Thanks. You have expressed what I have felt in my bones for a long time but have been unable to explain intelligently.
It is definitely about the insiduous breakdown of societal norms and conventions and the testing of boundaries.
Its easy to ignore Trump's outrages and let it all wash over you. The normalisation or sanewashing by the MSM helps with an easier acceptance of the ideas (eg at the time Trump first brought up Canada as the 51st state, a number of articles appeared as explainers ie "What would Canada look like as part of America".)
While I now better understand the techniques used, the exact purpose of all of this remains unclear to me (ie one or all of gangsterism, Putinism, tech ruled autocracy, oligarchism, etc).
I write from Australia where the political right, who have drunk the Trump Koolaid, have just been thrashed in a national election.
Yes it is beyond insane - but “norms” whether good or bad are what societies have functioned with, well forever, is this virtual reality going to destroy how we function? ? We cannot survive that as a society , we will simply become the slaves of “whim” - this cannot be allowed to happen
Brilliant. Disturbing. Necessary. And yes, you’re right, Trump isn’t playing chess. He’s redrawing the board in crayon and daring the rest of us to play by the old rules. This is symbolic arson.
Trump doesn’t dominate institutions by commanding them, he dominates by making their meaning negotiable. The meme is the method. He’s turned every sacred ritual into a costume fitting for the theater of sovereign narcissism.
In my opinion what Trump understands (and what most centrists still don’t) is that symbolic power is now more durable than legal power. Laws can be overturned. Rulings can be appealed. But images? They are eternal. Screenshots are forever. You can’t subpoena a meme.
In this way, he’s less Caesar and more Andy Warhol’s Antichrist. He breaks norms, and he flattens them into content. The Pope meme is a signal of domination, yes, but more than that, it’s a declaration that there is no longer such a thing as “off-limits.” Only “uploadable”!
And this is where we’re headed: sovereignty by saturation. Think of it as the algorithmic version of the Overton Window, shift what’s sayable by making it shareable. Not policy by persuasion, but power by pixel.
Trump isn’t trolling. He’s terraforming the discourse, one meme at a time. Tragic, yes!
Is he asking to be crowned?! No! He’s already editing the coronation footage….
You always have a fresh perspective that I haven't necessarily thought about, but always do after reading a piece like this. I wonder though how much of this comes from his warped little mind and how much is coming from Vance, Miller, etc.
Well written as always, thank you. So, what do we do as appalled citizens of this horror? If it’s a global breakdown then emigrating doesn’t help, does it?
I’ve moved from stunned and heartbroken to a place of “ok, how do I protect and preserve what my family will need?” Any advice?
Thank you—truly. I feel the same shift you’re describing: that move from heartbreak to clarity. What do I do now? What do I protect? Who do I need to become for the people I love?
That’s exactly why I created Borderless Living (my other substack - www.borderlessliving.com). At first, it was about emigration as an escape. But I’ve come to see it differently. In the collapse of the “old,” strategies of movement—legal, financial, geographic—are becoming essential for those who are awake and paying attention.
It’s not a fantasy of fleeing. It’s a tactical guide for those who’ve already decided to stop playing by the rules of a system in decay—or are preparing to. It’s for anyone trying to preserve their family’s sovereignty—financial, legal, physical—in a world sliding toward entropy.
I don’t agree that emigration doesn’t help. Collapse isn’t going to be uniform. Some countries will weather this better. Some states will. Some people will. This isn’t about outrunning chaos—it’s about being geographically and structurally positioned to absorb less of it. That asymmetry is the opportunity.
That’s what Borderless is for.
For those who can’t—or won’t—leave, The Long Memo (and what I’m building under “The Grey Zone”) will offer the parallel track: how to survive from within, once the façade drops—when laws are hollow, institutions are compromised, and the machinery keeps humming along as if nothing’s wrong.
So my answer is: protect your family by acting before things harden. Choose a path. Build optionality. Preserve flexibility. Fortify where you are, or chart a way out.
Thanks - that helps a lot. I am a paid subscriber of both, so it helps to frame the context as I read it. Love your writing, and HATE the reason, but am grateful that you’ve opted to share your expertise.
I appreciate both of these Substacks, and the encouragement to have options and flexibility. This is challenging, but helps to stay oriented. If emigration isn't feasible, the idea of still being able to make plans with options is still valid.
