Watching the blatant hypocrisy, in-your-face grifting and lying by Trump and his sycophants is infuriating for people who don’t support him.
Watching the gerontocracy, the hypocrisy, insider trading, nepotism and blatant lying of the Democratic elite generates a similar emotional reaction among the people who don’t support the Democrats.
Is there waste, fraud and abuse within the government? Certainly. I believe most of the fraud and abuse stems from the actions of the top government officials and their corporate donors. The waste and inefficiency then trickle down through all levels to be suffered by the rest of us.
My GenX response is…whatever.
I was listening to an author discuss his book on populism/conspiracy theories and the people who support them. He said that the supporters are not happy with their lives. They feel like they are getting “screwed over” by someone. Populists stoke that feeling of injustice and give these people a target to blame (the left, the right, the immigrants, the Jews, the Muslims, the blacks, the Irish, the Italians, the Catholics, the Protestants, the 1%, etc…).
In time, the supporters become convinced if they can assign blame and punish the offenders (through prison, deportation, extermination, discrimination, etc.), that the “screwing over” will be set right and they will now have the lives they want and deserve.
He said, “Populist supporters want justice. They don’t want ‘them‘ to get away with it. Then they want their just rewards.”
Too bad.
That’s not how the world works.
There is no justice. There is no getting what you deserve.
As difficult as it may be to accept, they are going to get away with it.*
*Here is how I deal with it.