An amusing critique of the infamous ‘autocracy-for-dummies’ manual, reportedly a favourite of Trump, Musk, Bannon, Putin etc., and how it came to be written. The cynicism that produced and pervades it is alarmingly cold-hearted, and includes advice like: “You must first attract attention. This you should do not through actions which are too clear and readable but through words which are hazy and deceptive. You must include two elements: on the one hand the promise of something great and transformative and on the other a total vagueness.” It is underpinned by ‘zero-sum ideology’ – the mistaken view that humans and the rest of nature evolve through conflict rather than mutual aid. This, the hosts argue, reflects and encourages the “uniquely American phenomenon that a lot of people view the world so adversarially that they are willing to forego helping people as long as that ensures that they can’t be taken advantage of in some way.”
An amusing critique of the infamous ‘autocracy-for-dummies’ manual, reportedly a favourite of Trump, Musk, Bannon, Putin etc., and how it came to be written. The cynicism that produced and pervades it is alarmingly cold-hearted, and includes advice like: “You must first attract attention. This you should do not through actions which are too clear and readable but through words which are hazy and deceptive. You must include two elements: on the one hand the promise of something great and transformative and on the other a total vagueness.” It is underpinned by ‘zero-sum ideology’ – the mistaken view that humans and the rest of nature evolve through conflict rather than mutual aid. This, the hosts argue, reflects and encourages the “uniquely American phenomenon that a lot of people view the world so adversarially that they are willing to forego helping people as long as that ensures that they can’t be taken advantage of in some way.”
