Simple answer, fraud. Not necessarily the kind of election fraud he projected onto election officials in swing states like Arizona, Georgia, Michigan and Pennsylvania. But a fraud perpetrated upon the minds of too many American voters.
Caveat Emptor, let the buyer beware, is a foundational principle of American commerce.
Unless or until government institutes regulation to stem the exploitation (See Thomas Paine's Common Sense, which succinctly expounds the purpose of government).
For centuries, America has been heavily influenced, like it or not, by unscrupulous capitalists exploiting naïve consumers. A great deal of lawmaking through the years has been about "regulating" commerce... or over the last half-century, DE-regulating everything because it's easier to commit fraud that way.
I've started now reading, Duke University historian Edward Balleisen's book, which meticulously describes the systemic development of related culture in FRAUD: an American History from Barnum to Madoff. For additional insight, see Andersen's Fantasyland: How America Went Haywire, a 500-year History.
Why didn't Trump win a second term?
Because once he took office, he didn't hide his intent. Instead, he thought he'd get away with continuing his confidence game by branding the Free Press as the enemy of the people. It's a sad reflection on our country that so many people took the bait and swallowed the hook. But so many more voters literally wised up.
ALL Americans, really all humans, have gotten hoodwinked at times in our lives. Some people learn from their mistakes. Some don't.
Remember the expression, "knowledge is power?"
FRAUD is pervasive in EVERYthing inherent in American commerce and therefore in American culture. I don't mean that the American people are inherently fraudsters. But the system is too easy for those who want to defraud others to get away with it... for a time, short or long.
It's all based on the theory of "free-market" capitalism. Which means, regulation is, as articulated by Adam Smith in his economic treatise The Wealth of Nations, all in the "invisible hand of the market."
Business majors in college usually take 6 semester hours (or the equivalent) in Economics, where we learn about supply and demand. Demand can be (invisibly) manipulated by psychological factors.
It's all based on the theory of "free-market" capitalism. Which means, regulation is, as articulated by Adam Smith in his economic treatise The Wealth of Nations, all in the "invisible hand of the market."
Business majors in college usually take 6 semester hours (or the equivalent) in Economics, where we learn about supply and demand. Demand can be (invisibly) manipulated by psychological factors.
A recent example most Americans would be familiar with is how suddenly in March 2020, massive shortages in grocery stores swept throughout the country (and probably the world). The incompetence that led to the Trump administration's failure to address the national security catastrophe brought on by Covid-19 was pervasive. People started dying. The rest of us (most of us anyway) hunkered down. Panic ensued. Many food items as well as toilet paper suddenly disappeared from grocery store shelves.
Anyway, too many people (i.e. BILLIONS of us worldwide) never have had enough understanding of the underlying principles to question capitalist economic systems. Baby boomers (like me) were fed a steady diet of fear (propaganda) of socialism and communism. Because it was propaganda based, we (as children at the time) believed what we were told... but didn't have enough knowledge to understand why, for example, there were consumer commodity shortages for millions of people in communist countries. But we knew they had shortages.
But I digress.
Caveat Emptor, let the buyer beware, is a foundational principle of American commerce.
Unless or until government institutes regulation to stem the exploitation (See Thomas Paine's Common Sense, which succinctly expounds the purpose of government).
For centuries, America has been heavily influenced, like it or not, by unscrupulous capitalists exploiting naïve consumers. A great deal of lawmaking through the years has been about "regulating" commerce... or over the last half-century, DE-regulating everything because it's easier to commit fraud that way.
Kurt Andersen spelled out a history of how propagandists, over that fifty or so years, built so much of it into our politics and law in his recent book Evil Geniuses.
I've started now reading, Duke University historian Edward Balleisen's book, which meticulously describes the systemic development of related culture in FRAUD: an American History from Barnum to Madoff. For additional insight, see Andersen's Fantasyland: How America Went Haywire, a 500-year History.
Why didn't Trump win a second term?
Because once he took office, he didn't hide his intent. Instead, he thought he'd get away with continuing his confidence game by branding the Free Press as the enemy of the people. It's a sad reflection on our country that so many people took the bait and swallowed the hook. But so many more voters literally wised up.
Fool me once, shame on you (you damn con artist). Fool my twice, shame on me. I think that's what George W Bush was trying to say.
ALL Americans, really all humans, have gotten hoodwinked at times in our lives. Some people learn from their mistakes. Some don't.
Remember the expression, "knowledge is power?"
It takes knowledge to keep from getting defrauded. Knowledge of how and why we're susceptible. Knowledge of history, economy, psychology, sociology, how government works, etc., etc.
Some of that knowledge comes from academic study. Some of it comes from learning from your own mistakes. Some comes from observational acuity, or learning from watching other people make mistakes.
Determination to learn and apply critical thinking and analysis skills can catalyze one's learning and skill development. Let's make sure we never get fooled by the likes of Trump or any other Fascist wannabe again.
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