You think that ‘disruptive thinking’ is exclusive to Silicon Valley nerds and entrepreneurs?!
That ‘moonshot projects’ are the exclusive arena of guys like Elon Musk, Larry Page, Sergey Brin or Mark Zuckerberg?!
Think again.
What if Vladimir Putin had decided that his efforts to disrupt Georgia, the Ukraine and Hungary, to destabilize the EU and ultimately get back his old Warsaw Pact allies (lackeys) under the reign of Russia again, had been successful so far and it was time for the next step?
What if Putin had decided that it was time for his own moonshot project?
To go big and aim for the ‘unthinkable’ and ‘impossible’ — and to try to destabilize the United States of America itself so that it couldn’t and wouldn’t interfere with his plans in Europe?
And Donald Trump was the vessel for going about and implement the plan?
There might be a precedent
There was an excellent diary History shows us the danger when a candidate doesn't concede that made an apt comparison to the events in Hungary that ultimately led to the rise of Victor Orban and all the problems that came with him.
- Denying the legitimacy of an election (which he lost) for years.
- Positioning of himself of being a strongman.
- Taking advantage of ‘spontaneous’ riots, which might have been orchestrated by himself.
- Coming to power on the second attempt and instantly dismantling democracy.
‘Hysteria’ might be a a bad reaction but does’t rule out there’s a problem
Now I’m aware that people took issue with the “what if” approach of the diary, but — being a bit closer to the events than most people here — I would suggest, that this sort of brushing off those ideas as ‘hysteria’ is exactly the necessary ingredient to make the approach above feasible.
So let me set out on my own ‘tin-foil-hat’ journey of what ifs…
What if…
What if Donald Trump in actual fact had been — unwittingly — been recruited by Russia to be the agent of disruption in America?
(...please note, that this doesn’t imply that the plan had been years in the making. It could have been put in place only after Trump won the GOP nomination and might have evolved and been adapted all along. So even the ‘delegitimization approach’ might have been a more recent adaptation. Keep that in mind. There’s a difference between a ‘strategy’ and a ‘plan’).
That Trump’s role now it that of a Victor Orban on steroids, who’s job is to...
- constantly deny the legitimacy of the administration,
- undermine the unity of the institutions of democracy to an ‘unthinkable’ level,
- sow even more distrust and downright hatred between ethnicities and religions, between north and south, urban and rural, rich and poor, old and young
- drive an even bigger wedge between all the factions of American society
- stir even more fear and hatred into the populace, and
- foster his own mob able and willing to riot
...so when the time came to capitalize on the manifest disorder and hatred and fear … another candidate was ready to step in. Someone with better manners, a better preparation and a better plan…
So, that’s impossible?!
Maybe. But let’s just think about, what else had been ‘impossible’ just a year ago. Or six months ago. Or even six weeks ago.
That such a flawed candidate could even get nominated. That still 40% of the electorate obviously don’t find it disturbing enough that the candidate talks up Russia, talks down America, shows contempt for truth, reason and intellect and every living thing except himself and Vladimir.
That a whole political party silently stands by, watching while their ‘candidate’ burns down the House of Democracy?
‘Not impossible’ does not equal ‘it’s happening’
Now, to be clear. I don’t suggest that all of this has really happened or will play out this way.
But the sheer prospect and possibility, that now these scenarios seem plausible and within reach should send some shivers down our collective necks.
There is a writing on the wall...