes. Donald Trump is an orthodox right-winger on economic matters (basically, no human suffering is in excess so long as it serves the economic elites, and any debasement of institutions to that effect is inexcusable) who has adopted some old Leftist memes as his.

What follows him if America's electoral process is debased with salami tactics that make an opposition impotent or irrelevant if not illegal? Trump has sought to force change in the political culture, and so far liberals have been asserting themselves loudly and protecting what they have while snipping away at the fraying edges of Trump loyalty. What happens if that comes to an end? Under an authoritarian or totalitarian regime, the secret of happiness is stupidity -- something largely incompatible with creativity.

Seek help, and fast!

[Grassroots]

He's giving us a right wing mentality which may seem like a good thing to right wingers like me, but the reality is he's implanting the wrong type of right wing mentality. He's instilling blind obedience by way of his cult of personality. The real right wing mentality is of rebellious nature, a mentality which could only be observed in 2015 and 2016. This mentality will eventually shine after Trump is out of office, and it will most likely be amplified. 2024 will test the true nature of conservatives, do they want to stick with the "compassionate" republican party of the old, or do they want to let out the party's true populist roar. The republican party will become the party of unwavering strength, direct action, and american nationalism. While the democratic party will be known for weakness, corruption, and victim tokens. This is the future, and republicans can either get on the train or get mowed over.