soalbundy

That doesn't matter, he has money and he has already bought Trump, he wants his Mars mission, that's what all this is about and they'll get the working class to pay for it while Musk and chums get tax cuts.

Thaksin will in future only appear in public with a neck brace

Maybe, but I don't care.

bad boy!!

Yes fascism is possible, not just in America, when times are hard people look to strong leaders, it always ends badly but most people want simple solutions and are ready to believe lies. Nothing is forever, Germany, Japan, Italy, all rose from the ashes of such ideologies and their examples will serve to make sure it will never be as bad as that again. Certainly injustice will occur but eventually the human spirit will demand freedom from oppression.

Like what? watch him die? I haven't seen him since he was a child and have my own family here who need me. He has had several prison sentences (armed robbery being one of them) to his name which caused my parents to wash their hands of him. I wont judge him for that but I have no emotional contact to him, I wouldn't know him if he passed me in the street. I have a brother in the UK who will visit him but Birmingham is a long way from London, it's even further from Thailand.

I don't know, Nazism arose from deep poverty, excessive restoration payments and deep national humiliation after WW1. I don't think Trump or Musk can deliver in the same way Hitler did shortly after gaining power which turned the financial well being and psyche of the nation around 180 degrees. Trump is a last gasp of a failing empire, the world has changed but Trump refuses to accept it even though reality constantly raises its head. Musk is in it for the money and prestige (as if he didn't have enough), I don't see him having any ideology, good or bad....it's all about Musk. Americans are often viewed as naive with a limited view of the outside world, I think it's fair to say that the average American can't match the sophistication of European citizens and are easily led but they are a fair people and apart from the red necks they are an empathetic and tolerant people. The coming months and years will be harsh and people will voice their anger and dissatisfaction fueled by Trumps lies but although lies run halfway around the world before truth has got its boots on, truth eventually catches up.

The AfD is a result of the massive immigration to Germany, more than in the UK, people are fed up but the traditional parties aren't listening, (it's an EU problem). Take away the immigration problem and the AfD would collapse. I lived in Germany for almost 40 years and can say that the experience of the Hitler regime has left deep emotional scars of shame, even among the youth who had no part in it, unlike in Japan, the war crimes and the holocaust are taught and dissected in schools and in the media to the point that I as an Englishman said, "hey! enough is enough." Despite Musk Germany is the last place that Nazism would raise its ugly head, even patriotism is viewed with suspicion.

My brother thought the same way, he lived a hedonistic life style with alcohol and drugs and now lies in a Birmingham hospice waiting to die, his liver has only a 10% function. He was never one for introspection and had no guiding philosophy, I can only imagine that he is now lonely and frightened, 50 is too young to die.

I disagree with your last line, Trump is an extremist without any conscience, he is most certainly a sociopath and narcissist with no respect for the law, it is only political checks and balances that hold him back along with the fact that most Americans still have a desire for democracy.

That is an exaggeration, the political pendulum swings to the left and the right to extrapolate the swing to the right with Nazism is ridiculous, yes there will be cases of extremism of the right wing faction just as there was in the left wing faction but we didn't become communists. That isn't to say that such events can't happen in the future but it would need extreme financial turbulence and poverty within the vast majority of the population and we are a long way off from that yet.

Isn't this normal? The sun rises and sets, birds fly, corruption abounds and Indians get their gold necklaces stolen by lady boys.

It isn't just a US problem, demonizing the 'other side' and showing total loyalty to the side one has 'always voted for' shows political immaturity. Both left and right have their good and bad points and both sides have their extremists. Basically though I think it is correct to say that politicians of all colours are in it for themselves, they may have started off in their younger years with ideals and good intentions but politics is a dirty business and a gradual corruption takes place. I for instance have always been vocal against Trump, not because of his politics but because he is a totally nasty, childish, corrupt person. There are no leaders without faults but he is extreme in his ignorance. Woke-ism is extremism, it was I think a sort of grass roots movement that was started by well meaning people, a collection of 'black lives matter' and 'women's lib', and 'me too' then steamrolled from there, politicians, ever ready to catch votes, jumped on the bandwagon and made it even worse bringing respectability to extremist views. What is astounding is that it gained such traction in the whole of the West, not just America which is well known for its naive political views, 'socialism bad, capitalism good', no grey areas allowed. Trump will certainly bring an end to 'woke' which is good. His term will be one of chaos, not because of what he is but because of the world wide economic collapse, the death knell of Fiat currencies and this in itself may have signaled the end of woke by itself, hunger beats ideology.

The day started off so well.....

True, even his mother didn't like him.

smoke less

Hater is an exaggeration, I don't actually hate anyone. Trump is only as dangerous as his supporters allow him to be and there are still legal checks and balances in place to hold the pitch fork brigade in check. I don't think presidents are as powerful as people seem to believe, they are restrained by reality. Leaders can only really sway people with oratory skills, Kennedy and Churchill come to mind, if you listen to Trump speak it is apparent that he doesn't have such skills apart from rabble raising but such speeches don't have a lasting effect nor are they note worthy Trumps 2nd term will descend into chaos but to be fair he has inherited a situation where the can can no longer be kicked down the road, every major country in the world faces the same problem, a debt that can no longer be plastered over, inflation, central banks flailing in all directions, falling production and low demand, falling standards of living and in some cases downright poverty, defaults on mortgages and credit cards, failing banks and a disillusioned and angry populace expecting solutions where there are none. A steady hand on the tiller is needed and Trump is anything but steady.

Outliers, I don't think Trump or Musk have the absolute power that the people you mentioned had. Trump is already mentally compromised and Musk will run himself into the ground, he is, I believe, autistic and his behaviour is getting weirder by the day.

They didn't survive though did they and the all powerful destroyer Robespierre was killed himself, forcing through change with power and violence doesn't work out well, dictators don't usually die of old age.

If it helps to destroy 'woke' I'm all for it.

He knew where he put it.

Things have a way of 'turning', remember Robespierre ended up on the guillotine himself.

I'm not a billionaire, nor did I support his campaign with millions so I could lobby him later, when you pay you want the product.

but he won't be the president

Yes, mob mentality doesn't have to include violence, it's an emotional non thinking unit, sheep wanting a shepherd, it's very common in human culture, without it leaders couldn't rule, armies couldn't function, football stadiums would be empty, the mob mentality is needed for coherence, right or wrong that's my country, my political party, my unit, my football team, it wouldn't function if people started thinking for themselves, schools have taught individuals for decades to stop thinking and take up the mob mentality.