a satirist describes the trump reign; 

 

The Trump administration is clearly following several instruction manuals — George Orwell’s 1984, Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, Mike Judge’s Idiocracy, etc. But they’re also using the fall of Ancient Rome as their lodestar.

Here’s a list of some of the well-known characteristics of Ancient Rome during the years it was collapsing. See if you notice any similarities to the fall of the US empire.

Bread and circuses — keeping the urban population calm by pumping them full of food subsidies and public (often brutal) entertainment. While the US ruling psychopaths have abandoned the idea of making sure Americans can afford food, they have definitely gifted us the circuses. Trump just hosted a gigantic Ultimate Fighting Championship on the grounds of the White House. This is by far the closest thing we presently have to gladiators getting eaten by lions. (Even I would’ve tuned in if there'd been lions.)

Slavery and dependent labor. The Global Slavery Index reports that the US has roughly 1.1 million enslaved people plus 800,000 prisoners who are (legally) involved in slave labor. So essentially 2 million Americans are slaves. That’s not including the holy-shit number of people working for pennies in jobs that give them no benefits, rights, or dignity.

Massive inequality. The US just minted its first trillionaire (a space Nazi, no less). Meanwhile 50% of all American children live near or below the poverty line. Feeding America estimates it would cost $32 billion to feed all food-insecure children in the US each year. This means Elon Musk could feed them all for 30 years with billions left over............more..........