"Trump…didn’t cause the chaos. The chaos caused Trump."

[Binkie The Clown]

---SNIP---

John Adams wrote that “There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide,” and James Madison wrote in Federalist 10 that “Democracies have, in general, been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths.”

---SNIP---

What we are seeing is not a temporary spasm of chaos but a chaos syndrome.

Chaos syndrome is a chronic decline in the political system’s capacity for self-organization. It begins with the weakening of the institutions and brokers—political parties, career politicians, and congressional leaders and committees—that have historically held politicians accountable to one another and prevented everyone in the system from pursuing naked self-interest all the time. As these intermediaries’ influence fades, politicians, activists, and voters all become more individualistic and unaccountable. The system atomizes. Chaos becomes the new normal—both in campaigns and in the government itself.

More at the link

[KingCharlemagne]

1. a really thought-provoking and balanced treatment. A bit too anti-egalitarian for my tastes, but

still worthy of consideration and deep scrutiny.

[Javaman]

2. and it has evolved into the snake eating it's tail. nt

[Major Nikon]

3. Trump isn't the problem. He's a symptom of the problem.