@daniel_dsj2110 Kind of makes you wonder what they think "democracy" is.

@Mont_Jiang Seriously... they don't believe that the public realm or public goods exists. And they've actively promoted the corrosive idea that claims about public goods are disguised self-interest coming from the private realm.

@przidnt1 Exactly lol

@kvshlvk @faithandheresy I would argue scifi (especially epic scifi) is doing better philosophy of history than philosophy these days. It's really no longer taken seriously by those who call themselves philosophers.

@kvshlvk Great analysis. The whole story does have a strong Hollywood feel. And Trump has always done well in show business.

@kvshlvk And yes another obstacle is the definitely resistance from entrenched powers in the state apparatus. Resigning, foot dragging, etc. has already started, I hear. Here the contradiction, as Trump would put it, is MAGA vs "the deep state."

@xeno_swift I think all the terms largely refer to the same thing (e.g. set of actors), yes.

@kvshlvk Right, that would be another way to further decenter the state... see also Meow_Meow_2020 comment on "power elite."

@Meow_Meow_2020 It's been a while since I read it, but I take Mills idea to be a more technical account of the military industrial complex

@kvshlvk Mass participation in the service of elite interests is one of the most interesting questions in social theory. It seems like a typical case, but isn't the only possibility of mass action, of course.

@Mont_Jiang No doubt, the class infrastructure is "baked in." I'm thinking mass society is most usefully described as the hiding of class society (via mass culture/media). We could also just drop the concept.

@SClemmt Yeah, the more important category is "enemy."

@RobertCottoJr Some things (hypocrisies) never change.

To be fair, "the war" probably started a long time ago, with Obama, "Deporter-in-Chief." He just didn't present it as such.

@RobertCottoJr Right. There's immigrants and then there's "immigrants."