Yep I'm a Star Wars fan.
Episode 4-6 was great
Episode 1-3 was meh... kinda acceptable
Episode 7 was cliche, similar to episode 4
Episode 8 was lame...
And Episode 9... speechless
Anyway today isn't about the Star Wars series.
But just about this scene where one character says, "So this is how liberty dies, with thunderous applause".
We all have to realize, that dictatorships, tyrants, don't just stand on a podium and announce that they are dictators, and expect people to follow them.
They are lying and conniving leaders. They paint a beautiful picture to gain power. That they NEED an exception to the rule, that they are the chosen ones to lead and with this new power, they will be able to lead the country to greater heights.
And during the course of them gaining power, they will consolidate their hold on the story, the media, the businesses, military and the people.
This happened with Hitler, North Korea, China, Spain, and many other countries.
The leaders paint a wonderful picture, and story, they divide the people, they divide the citizens, they make people view each other as with us or against us.
How else do you encourage people to murder each other? Cos they believe that they are performing murder for a "just" cause.
And these people will think they are doing God's work. They feel that they are justified. That what they are doing IS right.
No one is going to stand and announce to the world that they are dictators and that they are corrupt. They won't stand on a podium and say that they are going to murder anyone who opposes them.
But things will slowly erode, a bit at a time...
And things don't get bad until they get bad. Like a frog in a boiling pot...
There's some phrase in America...
When Fascism Comes To America, It Will Be Wrapped in the Flag and carrying a cross
Similar in Star Wars, when the Emperor gained control of everything, people had high hopes for him. Gave him power on a silver platter, cos he painted a nice picture. That he needed exceptional power to do exceptional things for the Republic.
People will think they are patriotic they will fight for what's "right". Except their version of "right" would be so corrupted by what the leaders have painted. And down the road when people ask them why they did it, they would just say... they were "just following orders", just like how the German soldiers did when they murdered millions during the Holocaust.
And I see it in America. What Donald Trump is doing. And he probably doesn't even know that he's doing it. He's probably doing it unintentionally. But he is still doing it. Dividing the people, the us versus them mentality, the white supremacy, just using military power to quash people, bullying the weak, AND making people feel that it's justified. People actually cheer when he bullies and talk down to people. How he demonizes the media, how he just dismisses facts as fake news. How he just flagrantly lies AND gets away with it, cos he calls medias which fact check him as fake news AND his followers believe him.
He has a cultish following.
He's the result of the media. He's the result of reality TV. People watch so much reality TV, (which is scripted, they just call it reality TV, but they are all actors), but people watch so much reality TV, that they are ok with such behaviour. The drama, the being rude to each other, the fights, people like to watch these stuff.
And so, they elected someone who can deliver this same stuff to them.
It's painful to watch. Me being here in the US makes things starkly clear.
Trump caters to a certain crowd and the scary thing is... that is enough. There ARE ENOUGH of his fans to get him elected, AND there are enough of his followers to get him elected AGAIN.
That speaks volumes about the people in the US.
Remember, there is a large enough percentage of the population who appreciate what Donald Trump has done and are willing to elect him again for 4 more years. There are enough people such that the opposition, Joe Biden doesn't have an easy time getting elected.
One would think that in a reasonable world, Joe Biden would have it easy to win Donald Trump. But it isn't the case. Knowing this, what can we say about Americans as a whole? Even if we say many people in the US didn't vote. BUT, there are still ENOUGH PEOPLE WILLING TO VOTE FOR DONALD TRUMP.
I really hope that come November, the US will come to it's senses, but it's not that easy. That's just not what the reality is in America.
And I'm also afraid of what will happen in November. What IF he loses but refuses to leave the White House? What if he calls the elections rigged? His followers would believe him and may cause trouble, furthermore, his followers are usually the folks who love the 2nd amendment, which is the right to bear arms. What happens then?
Is it possible? I don't know. These days, anything is possible.
And I flip it around to Singapore. And I'm scared. What if we have someone like that in our Government? We have no strong enough opposition party to vote for. We have no alternative.
The thing is... we wouldn't know til it's too late.
And I hope, for the rest of the world, America wakes up in time.
Don't say it's not your problem, cos it's never your problem, until it becomes your problem.
Don't be the frog in a slowly boiling pot.
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