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Comment by abrookewood | Hacker News Reader

It's also completely in character with Trump's behaviour. He is a dictator who wants what he wants and can't abide anyone standing in his way. He wants absolute authority to do as he wishes. This extends to removing foreign heads of state so he can access their countries resources and also threatening 'allies' so he can take their territory. We're watching him systematically destroy any good will or moral authority that the USA held.

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He was the owner and CEO of a private company — essentially a dictator without even a board or the SEC keeping him in check.

For decades he hasn’t had to tolerate “checks and balances”! Nobody could say “no” and retain their jobs under him.

The American public decided to put this type of person in charge.

The consequences were predicted.

It goes back before Donald was in charge of the Trump real estate business. It started with a really really shitty father who desired a “killer” business instinct in his children (read: cruelty) above all else.

Reading some of Mary Trump’s books will give some insight on the family that Donald grew up in. No love, all cruelty.

Donald is just a rich kid who inherited a big business and learned nothing but cruelty from his daddy.

I disagree, he’s more than that. Lots of people having shitty abusive parents, even lots of wealthy people. There’s something wrong with his brain.

I don’t think the main issue is that this type of person has been put in charge, it’s that the system can fail because of the will of one person. It kind of reveals that the guardrails were decorum and at its core Americans elects dictators that up until now chose to behave well.

More generally I think in an age of social media democracies will have to evolve to prevent leadership cults. Maybe something like the head of state being indirectly elected by local representatives.

“The system” includes the voting public. If a sufficient fraction of the population decides to override all common sense and vote a selfish conman into ultimate executive power then they can’t make the shocked Pikachu face when the rest of the political establishment fails to curtail his abuses.

There was an interview with an otherwise “intelligent” person in 2024 who admitted he knew Trump is corrupt and would mercilessly abuse the position of President but decided to vote for him anyway because he thought that checks and balances would be sufficient.

This is like putting a fox in charge of the chicken coop and hoping the neighbour’s dog will stop it eating your chickens!

Maybe… just… don’t do that?

Don’t knowingly vote for evil?

Remember back when he had a TV show and his catchphrase was the hilarious and creative "you're fired"? The entire concept of The Apprentice as it was pitched to him circled around Trump being the god of business. I wonder if having that kind of a personal brand, alongside the mountains of self-aggrandizing merch could in any way indicate a total unwillingness to exist alongside anyone but worshippers and yes-men...

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