Well like I said, Trump is stupid administratively, but he’s a good conman. Einstein might be good at physics, but he is the last person you would ask on ecology. So to repeat what I said in my original comment: there is no one type of intelligence. It’s not “just world” fallacy, one could argue that it’s “unjust world” fallacy for someone idiotic could con an entire world. To deny that happened is burying one’s head in the ground.

As it happens, Trump did squander his inheritance, but managed to claw back his fortune, first by money laundering for Russian mobsters, then by using his political office for personal gain. Fake it until you make it very much applies here.

It reinforces my point that he is not as stupid as he looks, still having been able to persuade and manipulate people despite having little to no resources. If you have seen the movie Catch Me if You Can, it does take certain skills to get away with so much scam.

Well, call me naïve, but they are pretty cautious around this kind of stuff in Germany, I doubt the US government has access to these kinds of records.

That’s fair enough. But Trump’s Project 2025 buddies have the intention to undermine Europe. Unfortunately, when America sneezes, everyone catches the cold.

I used Putin as example because any sleazy jobs require the same Machiavellian instincts as with being a devious salesman. Not every dodgy salesman becomes millionaire or CEO with political leverage, because they may either happy with their gains or not ambitious enough and comfortable to remain in their stations. However, those ambitious enough beat their competition with ruthless efficiency. I’m sure there are hundreds of millionaires and billionaires who started as lowly deceptive salesman, but we just haven’t heard of them because they’re not publicly prominent.

Going back to Putin, it wasn’t really a chance on how he came to power. He was a colonel of one of the most feared spy agencies. I mean, what would you do with that much access to power if you are as ambitious as Putin? Sure, luck and happenstance also play key roles, but luck is a residue of preparation. Knowing how to take advantage of those lucky opportunities to forward own’s agenda takes certain skills to mobilise and pull the necessary levers.

A lot of people of dismiss the likes of Musk and Trump’s ability on how they got into power as being the result of being silver spooned. But people conveniently forget that it still requires knowledge, skills and experience to maintain the high status. Plenty of famous intergenerational wealthy families eventually lose their status because their descendants squander the fortunes handed to them. If Trump and Musk are stupid, they would be poor and not have gotten to the White House. So, they still have some intelligence but not about being empathetic.

I’m talking about in general on the anti-Trump camp as underestimating his stupidity. Authoritarian bodies eventually fall because of corruption and stupidity, but that’s not what is happening at the moment. The Trumpian America is just getting started and him and his cronies are smart enough on how to gain power and secure it. You may not be politically active, but they know already that you’re possibly anti-Trump because they took your social security details and other public records, and fed it into their surveillance system. Sorry to be so gloomy but I’m gonna be frank, they’re not stupid for having just robbed you, a nobody Lemmy while they are the ones in charge and spying on you.

I don’t know, I came from a former dictator run country and know how to call a spade a spade. So I will be blunt say Americans are still making heads or tails, on whether or not they are in a fascist state, because they never experienced what dictatorship is before. Constantly calling authoritarians stupid, while you and I are relying on supply chain run by them and could pressure us to conform, maybe we’re the stupid ones. Calling them stupid is coping for not accepting the fact that the inferiors outwitted us and manipulating our means of living.

Putin wasn’t the only KGB colonel before he became the president of Russia. He had peers and were given equal footing as him. But he had proven to be more cunning and ruthless than them so he gained power. Those low level conning salesmen you mentioned, they probably weren’t savvy enough. However, if they had been as savvy as the most successful con salesman, Elon Musk, then their fates would have been different otherwise.

There are those who started from the bottom, quite literally. Stalin was a pure thug who robbed banks for the Bolsheviks. He was also ridiculed for being intellectually inferior on the communist theory, especially by Lenin. And well, who lived until the ripe old age of 70, while the other was murdered in cold blood with an icepick?

I neglected to mention before and what I’m trying to say now, is to not underestimate the opponent. Once the person underestimates the opponent, is when that person loses. It’s the basic of art of war. I’m gonna be blunt, who is dumber? The person whose social security details were robbed in broad daylight, and that data is sold and fed to the private digital surveillance to train AI? It’s certainly not the dumb ketamine addicted CEO of a conglomerate of grifting companies, nor the dumb orange president who could push the red button at any notice. To think you and I are not dumb, whose details were already put into surveillance AI, are wishful thinking and coping.

Never underestimate the opposition.

The mainstream should re-think what intelligence is because experts already said there are different types of intelligence. Are math prodigies with autism not intelligent? Are biologists dumb for struggling with quantum physics? That said, someone who may be unempathetic and lack emotional intelligence may have high intelligence on how to persuade and manipulate others. Many would call this Machiavellian (although personally, I don’t see Machiavellianism as inherently bad). It takes certain skill and intelligence to become a mob boss despite doing poorly in school, or even a leader of a country.

A lot on Lemmy scoffed it when I said Trump and other dictators are not as dumb as they might seem to be, because they ended up in charge, not someone on Lemmy with PhD. It possesses a certain kind of intelligence to be a demagogue and take power.

You might be joking, but i think only the older folks will get the joke. After all, apparently, when Justin Timberlake was arrested for DUI, JT asked the police officer if he knows who he is. The police officer, being younger, unironically said “no”.

I have to say, seeing the outdated CRT screen and the classic white wired mouse grinds my gears 😐

It’s the libertarians and retails investors, who root for the ruthless billionaire-owned businesses they invested in, who say that.

WoW raid experience doesn’t exactly translate to expert on international relations.

They learned that cooperation is perfect…to coordinate and conquer those who are deemed weaker.

That’s not genz thing. That’s the hot potato method of where you drop the potato on the ground and don’t play the games the sociopath wants to play.

Yup, I have heard the same complaints about younger generations since the 1990s about Gen X, which are now passed on to us millenials. I’ve always heard the same old versus young fighting since I was a child.

If we include many other countries, USA will be among the developing nations for high homicide rate due to guns. And I hope you get I’m trying to say because USA is supposed to be a safe and prosperous country. If the gun crime and homicide rate is on par with poorer countries…well…it’s not something to proud of or known as, for the self-declared best country in the world.

Plus, companies will abuse you.

Violence is only the last resort, but Americans should learn to make DIY weapons in case another civil war breaks out, because it is unlikely that Donald will concede power when the time comes.

There is an episode about robot dogs in Black Mirror…

At this stage, I am willing to go to Mars. There is less chance of techbro oligarchs wanting to destroy the world and killer robot dogs wanting to kill us. Matt Damon has also provided us with a basic manual on how to survive Mars.

I feel like the antivaxxers are more concentrated in the developed north because of privileges; from having better access to healthcare, better economy, and less prevalence of deadlier diseases because of colder climate. So they get treatment more easily if they need one, and don’t see nasty diseases. Meanwhile, the global south tend to believe more in vaccinations because diseases in warmer climate are more common and deadlier.

Different system, same problem.

So two state solution?

We’re making fun of conservatives being hypocrites and idiots. Like, how it’s not racist to make fun of MAGA immigrants voting for Trump and then being deported.

AI written works are also so stupid. It feels soulless. Indeed, I think authors could command premium for royalty and copyright because human written literature will be priceless.

Yup. They are the ones who led us to where we are now. Blue MAGA/neolibs are basically saying “we don’t have any good economic platforms to make ordinary Americans have a better life, we care more about enriching our billionaire donors, but at least we’re not bigoted unlike Trump.”

My main complaint is the bad search system of Lemmy. You can only search for community but not specific topics using specific keywords.