Thank you. These were my thoughts as well. Long ago I met a person who masqueraded as a “decent person”, and everytime I tried to discuss their outrageous behavior with others they would say “but if they’re decent they will do the right thing”. And I would point out if they were decent they never would have done any of it to begin with. As soon as I saw him, that saying kept popping up in my head. Decent people would never have done any of this to begin with, ergo he has never been decent.
You're not wrong. I'd only add that this symbolic/mythic claim staking by the world's most famous toxic narcissist is inadequate to his self concept: not as the spiritual axis mundi, but as the mundi. For Trump he is not the state personified, he's not the church personified - he is the sole object or operator in all of existence.
While the fascist Orange Idiot spews forth what he deems as edicts to shock and awe, what is going on behind the scenes of stupidity? There are nefarious ideas and acts being implemented but not by The Idiot or his under-idiots. We need to ferret out those slinking and sliming gobs of poison and bring the whole damned parasitic rotten lot down and into sunlight.
I wonder if this picture is also to make his evangelical supporters laugh and love him more. They've hated the Pope for centuries. And it might also be a way to ridicule Biden's faith.
Wow. This is powerful. I was a history and political science major but haven’t spent my career in that world so I see the historical parallels and the world order shifting but don’t have the depth of experience to clearly articulate what I’m sensing. I’m now a subscriber.
The engine behind the scenes found their useful idiot, who was willing to lower discourse, test traditions and blow decency out of the water, because he's never truly been held accountable for anything. Nixon is seething in jealousy for just being too early in the game. This has been in the works for years, and it's a perfect storm of timing with our algorhythmic and uploadable culture for the disease to spread like wildfire. General degradation in all areas ... it used to be unthinkable for an elected official to swear on air. Now, it's just another Monday in the USA. Meh, move on. Something worse around the corner to distract.
Thanks. You have expressed what I have felt in my bones for a long time but have been unable to explain intelligently.
It is definitely about the insiduous breakdown of societal norms and conventions and the testing of boundaries.
Its easy to ignore Trump's outrages and let it all wash over you. The normalisation or sanewashing by the MSM helps with an easier acceptance of the ideas (eg at the time Trump first brought up Canada as the 51st state, a number of articles appeared as explainers ie "What would Canada look like as part of America".)
While I now better understand the techniques used, the exact purpose of all of this remains unclear to me (ie one or all of gangsterism, Putinism, tech ruled autocracy, oligarchism, etc).
I write from Australia where the political right, who have drunk the Trump Koolaid, have just been thrashed in a national election.
"And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made"
Brilliant. The catalyst for my outrage is the breaking of norms, the non-stop test of how far we will let him go.
Yes it is beyond insane - but “norms” whether good or bad are what societies have functioned with, well forever, is this virtual reality going to destroy how we function? ? We cannot survive that as a society , we will simply become the slaves of “whim” - this cannot be allowed to happen
Brilliant. Disturbing. Necessary. And yes, you’re right, Trump isn’t playing chess. He’s redrawing the board in crayon and daring the rest of us to play by the old rules. This is symbolic arson.
Trump doesn’t dominate institutions by commanding them, he dominates by making their meaning negotiable. The meme is the method. He’s turned every sacred ritual into a costume fitting for the theater of sovereign narcissism.
In my opinion what Trump understands (and what most centrists still don’t) is that symbolic power is now more durable than legal power. Laws can be overturned. Rulings can be appealed. But images? They are eternal. Screenshots are forever. You can’t subpoena a meme.
In this way, he’s less Caesar and more Andy Warhol’s Antichrist. He breaks norms, and he flattens them into content. The Pope meme is a signal of domination, yes, but more than that, it’s a declaration that there is no longer such a thing as “off-limits.” Only “uploadable”!
And this is where we’re headed: sovereignty by saturation. Think of it as the algorithmic version of the Overton Window, shift what’s sayable by making it shareable. Not policy by persuasion, but power by pixel.
Trump isn’t trolling. He’s terraforming the discourse, one meme at a time. Tragic, yes!
Is he asking to be crowned?! No! He’s already editing the coronation footage….
