i feel like you gotta go back to Erich Fromm for this
they genuinely find living in a free society with pluralism severely distressing
"why are institutions continuing to fold at the same time that trump's approval numbers are going down and some methods of oppositions are proving effective" is The Question right now imo
They've been secretly longing to restructure society away from liberal pluralism for so long, and they finally got a moment to do it, and they cannot allow their one chance to slip away.
I think the simpler explanation is that Trump and his supporters never won a majority of the votes in 2016 or 2020, so institutional actors believed resisting his whims would be more popular and, therefore, more legitimate than giving him what he wants.
After 2024, nobody could^ say that anymore.
i think many institutions like a free, pluralistic society, as long as their place in its implicit hierarchy is secure, but if they feel that their power is threatened they absolutely lose their minds. all the moreso because their power is de facto rather than de jure.
If they live in an "authoritarian" world, they have no choice but to do what they REALLY want to do - gouge, rip off, steal, deliver nothing and charge for it. They HATE customers but LOVE money. If they are forced to be what they want, it's not their fault. So they support the Orange Weirdo cause
Started re-reading this on Friday.
The peasants shouldn't be allowed to talk back.
That makes 'Russia v. Ukraine' an easy choice for them. As we will see in Alaska.
That there are people struggling to build and save a free society with pluralism is an open reproach to them.
