A reminder: kakistocracy means “a state or society governed by its least suitable or competent citizens.”
Peter Zeihan: “For the first time since I started doing this…I’m worried for the United States.”
In his latest YouTube video, geopolitical analyst and consultant Peter Zeihan (author of a very interesting and informative book, The End of the World is Just the Beginning) describes the current situation under Trump as such:
This isn’t an abdication of American power. This isn’t mismanagement. This is a deliberate disassembly of the building blocks of American power, and security, and safety.
This isn’t anything that I would think any American would ever want, much less orchestrate, which has pushed me into the realm of some conspiracy theories.
I think we now need to consider that the Russians really have penetrated the White House.
And while I think it’s a stretch to say that this is like a Manchurian Candidate sort of situation, there are too many things happening that seem too tailored to hobble American capacity long run, and everything that was on this list is something that the Russians have tried before:
- NATO is something they’ve been trying to destroy since the fifties, and now we have the possibility of the U.S. just walking away.
- The military has been the bulwark of global security, and so gutting it from the inside is something they would love to see.
- Our intel system has been the canary in the coal mine and it appears that Trump is either not receiving or not reading the daily brief that the agency produces for him every day.
- The food supply situation in the United States has long been the world’s safest, and now we’re not even testing to maintain it?
- The demographics of Russia is one of the main reasons why the Russians are facing such a bleak long-term future, but if you interfere with the vaccine schedule in the United States, you can start increasing the death rate in Americans — not just under 20, but under 5 — and start to equalize that situation.
Watch the video, which is the first in a series on events from the Russian perspective — how they see the world, influence world events, and “given the chance, how they would redirect American policy to serve their interests.”
Lesson 3 from Timothy Snyder’s On Tyranny: “Beware the one-party state.”
In the past couple of Notes for the kakistocracy, I posted the first two lessons from historian Timothy Snyder’s book, On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century. Here’s lesson 3: Beware the one-party state.
Timothy Snyder’s message here is loud and clear: If you don’t want to live under a dictatorship, don’t let one party take over everything. Simple, right? But history says we tend to miss the warning signs until it’s too late.
Look at Nazi Germany, Soviet Russia, or any number of regimes that started out with elections and political competition — until they didn’t. One party (or one leader) rigs the system, crushes opposition, and suddenly, democracy is just a decorative word they slap on sham elections. At that point, voting becomes about as meaningful as clicking “Accept All Cookies” on a website — you don’t really have a choice.
So what can you do? Give a damn. Vote. Pay attention when politicians start talking about “reforms” that make it harder to vote or easier to sideline opponents. Call out power grabs when you see them. Democracy doesn’t clean up after its often messy self — it only works if enough people actively keep it from rusting over.
TL;DR: If you don’t want to end up in a country where elections are just a formality, make sure the system stays fair while you still have a say. Because once a one-party state is locked in, good luck getting it unstuck.
The better Vance: JD Vance’s cousin Nate was a volunteer soldier in a Ukrainian battalion
JD Vance’s cousin, Nate Vance, fought on the front lines in Ukraine, and was pretty good at it too. When he heard that cousin JD was telling falsehoods about Ukraine and Zelenskyy, he tried contacting him several times — unsurprisingly but disappointingly, to be met with silence.
The (formerly conservative-by-French-standards, now centrist-by-French-standards) French newspaper Le Figaro, which has been around since the early 1800s, has an exclusive interview with Nate Vance.
Since the original article was in French and in a paper that many Americans might not have heard of, I’ve posted an English translation of the article. Check it out!
Canadian quote of the moment: “Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid.”
Because I am a Canadian, I’m familiar with this aphorism attributed to Canadian clergyman-turned-author Basil King:
Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid.
This is actually a shortening of what he wrote:
Go at it boldly, and you’ll find unexpected forces closing round you and coming to your aid.
Not only is it a time for boldness, but also for forming mighty forces. If you see someone being bold, be part of those forces that come to their aid.