He validated and exacerbated feeling of frustration. That’s why he was 
elected. 
His appeal is anti-intellectual, so it didn’t matter that Harris handily beat 
him in the debate. 

From: Friam <friam-boun...@redfish.com> on behalf of Jochen Fromm 
<j...@cas-group.net>
Date: Saturday, November 9, 2024 at 3:11 PM
To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group <friam@redfish.com>
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] How democracies die 

What good things did Mr. Trump actually achieve for the US? I don't see any. He 
mismanaged a pandemic and encouraged people to use bleach against it. He 
withdrew from the Paris climate agreement, ignoring the most important crisis 
we face globally. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict did not become better by 
Trump's decision to move the embassy to Jerusalem. It intensified the conflict. 
What success in the Middle East are you talking about? 

He certainly achieved good things for himself and his core family. He became 
richer, directly and indirectly. He spent a lot of time at his own ressorts and 
golf clubs and made money from the federal government by this, because his 
company billed the US government millions for it - including overpriced bills 
for Secret Service agents who stayed at his properties while protecting him. 



The irony is that the people who try to make a country great again always 
destroy it. For a land of the free what could be worse than a demagogue who 
takes away that freedom and destroys freedom of speech? We know an 
authoritarian system means the oppression of opponents. His vision of a 
Trumpistan is such a system without "enemies within" and without freedom of 
speech. 



-J. 





-------- Original message -------- 

From: Pieter Steenekamp <piet...@randcontrols.co.za> 

Date: 11/9/24 5:07 PM (GMT+01:00) 

To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group <friam@redfish.com> 

Subject: Re: [FRIAM] How democracies die 



I think many of you dislike Trump so much that it’s hard to see he might 
actually do some good for the US and the world. Let me share my thinking.

I see Trump a bit like King Leopold II of Belgium. King Leopold did horrible 
things in the Congo, but he did a lot of good for his own country. Back then, 
people in Belgium didn’t know the terrible stuff happening in Africa because 
news travelled differently.

Now, don’t get me wrong—Trump’s a flawed person, and I think we can agree on 
that. But, in his first term, he actually achieved some good things for the US 
and globally. For example, his administration was successful in the Middle 
East. If you’re interested in a deeper look, Lex Fridman’s interview with Jared 
Kushner offers some insights (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=co_MeKSnyAo 
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=co_MeKSnyAo>). It's fair to say that Biden’s 
administration didn’t build on Trump’s progress there - in fact they messed up 
seriously.

If we keep an open mind, it’s possible to see that Biden’s approach in Ukraine 
will stretch out the war and cost US taxpayers more over many years and the 
citizens of Ukraine will be the big losers. Given Trump’s previous success in 
the Middle East, it’s not crazy to think he could find a faster way to help end 
the war in Ukraine without a mess, like what happened with Biden’s exit from 
Afghanistan.

Sure, Trump’s not a saint. But he’s not looking to go down as a failure 
either—he wants to be remembered as a winner. 


On Sat, 9 Nov 2024 at 16:43, Marcus Daniels <mar...@snoutfarm.com 
<mailto:mar...@snoutfarm.com>> wrote: 

Trump’s reads the room. If he feels his people would tolerate Russia using 
chemical weapons at a massive scale in Ukraine, then he’d be fine with that. 
Remember he was fine separating immigrant children from their parents. This 
property may well cause some deals to be made because they are afraid of the 
consequences. That’s not a skill in negotiation, that’s just the kind of terror 
that an organized crime boss might elicit. 

The U.S. doesn’t have a boundless number of Tomahawk missiles to give Ukraine, 
even if we authorized firing into Russia. They run a couple million U.S. 
dollars each. We aren’t even keeping up with Russia’s artillery manufacturing. 
Putin knows all this. For better or worse, Biden doesn’t want a war. 

From: Friam <friam-boun...@redfish.com <mailto:friam-boun...@redfish.com>> on 
behalf of Pieter Steenekamp <piet...@randcontrols.co.za 
<mailto:piet...@randcontrols.co.za>>
Date: Friday, November 8, 2024 at 11:49 PM
To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group <friam@redfish.com 
<mailto:friam@redfish.com>>
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] How democracies die 

Trump's the kind of guy you should take seriously, not literally. When he says 
something big like, “I’ll end the war in Ukraine on day one,” he means he's 
dead set on making peace happen there. Anyone with half a brain knows he can’t 
actually snap his fingers and stop the war on his first day. That’s up to 
Russia and Ukraine to figure out, after all. But does Trump have a unique knack 
for pushing people toward a deal? Oh, you bet he does.

In fact, William Spaniel, a professor over at the University of Pittsburgh, 
mentioned in a podcast https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKH-QeRJBU8 
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKH-QeRJBU8> that Putin seems to believe Trump 
will lay down a deal that both sides can live with. (And yeah, Spaniel seems to 
know his stuff.)

So, here’s my hunch on what Trump might say to Ukraine and Russia, in my own 
words: “Alright, fellas, here’s the deal. Ukraine, let’s be real—Russia needs 
to keep a little slice of land to save face. It might sting, but if you don’t 
settle, Russia’s going to drag this war out and make it miserable for everyone. 
And Russia, let’s stop the drama now. You can keep a few bits, but if you keep 
pushing, we’re going to load up Ukraine with so many weapons it’ll make your 
head spin. Then, you’re gonna lose big time, and Ukraine will take back 
everything. But hey, it’s up to you, sweethearts!” 


On Fri, 8 Nov 2024 at 07:04, steve smith <sasm...@swcp.com 
<mailto:sasm...@swcp.com>> wrote: 


Marcuswrote: 

Seems like a lot of people will try to leave Africa because of climate change. 
I suppose they’ll end up in Europe, creating yet more folks like Trump to rile 
people up about it. 

Until the AMOC turns over and plunges Northern Europe into the kind of winter 
cold Maine-Nova Scotia currently "enjoy"? 
there was some B post-apocalypse movie starring a polar vortex which ended with 
all of Canada/US lined up at the MX border asking to be let in to avoid turning 
into popsicles... of course, the style of the movie had the sweet 
long-suffering people in the land of Manana politely inviting all the Karen's 
and Matt Gaetz's into their (now overwhelmed? country)... 


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