A Third Trump Term? A Tipping Point?: Dispatches Mailbag
One of the best parts of this gig is hearing from readers and since I started Dispatches From A Collapsing State and left my mailbag open, I receive questions pretty regularly that allow me a chance to interact but also consider topics that are maybe on the periphery of my work and analysis. It’s an incredibly useful exercise and I’m so grateful to you.
In this edition, I wrestle with four questions: the possibility of Donald Trump destroying another guardrail and pushing to serve another term, what it might look like if we actually form a democratic movement and what a tipping point in the battle against fascism might resemble, why the Right and fascists are so terrible and wrong in their interpretations of art and history, and whether the proliferation of AI, and consequently the eradication of entire industries and elimination of millions of job, would somehow be mitigated by social programs or even UBI. All of these questions have much, much larger implications that we should all be considering, so I’m happy to get in-depth here and work through them.
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Scott: My friends all tell me there’s no way Trump could serve a third term and that the Constitution would keep it from happening, but we’ve seen him steamroll one guardrail after another. Do you think it’s possible he does?
Sure. Yes. And I say that because I have lived these past ten years and have paid attention to all of the things I’ve been told he “couldn’t possibly do” right before he did them. What we are experiencing right now is the equivalent of a group of people watching a tsunami in the distance, recognizing the threat, and as the wave approaches telling themselves that surely it will stop, surely this thing will stand in its way, even as it gets closer and closer.
Here’s what I know. Trump has said multiple times that he would want to serve another term. Trump has said multiple times that his people are studying possibilities to make it happen. The man has been so blatant about it that he’s selling Trump 2028 hats and has posted memes hinting that he would like to stay in power for the rest of his life. This isn’t nothing. It’s obvious evidence that a man who has made his career destroying precedent and guardrails has his sights set on doing it again.
This thought exercise is useful. It allows us to prepare those guardrails and not get caught unaware. Of course, we don’t even know if Trump will survive this term, let alone make it to the 2028 Election, if there will even be a 2028 Election. But I do think it’s possible through a few means.