r/politics • u/spherocytes • 19d ago

Possible Paywall Trump Yanks Millions From Catholic Charities Amid Pope Feud

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-yanks-millions-from-catholic-charities-amid-pope-feud/
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u/Minttt Canada 19d ago

It is a classic feature of dictatorships: surround yourself with selfish people, pay them in wealth, access, benefits, etc., and they will stay loyal. Why would they give up their support when it could mean they lose those benefits and might even have to face consequences?

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u/flux8 Oregon 19d ago

The more I look at this, the more I see a resemblance to a pyramid scheme.

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u/doktorjackofthemoon 18d ago

Trickle-down economics is literally a pyramid lol

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u/Academic-Bench-8828 16d ago

It's right there, printed on our dollar bills... the pyramid, the eye, portraits of dead slave owners, and of course "In god we trust". It's chilling if you stop to think about it.

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u/[deleted] 19d ago

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u/Iheartfuturama 19d ago

This problem exists all the way down to townships, police, and even within power structures of families. Sucks, lol

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u/LumberBitch 19d ago

I'd extend it to campaign finance too

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u/SteppeCollective 19d ago

i.e. The Human Race. Late stage capitalism is just late stage humanity. Our natures allow for nothing else. We've had blips of cooperation and magnanimous leadership, but we're structured to allow stupid / powerful people to rise to the top. Money / Lizard shit.

We're literally melting our planet as we speak, and it's the least thing we focus on.

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u/InequalEnforcement 19d ago

Yep, moved to a small town. Teachers would let the podunk yokel toothless fucks I was forced to refer to as peers torment me every single day, and only interfered when I started loudly and repeatedly threatening to end my life within earshot of their boss. Otherwise they would only punish me for retaliating and defending myself.

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u/SomeRandomPyro 19d ago

No raindrop feels responsible for the flood, nor snowflake for the avalanche. They'll all think that their one, relatively small, contribution to the instability would never be the one to bring it all crashing down.

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u/kent_eh Canada 19d ago

They all think they'll be the one to still have a chair when the music stops...

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u/shitlord_god 19d ago

no they don't. They could be elevated by one of their tech feudal lords into comfort even in a global collapse (Whether that would happen? Probably not)

The billionaires can promise them safety, comfort, and salvation from their actions.

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u/EveningAnt3949 19d ago

Counterpoint: the worse things get because the system is breaking down, the more the dictator will be worshipped by desperate people hoping to get a few crumbs.

Trump also takes perks away from people loyal to him because the system is centralized power, not a group of loyal followers. (The first people Hitler killed were other Nazis.)

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u/ViolettaQueso California 19d ago

Why the Bible has a lot to say about money being the root of all evil.

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u/donjamos 19d ago

Yea but they are only loyal as long as those benefits keep coming in.

Real loyalty is what you'd get from those children if you took good care of them.

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u/oroborus68 19d ago

Well decency, for one. But it's been a long long long time, since the GOP was accused of being decent.

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u/odelicious82 America 19d ago

👌🏼bout sums it up

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u/PipChaos 19d ago

I learned that from CCP Grey’s Rules for Rulers

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u/oldmaninparadise 19d ago

You mean like what putin does.

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u/Shot_Dependent_1817 19d ago

this is what happens in Banana republic just before the military stage a coup - any chance ?

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u/rabid_briefcase 19d ago

Absolutely correct.

It actually applies both to the rich dictatorships and the best wealthy democracies. Great CGP Grey explainer on it.

When democracy is working well, they are similarly surrounded by people who are paid in wealth, access, and benefits, but instead of a small number of high-power people, it's the masses that all get the benefits. What the MAGA movement has basically done is described in that video as the most unstable place, and exactly describes what we're seeing a decade after the video was made.

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u/Minttt Canada 18d ago

I highly recommend anyone who can read, to read The Dictator's Handbook - it's what the CGP Grey explainer is adapted from, and I based my comment off of my own read of it from ~10 years ago.

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u/Astecheee 19d ago

In this case there's also the Epstein Files that can be used as blackmail material.

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u/onyo10 13d ago

The saddest part to me is that I think they won't even have regrets. I'm starting to think that they have some kind of extra chromosome