Society

This looks more like the last stage of a coup. Consolidating power in himself by stacking the courts as his puppets, discrediting belief in the truth by attacking the press as fake and rigging elections with voter suppression. Spreading propaganda and lies while facilitating Russian-aided disinformation on social media. Trying to shut down the postal service which means shutting down voting by mail. Lastly, raising a fascist, well armed militia to stand against his political enemies. The threat to our democracy couldn't be more urgent.

Trump is a snake oil salesman at heart. He says that any potion that he cooks up is as good, or actually infinitely better, than any other. Why? Because of his superior magic!

The real story, and the real danger, is that we are following a path backward in time, transported by Dialectic Materialism into a decline for worldwide individual liberty and sovereignty, and finally into Stalinist autocracy.

Trump sees the protection of Americans from a pandemic as "a worse choice" than having a weakened economy that denies him re-election. So he is bravely winding up for a pitch to demand that "nature be allowed to run its course" in the killing of 11 million Americans by COVIC-19.

I quickly descended into a nightmarish cycle of lying on my side because of exhaustion, followed immediately by sitting up to breathe several breaths, manually controlled. It was the only way that I could breathe, but it was exhausting. The complete cycles became shorter and shorter until they were only about thirty to forty seconds long. This went on for ten days.

On a graph, this looks like a steep hill that we are just starting to climb. It's very steep this time, and it will likely overwhelm our resources, medical and otherwise. That's when the war really starts.

Why have a basic understanding of cryptography? Take those Mayan priest-rulers for an example: they coded religious texts so that they would be the sole keepers of the knowledge. So that they could control people, 'en masse'. Their subjects didn't understand either the code or the process. They were virtual slaves, for their lack of knowledge.

Could we create complete models of super-viruses, and produce vaccines and cures in minutes? Could we make an interactive model of the Earth, and include every factor affecting global warming. Could we… create continent-sized energy networks, and exchanges, with a micro-macro philosophy. Could we have a fully accountable and individually auditable elections system? Wouldn't that be an interesting world?

When it comes to water and toilet paper, the only thing we have to fear is fear itself. Fear is a multiplier, the more it's widely accepted, the more it grows. While there seems to be no connection right now between Coronavirus and running out of Charmin, that connection has been made out of fear and ignorance. And now, the legit fear of not being able to buy the basics because of others' panic-buying, is justified and multiplies all other fears.

In the first place it's not a rule, but a state of being. Of a society. But, moreover, it is the achievement of an acceptably stable and successful state of existence where the law is trusted and consulted. Where people "have faith" in law. Where a substantial majority believe in the virtues of living in a law-abiding society, and the responsibilities entailed. "The Rule of Law" is an achievement. Of a People.