Has been since forever. Remember when NYT ran an article that Hitler was a changed man after being imprisoned?

Imagine saying that to Batman 😂

Well like I said, Trump is stupid administratively, but he’s a good conman. Einstein might be good at physics, but he is the last person you would ask on ecology. So to repeat what I said in my original comment: there is no one type of intelligence. It’s not “just world” fallacy, one could argue that it’s “unjust world” fallacy for someone idiotic could con an entire world. To deny that happened is burying one’s head in the ground.

As it happens, Trump did squander his inheritance, but managed to claw back his fortune, first by money laundering for Russian mobsters, then by using his political office for personal gain. Fake it until you make it very much applies here.

It reinforces my point that he is not as stupid as he looks, still having been able to persuade and manipulate people despite having little to no resources. If you have seen the movie Catch Me if You Can, it does take certain skills to get away with so much scam.

Well, call me naïve, but they are pretty cautious around this kind of stuff in Germany, I doubt the US government has access to these kinds of records.

That’s fair enough. But Trump’s Project 2025 buddies have the intention to undermine Europe. Unfortunately, when America sneezes, everyone catches the cold.

I used Putin as example because any sleazy jobs require the same Machiavellian instincts as with being a devious salesman. Not every dodgy salesman becomes millionaire or CEO with political leverage, because they may either happy with their gains or not ambitious enough and comfortable to remain in their stations. However, those ambitious enough beat their competition with ruthless efficiency. I’m sure there are hundreds of millionaires and billionaires who started as lowly deceptive salesman, but we just haven’t heard of them because they’re not publicly prominent.

Going back to Putin, it wasn’t really a chance on how he came to power. He was a colonel of one of the most feared spy agencies. I mean, what would you do with that much access to power if you are as ambitious as Putin? Sure, luck and happenstance also play key roles, but luck is a residue of preparation. Knowing how to take advantage of those lucky opportunities to forward own’s agenda takes certain skills to mobilise and pull the necessary levers.

A lot of people of dismiss the likes of Musk and Trump’s ability on how they got into power as being the result of being silver spooned. But people conveniently forget that it still requires knowledge, skills and experience to maintain the high status. Plenty of famous intergenerational wealthy families eventually lose their status because their descendants squander the fortunes handed to them. If Trump and Musk are stupid, they would be poor and not have gotten to the White House. So, they still have some intelligence but not about being empathetic.

I’m talking about in general on the anti-Trump camp as underestimating his stupidity. Authoritarian bodies eventually fall because of corruption and stupidity, but that’s not what is happening at the moment. The Trumpian America is just getting started and him and his cronies are smart enough on how to gain power and secure it. You may not be politically active, but they know already that you’re possibly anti-Trump because they took your social security details and other public records, and fed it into their surveillance system. Sorry to be so gloomy but I’m gonna be frank, they’re not stupid for having just robbed you, a nobody Lemmy while they are the ones in charge and spying on you.

I don’t know, I came from a former dictator run country and know how to call a spade a spade. So I will be blunt say Americans are still making heads or tails, on whether or not they are in a fascist state, because they never experienced what dictatorship is before. Constantly calling authoritarians stupid, while you and I are relying on supply chain run by them and could pressure us to conform, maybe we’re the stupid ones. Calling them stupid is coping for not accepting the fact that the inferiors outwitted us and manipulating our means of living.

Putin wasn’t the only KGB colonel before he became the president of Russia. He had peers and were given equal footing as him. But he had proven to be more cunning and ruthless than them so he gained power. Those low level conning salesmen you mentioned, they probably weren’t savvy enough. However, if they had been as savvy as the most successful con salesman, Elon Musk, then their fates would have been different otherwise.

There are those who started from the bottom, quite literally. Stalin was a pure thug who robbed banks for the Bolsheviks. He was also ridiculed for being intellectually inferior on the communist theory, especially by Lenin. And well, who lived until the ripe old age of 70, while the other was murdered in cold blood with an icepick?

I neglected to mention before and what I’m trying to say now, is to not underestimate the opponent. Once the person underestimates the opponent, is when that person loses. It’s the basic of art of war. I’m gonna be blunt, who is dumber? The person whose social security details were robbed in broad daylight, and that data is sold and fed to the private digital surveillance to train AI? It’s certainly not the dumb ketamine addicted CEO of a conglomerate of grifting companies, nor the dumb orange president who could push the red button at any notice. To think you and I are not dumb, whose details were already put into surveillance AI, are wishful thinking and coping.

Never underestimate the opposition.

Iran has more cards because they have been bombing energy infrastructures across the Middle East and restricting the vessels that go through the strait. I would be more rejoicing if Iran agreed to stop the attacks for an actual ceasefire.

What’s up with people listening to what Trump says which either spook or calm the market, but no one ever pays attention to Iran, who has the bigger leverage and ultimately calls the shot, if there is ever any peace talks being initiated? Whenever Trump says there is peace talks or ceasefire, Iran quickly counters the claim and we’re back to zero all over again.

For people who even hates Trump, why even believe what he says? Why not consider if Iran even agreed to a ceasefire? Is it because the market too racist to listen to Iran, who has more cards than the US and Trump in this conflict?

The mainstream should re-think what intelligence is because experts already said there are different types of intelligence. Are math prodigies with autism not intelligent? Are biologists dumb for struggling with quantum physics? That said, someone who may be unempathetic and lack emotional intelligence may have high intelligence on how to persuade and manipulate others. Many would call this Machiavellian (although personally, I don’t see Machiavellianism as inherently bad). It takes certain skill and intelligence to become a mob boss despite doing poorly in school, or even a leader of a country.

A lot on Lemmy scoffed it when I said Trump and other dictators are not as dumb as they might seem to be, because they ended up in charge, not someone on Lemmy with PhD. It possesses a certain kind of intelligence to be a demagogue and take power.

You might be joking, but i think only the older folks will get the joke. After all, apparently, when Justin Timberlake was arrested for DUI, JT asked the police officer if he knows who he is. The police officer, being younger, unironically said “no”.

I have to say, seeing the outdated CRT screen and the classic white wired mouse grinds my gears 😐

If some, like Germany, are less democratic, can you really say that?

Most of European countries don’t like Hungary because of Viktor Orban. Same with Poland when the PiS party was in power.

So you judge Europe only by countries that suit you?

Germany isn’t Spain, Norway or Ireland.

Well there is the fact that Europe isn’t one homogeneous political entity. Spain, Ireland and Norway openly went against Israel.

Democracies tend not to fight each other, or so the theory goes.

Authoritarian countries also usually ignore human rights. China (and Russia) constantly get called out on the human rights abuses by Europe, which irates the ruling class of China. This isn’t to say Europe is the shining beacon on the hill, they are just seen as the lesser evil.

“wait? all that manly toxic bullshit I’ve been repeating as well is going to be applied to me, too?”

I’m convinced that some people are masochists.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve always thought you become what you hate.

As if religious teachings ever stopped people from doing certain things…

It’s the libertarians and retails investors, who root for the ruthless billionaire-owned businesses they invested in, who say that.

I heard Republicans walked out of the House, en masse, not seen since the Great Depression. Which now that I think about it, that was nearly 100 years ago!