Summary
The ongoing erosion of democratic norms and the rise of corruption under the Trump administration are central themes in the current political discourse. Critics argue that the administration's actions have led to widespread suffering, including public health crises and economic instability, with a particular focus on how federal policies are impacting vulnerable populations. Recent polling indicates that a significant portion of the American public perceives Trump as using his presidency for personal enrichment, highlighting a growing concern over corruption among voters.
The conversation also delves into the implications of Trump's leadership style, characterized by traits associated with the "dark triad" of personality—psychopathy, Machiavellianism, and narcissism. This psychological profile is said to foster a political environment where corruption flourishes, as evidenced by the administration's handling of immigration enforcement and the awarding of no-bid contracts to private companies with questionable track records. The discussion emphasizes the need for a collective anti-corruption movement that unites individuals across the political spectrum to address these systemic issues.
Furthermore, the podcast explores the broader impact of media consolidation and the influence of wealthy oligarchs on public discourse, suggesting that the current media landscape is increasingly co-opted by interests that undermine democratic values. The narrative calls for a grassroots response to these challenges, encouraging communities to come together to resist the harmful policies associated with the Trump administration and to advocate for a more equitable political system.
Show Notes
People are waking up to the profiteering at the heart of the administration. We can use the resulting fury to build a movement. Support Next Comes What + Get Andrea's posts FIRST: https://degenerateart.beehiiv.com/subscribe Read the post: https://degenerateart.beehiiv.com/p/the-corruption-umbrella LISTEN Everywhere: https://pod.link/1779885475 WATCH TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@degenerateartnews YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DegenerateArtNewsletter This week's episode looks at the many ways that corruption underpins every part of Trump administration policies. Andrea Pitzer considers the deliberate choice to inflict suffering in the U.S. and abroad, which has been done across the board for direct personal or political gain. She notes that the catastrophic shifts in U.S. policy that set the stage for much of what is happening today took place in response to the 9/11 attacks, but that Trump 2.0 does not even have that flimsy fig leaf of a justification, given that the president has intentionally created the crises now engulfing the country. All this has led to illness, hunger, war, and death.
Andrea explores the realms of immigration, citizenship, voting, democracy, law, wars, and international alliances, showing how the current administration's corruption is the common element underpinning every disaster. She also assesses the ways that oligarchs' expanding control over media has likewise corrupted democracy and our access to information--all in favor of expanding authoritarian rule in the U.S. Yet this corruption, she suggests, is now being recognized by voters across the board, as the profound harms Trump has unleashed are affecting everyone directly in highly visible ways. Using corruption as the battle cry for regaining control of government and cleaning house, Andrea believes, is a path to building a coalition of voters without throwing anyone under the bus. The episode closes with a look at how an anti-corruption coalition could work in defeating the expanding police state here at home.
0:00 The Anatomy of Trump 2.0 Corruption 2:15 Weaponizing Democracy, Law & the DOJ 5:40 ICE Contracts & The $2.8B Detention Grift 9:20 The Maduro Deal & Untracked Oil Revenue 12:35 Putin, Sanctions, & The Diesel Trade Betrayal 16:10 Oligarchs Buying the News & Information Ecosystem 19:45 Smears, Bigotry, & Manufactured Election Threats 23:30 Forcing AI and Toxic Data Centers on Communities 27:10 SNAP Benefits, Food Scarcity, & Hurting Families 31:00 Building an Anti-Corruption Movement to Fight Back
More from Next Comes What
FIND A NO KINGS OCTOBER 17 VOTE EARLY EVENT NEAR YOU: https://www.nokings.org/ We can send the people pushing fascism on us back into their holes without buying into hate. Support Next Comes What + Get Andrea's posts FIRST: https://degenerateart.beehiiv.com/subscribe Read the post: https://degenerateart.beehiiv.com/p/the-clampdown-continues LISTEN Everywhere: https://pod.link/1779885475
The roots of everything that ails the country go deeper than Trump, so we need to think beyond November 3rd. Support Next Comes What + Get Andrea's posts FIRST: https://degenerateart.beehiiv.com/subscribe Read the post: https://degenerateart.beehiiv.com/p/killing-zombie-trumpism LISTEN Everywhere: https://pod.link/1779885475 WATCH
