Donald Trump spent his first 100 days back in the Oval Office driving an economy that the world envied to the brink of crisis, risking America’s reputation as a financial safe haven and fostering fear among voters who’ve lost confidence in his leadership.
Americans were desperate for relief from high grocery prices and bought into Trump’s promise to make America affordable again in November 2024, partly out of nostalgia for the pre-pandemic economy of his first term.
But the president deliberately and singlehandedly adopted policies that are almost certain to spike prices even more; that could lead to shortages; and that have CEOs and small businesses dealing with chaos and the possibility of a recession.
I really, sincerely hope that this current series of events leads to a period of American Enlightenment where we have a renewed focus on education, science, and the arts.
The weakest point in a representative democracy is very much so the uneducated public. The bigger their voter pool, the more they can drag down everyone else.
Probably won’t, most of us will probably be dead long before that happens, and certainly before we could reap the rewards of it. But it would be nice.
The way the state handled the uneducated masses in White or Black was to keep a common enemy.
In that work, everyone gets an implant that helps them live longer and provides immunity to disease, but it causes a major weakness to the substance “Black Matter”. Black Matter is a substance discovered in the mid-21st century, generated by extreme emotion like mania and rage. Since Black Matter can actually kill people with the implant if the concentration is too high, nearly everyone with an implant is united in keeping Black Matter under control.
The intellectuals and scientists, provided they are trusted by the state, are allowed to handle materials that cause people to generate Black Matter. The rank-and-file don’t really mind this, since they trust that the state will keep their best interests in mind. After all, if the state doesn’t keep their best interests in mind, lots of unrest will occur, which means massive Black Matter generation, which means mass death.
I’m really not looking forward to finding out how well “Mutually Assured Destruction” works in the real world. Lately, that seems to be the controlling-party’s entire ethos. As long as it hurts them more.
Interestingly, that appears to be how the implant people in White or Black took over. Red and Blue blew each other up, causing many to sign up with the implant people. And what remained of Red and Blue in opposition to the implant people were nearly eradicated by the late 2090s.
A second MAD failed against the implant people because their hold on the world was too strong. It took until the 27th century for their (human) opposition to become a noticeable threat again. Until that time, people were mainly kept in line by the fear of Black Matter, which could be likened to toxic waste.