The focus of billionaire philanthropy has shifted from building physical public works (like libraries) to funding NGOs and initiatives that aim to fundamentally restructure society, politics, and culture according to their ideological visions.
By labeling a problem with a single, highly emotional term (e.g., 'insurgents,' 'fentanyl'), leaders can create a public mandate to act decisively, often ignoring accountability, due process, and congressional oversight.
Cheering for a president to use executive orders or emergency powers is short-sighted. The opposition will eventually gain power and use those same expanded authorities for policies you oppose, creating a cycle of escalating executive action.
Widespread economic fear from debt and inflation creates a national 'fight or flight' mode. This anxiety is emotionally taxing, so people convert it to anger. Politicians exploit this by providing specific targets for that anger, mobilizing a populist base.
The erosion of trusted, centralized news sources by social media creates an information vacuum. This forces people into a state of 'conspiracy brain,' where they either distrust all information or create flawed connections between unverified data points.
Mapping Trump solely as a self-serving politician is incomplete. His behavior is better understood as a combination of a narcissist who seeks power and a patriot who genuinely wants to impose law and order, leading him to use extreme methods.
Resistance to mass immigration is often mislabeled as racism when it's a defense of cultural uniqueness. The core fear is that blending all cultures creates a bland 'beige' monolith, ultimately allowing the most aggressive and cohesive incoming culture to dominate.
The election of leaders like Japan's female prime minister, who enacts hardline policies, shows that voters are primarily driven by shared values, not identity characteristics. When a leader's ideology matches the electorate's, their gender or race becomes secondary.
Oculus founder Palmer Luckey posits a controversial trade-off: the known risks of smoking, like eventual lung cancer, might be preferable to the widespread health problems (obesity, metabolic syndrome) caused by overeating after society quit smoking as a whole.