Has the Trump presidency changed you, politically?

[Tamas]

I think whatever sympathy/patience/illusions I had for/with/about the "moderate" part of the GOP and its chances to show up evaporated with Trump's primary victory, so no.

[Admiral Yi]

My values and principles have not changed.

I too am boycotting Republican candidates for the foreseeable future.

I was surprised by how many stupid angry white people we have in this country.

I was surprised by how much unilateral power the presidency has.

[Habbaku]

I went from considering republican candidates to refusing to consider them.

Same.

[Jacob]

Yeah? Interesting because you had a pretty informative opinion about this. Showing how the cynicism that decades of domestic political failure in Russia had created was the key to its authoritarian system. Once you convince everybody that everything is rigged and corrupt it is pretty easy to run an actual rigged and corrupt state. People just presume that is how everything is.

I agree with you this. People who are consistently cynical about corruption are enablers of corruption. The first requirement for fighting corruption is to believe that it is possible. The next step is to insist that corruption is unacceptable. Cynically arguing that "nothing can be done" is enabling. Same goes for many other things.

As for the original question - not really. A whole lot of things I worried about I kept to myself because I didn't want to seem hysterical came true, more or less. Some things didn't, thankfully, and others still surprised me.

Though the profound moral corruption of American policing as an institution (notwithstanding decent individuals) was definitely shocking for me, and has shifted my stance on that particular issue (not that I have any say on American policing). It has also made me more suspicious of Canadian police.

One thing I do wonder about is why Canada hasn't gone down the route of populist authoritarianism undermining the foundations of democracy. Is there something in the way we are organized politically and the current political situation that stops that slide? Is it just more or less random luck? Or is it coming, we're just a bit behind the curve? I don't know.

[Grey Fox]

Yes, my opinion of the US took a straight nose dive at high speed after the high that were the Obama years. You are a untrustworthy nation. On the world stage the US is only good to keep us from getting nuked by China or Russia.

[Grey Fox]

Yeah? Interesting because you had a pretty informative opinion about this. Showing how the cynicism that decades of domestic political failure in Russia had created was the key to its authoritarian system. Once you convince everybody that everything is rigged and corrupt it is pretty easy to run an actual rigged and corrupt state. People just presume that is how everything is.

I agree with you this. People who are consistently cynical about corruption are enablers of corruption. The first requirement for fighting corruption is to believe that it is possible. The next step is to insist that corruption is unacceptable. Cynically arguing that "nothing can be done" is enabling. Same goes for many other things.

As for the original question - not really. A whole lot of things I worried about I kept to myself because I didn't want to seem hysterical came true, more or less. Some things didn't, thankfully, and others still surprised me.

Though the profound moral corruption of American policing as an institution (notwithstanding decent individuals) was definitely shocking for me, and has shifted my stance on that particular issue (not that I have any say on American policing). It has also made me more suspicious of Canadian police.

One thing I do wonder about is why Canada hasn't gone down the route of populist authoritarianism undermining the foundations of democracy. Is there something in the way we are organized politically and the current political situation that stops that slide? Is it just more or less random luck? Or is it coming, we're just a bit behind the curve? I don't know.

Yet. The Conservative Party of Canada is going down that road right now and Ontario elected Doug Ford.

[Threviel]

It made me realise how unstable the world order is. Not really directly related to Trump but during his watch China has thrown its weight around more lately making me realise what a huge threat China is.

Gave me a new sense of how little is needed to break a democracy down.

[Josquius]

I used to be a big believer in the power of the Internet to spread knowledge and equality and democratise the world.
I now know better.

I have had some faith in the US restored at the last election. They got their second brexit referendum and they passed. I am confident demographics will continue to roll back the trumpies. But its going to be a hard slog, and can the country really be called a democracy when you've a choice of the "the political party" or "the cult"?

On the other hand were it not for corona trump might have held power.... People swallowing the lies of the economy doing well. I've ran into some of them in the real world and it really is quite disturbing....

The UK and US in tandem have really made me come around to seeing the shittiness of limited democracy.

[Admiral Yi]

The UK and US in tandem have really made me come around to seeing the shittiness of limited democracy.

I'll bite.

[Malthus]

It has made me less cynical and more committed to my principles - that the rule of law matters, that belief in objective truth and the scientific method matters, and upholding these ideals is worth fighting for.

To my mind, the most corrosive thing in a democracy is the attitude that all politicians are the same, voting doesn't matter, and there is no point in holding politicians accountable for lies because they all lie anyway. The fall of the Republicans to Trump shows where this leads: 'the best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity'. Apathy leads to rule by those able to summon up 'passionate conviction', and if these people care noting for truth and nothing for the rule of law, there is no dealing or compromising with them.

Reasonable people can disagree, and that is okay. What is not okay is people who do not reason.

[Grey Fox]

I used to be a big believer in the power of the Internet to spread knowledge and equality and democratise the world.
I now know better.

That's a good point. The democratic web, web 2.0 is a mistake.

[Iormlund]

I thought Western democracy was much more resilient.

It's amazing how much Putin has achieved with a comparatively minute investment. His core muscles must be terribly sore from laughing maniacally for the past week.

[Jacob]

Yet. The Conservative Party of Canada is going down that road right now and Ontario elected Doug Ford.

I know Douggie is in the same mold as Trump and Johnson, but he doesn't seem quite as egregious from the things I hear. And I don't see him undermining institutions in the same way either. But I could be missing things, I have no doubt. I'm far from Ontario.

[Jacob]

It made me realise how unstable the world order is. Not really directly related to Trump but during his watch China has thrown its weight around more lately making me realise what a huge threat China is.

Gave me a new sense of how little is needed to break a democracy down.

Oh yeah, I've completely soured on the Chinese state in the last five years or so (basically due to Xi). That doesn't have anything to do with Trump, though.

[Richard Hakluyt]

Xi could easily be worse than Trump in the long run 

Really bad news for China and pretty shitty for the rest of us too.