On this Inauguration Day episode of the Plutopia podcast, we discuss the past, present and future of democracy. We also acknowledge the return of Felonious Trump, the 45th and 47th President of the United States. Our friend Dr. Roy Casagranda joins the podcast as we examine the incoming Trump Dream Team and its possible impact upon the nation. We discuss the potential challenges of the new Trump administration, from appointing incoherent and narcissistic officials to managing (or mismanaging?) critical issues such as NATO, tariffs, immigration, healthcare, climate change, and the economy. The conversation reflects skepticism about Trump’s leadership capabilities, critiques the global and domestic consequences of his proposed policies, and explores the broader dysfunctions of U.S. governance and consumer culture. The episode ends on a somber yet slightly hopeful note, urging action amidst an uncertain political and environmental landscape.
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Roy Casagranda:
The problem is the narcissistic maniacs that he’s appointing to the government are the kind of backstabbing guys who don’t have a coherent plan, they don’t have a coherent policy, they don’t know anything. That’s one of Trump’s problems is that he just doesn’t understand things. I bet he doesn’t know Canada and Denmark are NATO members. I bet he doesn’t know that Greenland belongs to Denmark so that if you attacked Greenland you would effectively be going to war with NATO. I don’t even know what’s supposed to happen if a NATO member attacks a NATO member because Article 5 says if any state attacks a NATO member all the other NATO members are instantaneously or automatically at war. There’s no need for a declaration of war. So I don’t think he can neglect his government of narcissistic maniacs. I think he’s going to have to be there. And I can see them just really making a mess of things too. So it’s possible that this will be okay. We’ll have an incoherent four years where the United States basically is just sort of frozen and paralyzed, where the president is randomly threatening to attack this country and that country and the other country. It wrecks the US’s reputation globally but honestly I don’t know how much lower it can get anyway – we’re close to bottom.
