We’ll Tolerate Tyranny, But Not Rising Prices.

Economic ignorance is very bad in a leader; autocratic aspirations are worse. So it’s weird to think, given how much autocratic aspiration the president has gotten away with, that it’s his simple economic ignorance that now seems far more likely to sink his political project. Americans, who pride themselves on their allergy to tyrants, proved willing to put up with astonishing amounts of would-be tyranny from a president who tried to steal an election, who has tried to prosecute his political enemies, who has inhaled vast sums of corrupt money in America and around the world, who has deliberately turned America into a global leader of economic shakedowns. But we draw the line, apparently, when gas and grocery prices go up.

In 2024 Democrats campaigned *hard* on the notion that American democracy was on the line, that we couldn’t let an insurrectionist felon and his enablers have control of the federal government again…

…but people were too caught up in the price of eggs to care about any of that, so now we’ve got fascism *and* high gas prices, a real double whammy.

75,019,230 of us showed up to try to protect our democracy in 2024, hopefully even more will show up in 2026 and 2028 now that people know what’s at stake.

It’s shockingly true.

Trump *openly* tried to steal an election in 2020. He was re elected in 2024.

But – gas prices go up? Trump’s approval hits a historic low.

Americans are so dumb

I’m not thrilled there are thousands of my fellow citizens who are only upset because it’s now directly affecting them.

But if that’s what gets them to the ballot box, I’ll take it.

Whose hand is this? Is it an AI hand? It doesn’t look real

They were made dumb by decades of propaganda, cuts to education, and a deliberate decrease in people’s attention and what they find important. They are responsible, but so is the Government.

This from the “dOnT tReAd On Me” Tea party too lol

So does every publication post their own stories now?

Mess

Replace “Prices” with “Cost” and you could use the same headline for the Boston Tea Party.

Terry Pratchett really called it.

It will always be the economy, stupid. We waste so much time on everything else and lose when it’s really very simple.

There is a significant part of America that hates the idea of democracy. They have always wanted a dictatorship. As long as it’s their dictator.

Tyranny didn’t affect them.

High prices do.

Yeah but that’s thing – and this is why I think education is important – democracy isn’t just an ideal or an abstract idea, and if it is to most people, then it has already died.

The reason why you don’t want tyranny is precisely because it can lead to bad stuff happening for most people – because the people with power aren’t accountable to most people. Such as high prices because the people in charge use the economy for their own power instead of to help you.

That isn’t to say shared prosperity and democracy automatically happen, but you want some sort of government and institutions that tries to be inclusive and accounts for most people.

You support democracy because a healthy democracy with healthy institutions can create a healthy economy that helps to support most people. It’s a failure in civics education to just teach that democracy is just about who you vote for, who you “like” and one day of a year where you stand in line at a ballot box, or treat it as some sort of celebrity sport. Democracy is a culture, its a way of life, a set of institutions, that all together accounts for an opportunity for everyone to benefit through creating a cohesive social order together.

In a sense, the inability to tolerate rising prices and the sense that people are cheating you, anger at inequality and more, the feeling that your life should be better cared for, that IS democracy and that IS opposition to tyranny.

…As if cost of living isn’t one of the everyday ways political tyranny is typically felt by a populace? Weird false dichotomy. The prices are part of the oppression: He’s setting up for a permanent underclass.

Yes, Capitalism…

Yes. This. 

It’s incredibly revealing that you’re living through an historic collapse of American institutions, and the Democrats are either talking about the price of gas in the center or the price of healthcare on the left.

There’s nobody out here talking about democracy and American values. Those are fucking loser issues.

After 9/11 Bush told Americans to “get down to Disney world” as an act of defiance against terrorism. This country has zero civic spirit anymore, it all eroded away as the country deindustrialized and the finanicialization of the nation took hold.

For about 40+ years the citizens of this country equate freedom with their freedom to consume unimpeded. One could argue it’s one of the few freedoms this country even still has. The last thing that Americans can equate with a “good life” is now being stripped away, so of course people are going to lose their minds. It also happened during the covid non-lockdown. People suddenly couldn’t go to Applebees and suddenly they’ve lost their sense of self and went crazy. So it’s not surprising that rising costs stemming from self inflicted failed policies is what’s making Trump mega unpopular.

I mean, the whole start of the American revolution WAS mostly stoked by high taxes….

That’s the sad thing, in America it’s all about the selfish me. Me, myself, and I. What happens to ME. Sadly everywhere else in the world it’s about selflessness and service to each other. That’s why a single payer system here can’t get any traction because the same response is, “why should I pay for ____”. It’s sad and the selfishness is leading many down the path of destruction as Jesus talks about. A big part why Trump did so well with his supporters to start with because he talked about their selfish desires.

Yup been preaching it for years. Common theme at the end of his first term “he’s an asshole but my 401k and bank account are doing great.” They only care about themselves, their bank account, their mortgage, their health, their comfort, and their feelings and then expect everyone to care about them when they come on hard times.

I mean isn’t that pretty much true in most “tyrannical” countries? It’s easy to just Netflix and chill and block out the noise if you’re fed, clothed, and housed.