Bandits Exploit Both

PART 1 – STUPIDITY

“I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn’t lose any voters, OK?” – Donald J. Trump, January 23, 2016

Trump was correct when he said he could get away with shooting someone on 5th Avenue. Trump has been lying, cheating, and stealing for decades and has never faced real consequences. Bandits rarely do. Trump is one of the Bandit class that has created and exploited the systems within the U.S.A. to acquire obscene, unearned wealth.

Why would any rational person who has been hurt by the extreme wealth gap and who has been exploited by the Bandit Class vote for a Bandit? Yes, I know the alternatives were not very appealing (more on that in Part 2 – Ignorance), but Trump supporters actually believe Trump can Make America Great Again – for them.

I understand that Trump voters and the majority of other U.S. citizens are frustrated, angry, and unhappy with the reality of America. Avoiding the reality of the U.S.A. has become normal for many Americans. They escape into “reality” T.V. shows, social media and video games. They are using drugs and alcohol in record numbers. Depression and suicides of despair have been on the rise over the past few decades. Mass shootings are now common.

This is a ripe environment for the Bandits, the authoritarians, and a dictator to take over. Trump and his cohorts knew exactly how to take advantage of the perfect storm that includes:

• masses of people desperate for real change, many of them stupid or ignorant;
• tens of millions more apathetic, or complacent (85 million eligible voters did not even vote in 2024);
• new technologies that spread lies and propaganda faster, and with a broader reach than ever before;
• an empire in decline with failing institutions that are too weak to stop a hostile take-over;
• and a weak, naive opposition with the same old policies and rhetoric that have not been working for the majority of the nation’s citizens.

STUPID People

The word “stupid,” generally a derogatory term, is also an honest descriptive term — meaning engaging in behavior that shows a lack of good sense or judgement. Of course we are all prone to stupid behavior at times, but the intelligent person learns from their stupid mistakes and attempts to not repeat those mistakes.

Stupid people double down on their mistakes, cannot admit they were wrong, and will even sacrifice their own well-being (sometimes their lives) to validate their misguided beliefs. Stupid people are gullible and easy to manipulate. Stupid people are the targets of con-men and grifters. They buy into Ponzi schemes and when someone is telling them what they want to hear, they will believe it even if it is an obvious lie.

Money Lies and God
Published in February 2025, this book explains just how people from diverse groups were brought together and manipulated into a movement supporting the rise of authoritarianism and Donald Trump.

“Among the dozens of books that have attempted to identify the forces that Trump rode to power, this is one of the most closely reported and cogent.” —Jessica T. Mathews, Foreign Affairs

STUPID people are not necessarily evil, though many commit evil acts, like the January 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. STUPID people who support Trump are mostly desperate for change, full of fear, poorly educated, lacking in curiosity, and clinging to stupidities that were passed down to them by their parents, churches, public schools, mass media and social media.

Stupid people came together to elect Trump in 2016, grew his support for 2020, and pushed him to power a second time in 2024 with even greater momentum. All while the ignorant went about their lives, not taking the threat seriously, “hoping for the best,” and unwilling to believe just how many stupid people there are in the U.S.A.

SOURCE: https://www.britannica.com/topic/United-States-Presidential-Election-Results-1788863

Trump and his Bandit cohorts knew how to work their magic over the masses of stupid people in the U.S.A. using many of the tactics from the fascist playbook.

In his 2020 book, How Fascism Works: the Politics of US and THEM, Jason Stanley warns of the immense danger in underestimating the cumulative power of fascist tactics that include:

• exploiting a mythic version of a nation’s past
• propaganda that twists the language of democratic ideals
• anti-intellectualism directed against universities and experts
• law and order politics predicated on the assumption that members of minority groups are criminals
• fierce attacks on labor groups and welfare

Obviously, not enough people read this book and the many other available books, before the 2024 election.

YOU CAN’T FIX STUPID!

BUT YOU CAN LEARN HOW TO:
Avoid Stupid People
Work Around Stupidity
Survive Stupidity
Win Despite Stupidity