You always have a fresh perspective that I haven't necessarily thought about, but always do after reading a piece like this. I wonder though how much of this comes from his warped little mind and how much is coming from Vance, Miller, etc.
Or from id
Interesting observations and diagnosis. Is there a cure other than a bullet?
Well written as always, thank you. So, what do we do as appalled citizens of this horror? If it’s a global breakdown then emigrating doesn’t help, does it?
I’ve moved from stunned and heartbroken to a place of “ok, how do I protect and preserve what my family will need?” Any advice?
Thank you—truly. I feel the same shift you’re describing: that move from heartbreak to clarity. What do I do now? What do I protect? Who do I need to become for the people I love?
That’s exactly why I created Borderless Living (my other substack - www.borderlessliving.com). At first, it was about emigration as an escape. But I’ve come to see it differently. In the collapse of the “old,” strategies of movement—legal, financial, geographic—are becoming essential for those who are awake and paying attention.
It’s not a fantasy of fleeing. It’s a tactical guide for those who’ve already decided to stop playing by the rules of a system in decay—or are preparing to. It’s for anyone trying to preserve their family’s sovereignty—financial, legal, physical—in a world sliding toward entropy.
I don’t agree that emigration doesn’t help. Collapse isn’t going to be uniform. Some countries will weather this better. Some states will. Some people will. This isn’t about outrunning chaos—it’s about being geographically and structurally positioned to absorb less of it. That asymmetry is the opportunity.
That’s what Borderless is for.
For those who can’t—or won’t—leave, The Long Memo (and what I’m building under “The Grey Zone”) will offer the parallel track: how to survive from within, once the façade drops—when laws are hollow, institutions are compromised, and the machinery keeps humming along as if nothing’s wrong.
So my answer is: protect your family by acting before things harden. Choose a path. Build optionality. Preserve flexibility. Fortify where you are, or chart a way out.
But whatever you do—don’t stay paralyzed.
Thanks - that helps a lot. I am a paid subscriber of both, so it helps to frame the context as I read it. Love your writing, and HATE the reason, but am grateful that you’ve opted to share your expertise.
I appreciate both of these Substacks, and the encouragement to have options and flexibility. This is challenging, but helps to stay oriented. If emigration isn't feasible, the idea of still being able to make plans with options is still valid.
Thank you. These were my thoughts as well. Long ago I met a person who masqueraded as a “decent person”, and everytime I tried to discuss their outrageous behavior with others they would say “but if they’re decent they will do the right thing”. And I would point out if they were decent they never would have done any of it to begin with. As soon as I saw him, that saying kept popping up in my head. Decent people would never have done any of this to begin with, ergo he has never been decent.
It's all treason masquerading as governance
Thank you for writing and sharing this. It does indeed feel uncomfortably accurate.
Well put.✍🏼
You're not wrong. I'd only add that this symbolic/mythic claim staking by the world's most famous toxic narcissist is inadequate to his self concept: not as the spiritual axis mundi, but as the mundi. For Trump he is not the state personified, he's not the church personified - he is the sole object or operator in all of existence.
While the fascist Orange Idiot spews forth what he deems as edicts to shock and awe, what is going on behind the scenes of stupidity? There are nefarious ideas and acts being implemented but not by The Idiot or his under-idiots. We need to ferret out those slinking and sliming gobs of poison and bring the whole damned parasitic rotten lot down and into sunlight.
I wonder if this picture is also to make his evangelical supporters laugh and love him more. They've hated the Pope for centuries. And it might also be a way to ridicule Biden's faith.
Very facile and astute rendering of surreality. It’s like you’re interpolating reality from the Upside Down.
Wow. This is powerful. I was a history and political science major but haven’t spent my career in that world so I see the historical parallels and the world order shifting but don’t have the depth of experience to clearly articulate what I’m sensing. I’m now a subscriber.
The engine behind the scenes found their useful idiot, who was willing to lower discourse, test traditions and blow decency out of the water, because he's never truly been held accountable for anything. Nixon is seething in jealousy for just being too early in the game. This has been in the works for years, and it's a perfect storm of timing with our algorhythmic and uploadable culture for the disease to spread like wildfire. General degradation in all areas ... it used to be unthinkable for an elected official to swear on air. Now, it's just another Monday in the USA. Meh, move on. Something worse around the corner to distract.