Must-Read: Few people—and next to zero of today's Republicans—seem to me to understand exactly how dangerous the current situation is—not just Trump's erratic moves, but the responses of all the people who somehow hope that riding his coattails will be to their long-term advantage. "But it could not happen here: this is the country of Goethe and Schiller!": Nouriel Roubini: Populist Plutocracy and the Future of America: "Donald Trump has consistently sold out the blue-collar, socially conservative whites who brought him to power...

...while pursuing policies to enrich his fellow plutocrats. Sooner or later, Trump's core supporters will wake up to this fact, so it is worth asking how far he might go to keep them on his side.... Trump has governed like a,,, pluto-populist. But why has his base let him get away with pursuing policies that mostly hurt them?... How long can anyone be expected to support “God and guns” at the expense of “bread and butter”?...

Trump is probably hoping that tax cuts and deregulation will spur enough growth and create enough jobs that he will have something to brag about.... Whatever happens, Trump will continue to tweet maniacally, promote fake-news stories, and boast about the “biggest and best” economy ever. In doing so, he may even create a circus worthy of a Roman emperor. But if gassy rhetoric alone does not suffice, he may decide to go on the offensive.... That could mean truly withdrawing from NAFTA, taking trade action against China and other trading partners, or doubling down on harsh immigration policies... “wag the dog,” by fabricating an external threat or embarking on foreign military adventures... start a war with North Korea or Iran.... And if things got bad enough, Trump and his generals could declare a state of emergency, suspend civil liberties, and transform America into a true pluto-populist authoritarian state.... Consider the recent history of Russia or Turkey; or the history of the Roman Empire under Caligula or Nero. Pluto-populists have been turning democracies into autocracies with the same playbook for thousands of years. There’s no reason to think they would stop now...

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