I keep reading about how Trump along with other national leaders represent a worldwide movement towards authoritarianism. But with Boris Johnson becoming prime minister in the UK, it occurs to me that maybe Trump represents a worldwide movement towards clownish heads of state.
Seriously, not to minimize the damage that people like Trump and Johnson will inflict on their countries and the world, but they are both pretty buffoonish figures. There are plenty of authoritarian leaders who are competent and thus dangerous. But Trump and Johnson are most dangerous because they are such twits they don't get when they are going too far and don't seem to understand or care how damaging that can be.
Why is this happening now? Maybe it is a byproduct of social media culture, that meme-izes and minimizes serious subjects into jokes competing for the most likes. Or maybe it's just the case that one twit made it into office so twits around the world said, "hey, I can do that!" Who knows? Whatever the cause, I think the danger of our age is as much about how we are letting incompetent ignoramuses into positions of power as it is about a rising ultra-right.
Seriously, not to minimize the damage that people like Trump and Johnson will inflict on their countries and the world, but they are both pretty buffoonish figures. There are plenty of authoritarian leaders who are competent and thus dangerous. But Trump and Johnson are most dangerous because they are such twits they don't get when they are going too far and don't seem to understand or care how damaging that can be.
Why is this happening now? Maybe it is a byproduct of social media culture, that meme-izes and minimizes serious subjects into jokes competing for the most likes. Or maybe it's just the case that one twit made it into office so twits around the world said, "hey, I can do that!" Who knows? Whatever the cause, I think the danger of our age is as much about how we are letting incompetent ignoramuses into positions of power as it is about a rising ultra-right.