Authoritarians reveal themselves, even to followers who prefer not to see. And that leaves an opening for change. Support Next Comes What + Get Andrea's posts FIRST: https://degenerateart.beehiiv.com/subscribe Read the post: https://degenerateart.beehiiv.com/p/opening-the-blinds LISTEN Everywhere: https://pod.link/1779885475 WATCH TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@degenerateartnews/video/7692115338934127885 YouTube: https://youtu.be/p8YBYcAtXxs This week, Next Comes What looks at the disillusionment that eventually takes place for most people who succumb to the cult of personality in an authoritarian society. Andrea Pitzer looks at events in recent weeks that are providing the spark for that awakening among many Trump supporters. With higher gas prices driving the point home, we also see everyone from next-door neighbors to judges and Republican politicians beginning to stand up against Trump, or at least to edge away from association with him. Andrea compares this growing repudiation of the president and his policies to the case of Mitsuye Endo, a Japanese American U.S. citizen who was fired from her state job in California and detained in camps with her family during World War II. In other cases brought by Japanese Americans, a majority of justices on the Supreme Court rubber-stamped the bigotry of the day while rationalizing actions they understood were wrong. But when it came to Endo—a U.S.-born Christian with no ties to Japan or even the Japanese language—the judges could find no pretext at all to provide cover for what was, at root, a detention program based simply on racial exclusion. Seeing many recent examples of people recognizing that their faith in Trump was wrongheaded or even immoral, Andrea suggests that we've come to a similar moment in which Americans are being forced to choose. Not everyone will walk away from Trumpism, but many will, for reasons that may be ethical or practical—or both. The episode ends with suggestions on how to respond to those who do. 00:00 Introduction: Shifting Public Opinion & Political Dynamics 02:48 The Rising Costs of Living and Cracks in the GOP Coalition 05:36 Institutional Capitulation and the Defense of Democratic Norms 08:24 Leaving MAGA: Personal Realities and Disillusionment Stories 11:12 Human Toll: Immigration Crackdowns, ICE, and Affected Families 14:00 Legal Pushback: How Judges Are Challenging Federal Overreach 16:48 Historical Echoes: The Mitsuye Endo Case and Wartime Detentions 19:36 The Midterms and the Ripple Effects of Raging Unpopularity 22:24 Complicity, the Thanksgiving Table, and Long-Term Cultural Shifts 25:12 Conclusion: Guardrails for the Future and Continuing the Fight
Corrupt power will always inflict more harm if it can benefit from that additional suffering. But we don't have to let it happen. Support Next Comes What + Get Andrea's posts FIRST: https://degenerateart.beehiiv.com/subscribe Read the post: https://degenerateart.beehiiv.com/p/there-is-always-a-box LISTEN Everywhere: https://pod.link/1779885475 WATCH TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@degenerateartnews/video/7689199426488831246
Companies and agencies are spying on everyone they can. Support Next Comes What + Get Andrea's posts FIRST: https://degenerateart.beehiiv.com/subscribe Read the post: https://degenerateart.beehiiv.com/p/when-your-tv-watches-you WATCH YouTube: https://youtu.be/YK380ux7pTk TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@degenerateartnews/video/7686874023271206158 Our episode this week gathers a series of recent surveillance scandals, in which everything from public cameras to your AI agent and even your television may be monitoring you. To put the current snooping in context, Andrea Pitzer looks at the history of mass political surveillance. In the Nazi era, Heinrich Himmler dreamed of having five men to track every individual suspect. East Germany hired or co-opted more than one in seven citizens to spy. And the U.S. has its own history on this front, with a massive surveillance operation put into place during the civil rights era, with the goal of targeting Black Activists, Native Americans, and feminists. In the modern era, Andrea notes that governments often have willing partners in tech companies, using tools that far surpass twentieth-century capabilities. Corporations are typically more interested in collecting data to increase their bottom line, while governments want surveillance to secure power and target public opposition. But in the end, companies are prone to collaborating with governments, especially if they can profit from it—even if doing so lets law enforcement take unethical or illegal actions. The problem of tech and AI isn't that they're aware or human (they're not). From China to the US, the real threat is the oligarchs and aspiring dictators who would happily eliminate our freedom for another dollar or an ounce of power. 00:00 Introduction and Recent Tech Surveillance 02:55 The Fallibility of AI and Stolen Discoveries 05:10 Human Contractors and Data Privacy 07:20 Historical Precedents of Authoritarian Surveillance 09:10 The Panopticon and East Germany's Stasi 12:00 COINTELPRO and the Erosion of Privacy Guardrails 14:30 China's High-Tech Xinjiang Surveillance Model 17:30 Historical Parallels of Surveillance 20:00 The Role of Tech Monopolies and AI in Modern Surveillance 22:30 Policy, Resistance, and Actionable Steps Forward