I believe that one of Trumps biggest tactics is to draw false equivalences between the US and those outside the US.
Duterte’s dictatorship in the Philippines is an interesting false equivalence which he trades on and is very much part of the propaganda that he leverages against all sovereign nations south of the US border.
Speaking to a Filipino kitchen co-worker here in Australia she expressed admiration for Duterte from growing up in the same place Davao. Her family and friends see him as a savior from very real devastation by drug gangsters in an impoverished neighborhood. He also had a pretty Marxist bottom up political agenda. Her thoughts were very much that he was slurred by propaganda (Fake Media).
I would suggest my friends relationship to her dictator/governor is worlds removed from Trump supporters. A false equivalence as Duterte, good or evil, actually enacted reform that benefited the poor from a poor background.
Trumps scatter gun cherry picking authoritarian national leaders is ironically enforcing his seemingly trite slogan of ‘Fake News’ as he exploits the 24 hour news cycles gravitation to clickbate content rather than allowing the time for any real analysis and nuance.
Trumps dictatorship shouldn’t stop us from understanding other totalitarian governments from his base impulses for power.
“The Federal government can and should send the National Guard to restore order and secure the peace without having to wait for the approval of some governor that thinks it’s politically incorrect to call them in … we have to go beyond the governor.”
So… the Biden administration should send in the National Guard to control the polling places in red states? Make sure there are more voting registration sites? Whether the governor - Like Abbott or DeSantis - wants that the happen? Make sure the state electors are representing the will of the people and not the will of the party?
I’m sorry, just because a few people might have benefited from Duterte’s policies, that doesn’t mean he was not a wanna-be autocrat, who it seems has now paved the way for the return of the Marcos family. He’s not “marxist” just because he cozied up to China and Russia and helped out a few poor people (I’m sure it was not all poor people, just particular ones).
You don’t need to commit extra-judicial murder to help the poor. You can do that without mass murder.
This is the right-wing concept of freedom. Freedom to oppress minorities and people they disagree with, without getting tangled up in consequences or having to go through laws. You can see it for instance in the way they associate freedom with a rebellion over owning slaves, or talk about “free speech” as their right to slur people without criticism.
In 2019, an estimated 10.1 million people aged 12 or older misused opioids in the past year . Specifically, 9.7 million people misused prescription pain relievers and 745,000 people used heroin.
Source
But, sure, the “illegal” drugs and dealers are the problem.
Well, yeah, once all the “urban” people are gone, we need a way to murder our neighbors in the LGBTQ+ community without being held accountable.
(Huge fucking /s, if it’s needed!)
Unrelated to anything he said if the videos showed him accurately he looks unwell. Strange new fluff to the remains of hair or what passes for hair and his face coloring is stranger than ever. Maybe all of his rage and tantrums is starting to affect his health as it should. It’s amazing to me that he hasn’t completely stroked out. Do reptiles have strokes, maybe he’s immune to such things. I guess it’s possible that he’s got new people drawing him and it’s just a different look. Maybe just wishful thinking on my part but he is no doubt his own worst enemy in terms of physical health.
I’m sorry if I didn’t make my point clear in the first two sentences.
Just suggesting that autocrats and dictators are not all cut from the same cloth.
Trump v Deturte is a false equivalence as are the relationship of their supporters and circumstances.
I found the first hand anecdotal experience of a Filipino who has actually lived the experience shifted my thinking beyond the broadcast and online media coverage that Trump exploits. In the same way I’d like to hear from Russian folk young and old about the war more so than Russian and Western popular media.
So my only point really was that Trump creates political noise in a popular shallow media that resonates way louder than any thoughtful political discussion.
so, one person says that they like him, and that means he’s not like Trump, despite there being heavy overlap with policies, language, and intent?
If you asked Trump supporters, they’d likely sound just like your friend there. They also believe he was largely positive for the country and for the (white) working class. And like your friend, they are not really correct, but they have that perception.
There is significant overlap between the various autocrats of today. They are pulling from similar playbooks and pushing for similar policies. They are not the same, but they are enough alike to be able to make these sorts of connections.
Trump is VERY much a dictator wanna-be and if he gets back into power, he will work for that. And now that Duterte has laid the groundwork for the return of the Marcos family, they are very much working to secure their power there once again.
