[greggoB]

My best interpretation is that the apparent craziness of everything we're seeing reflects the level of how much the social order has really broken down.

We saw similar (albeit somehow tamer by contrast) things in South Africa during the excesses of the State Capture [0] years - people (mostly those complicit in trashing the country) started to do and say bonkers things. Jacob Zuma (like Trump) also acted as a lightning rod for these types of crazy characters. Genuinely sensible members of the public started to fabricate or grasp at wild explanations for what was going on. It took a major toll.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zondo_Commission

[pseudohadamard]

Good analogy. Trevor Noah once joked that Trump would make a great African dictator and it looks like that's now turning to reality. Listen properly!

[greggoB]

> Trevor Noah once joked that Trump would make a great African dictator and it looks like that's now turning to reality

I find people are much less dismissive of this comparison now compared to his 1st term.

> Listen properly!

For those who don't get the reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqNa6992ih4. Always fun to have a reason to give it another watch :)