Trump's narcissism saw the presidency as the most prestigious position. The power and reach of politicians, especially in capitalist, technocratic, or fascist systems, often comes down to how much capital is invested in them to give reality or the appearance of reality to their political platforms.

Cooperative solutions have tremendous advantages, but have the disadvantage of being limited to the resources of their participants. Without state intervention of one kind or another, the economic interests of private capital may well continue to monopolize quality healthcare.

I'd say the economic class is the most powerful and dangerous, and are responsible for the weaponization of the political class against the populace. Donald Trump was first of the economic class prior to entering politics.

Anything can be dismantled by a few politicians, even revolutionary regimes (i.e. the Spanish Republic vs. the ensuing Francoist fascist regime upon defeat in the Spanish Civil War). Nor indeed has trusting our well-being to private capital in the neo-liberal era given us better health outcomes.

Trump's 25-year effort at political ascendancy was an impossible joke until it wasn't after a certain threshold of economic attrition was reached. Revolutionary social transformation may be possible, but I like Death Panel's succinct formulation "Medicare for all now, solidarity forever."

It might be argued that to get to that point, Ronald Reagan pulled a judo move on post-WaterGate distrust that you voters think the government can only ever do harm, that it's the problem and not any part of a solution, and then only parts of it that point guns at people get adequate funding.

It's highly unlikely Trump would have ever come near the White House if we had single payer, or other such provisions I mentioned. His political ascent had everything to do with the fears and insecurities of a society in which economic neo-liberalism destroyed the New Deal safety net over 50 years.

It's okay to need your emotional support people, maybe that's a blessing in disguise.

Americans get surprisingly angry about saying everyone should have access to affordable or even free tax-funded healthcare, as they do regarding food, water, shelter, basic income, Internet connectivity. It's hard to imagine libraries or public education starting now if they didn't already exist.

Do you do video essays or that sort of thing? It feels like YouTube is loaded with gamers who would be interested in the material in your books.

It's a word in the dictionary, look it up.

Sad to see any of my generational cohorts growing so desiccated. Must be an absence of knowing what's great in the world of video games.

Pink was a much desired aspect of men's aesthetic lives in the decades after World War II, not least famous men like Elvis and JFK. It wasn't registered as such a gendered color until Barbie and the like made doll simulacra of that post-War aesthetic, and the "dolls aren't for boys" bias took over.

Always a dangerous assumption, a similar line of thought was said about diminishing attendance of Trump rallies in 2024. Counter-protesting may be less relevant when, like Timothy Snyder warns of in On Tyranny, their paramilitaries merge with the masked ICE in official and unofficial capacities.