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Absurd! Ludicrous! Preposterous! Ridiculous! Beyond the realm of believability!
Descriptions of the society depicted in the movie, "Idiocracy"? Let's reconsider that conclusion. When that film was released, it was 2006, only 20 years ago. It purported to show a society in the year 2505, one that had devolved so alarmingly that it was unrecognizable fiction to viewers at that time.
In Wikipedia, the movie is described as "a satirical science fiction comedy film directed by Mike Judge that follows an average man who wakes up 500 years in the future to find a devolved, anti-intellectual society." Still a little far-fetched, it strikes some very disturbing similarities to what is happening to our government in DC and where they want to lead the population of this country. It didn't take 500 years, it took 20.
Not so much science-fiction anymore as coming close to a documentary. The domination of corporate billionaires, the commercialism, the devaluing of the importance of education- attacking universities, pulling funding for public schools and attempting to eliminate the Department of Education by appointing Linda McMahon, CEO of WWE, World Wresting Entertainment. Ouch, too close to the movie for comfort!
The things that President Donald Trump is doing to our nation's capital are appalling! He delves on things that fit the opening adjectives perfectly! The spectacles that were produced for his pleasure: motorcycle stunts, the brutal mixed-martial arts UFC matches on the White House Lawn for his 80th birthday (reminder of how old he is), the Freedom Grand-prix through the streets of D.C., the fair that flopped with the arc d' trump replica that almost completely did. All those events were destructive and desecrated the historic property they were held on. All those events were just as American as apple pie and baseball, right?
Hardly.
The national celebration of the birth of our country, our freedom and independence from a monarch, was abysmal. Even more upsetting was the fact that funds that were to be allocated to local governments to hold anniversary celebrations of their own were used for Trump's circus. Absurd!
He ruined the reflecting pool, made it into a more fitting reflection of his administration. He has to gold-plate and put his name on everything. He threatened to bulldoze the Kennedy Center if he is not allowed to put his name on it. After already removing Jackie Kennedy's rose garden and replacing it with cement and umbrella tables, he just had the cherry trees that attract visitors to DC every spring chopped down to enlarge a golf course. They were a gift from Japan in 1910! Now gone forever. And remember that the people's White House once had an East Wing, now it just has one wing. Injured beyond repair. Birds can't fly with one wing. Neither can this white house. Ludicrous!
He is unable to head up our government. He spends his time, all hours of the day and night, on his truth social platform sending disturbing messages and AI-generated aggrandizing images of himself in all sorts of hero costumes. His press conferences, when he has them, always devolve quickly into attacks on the reporter and news media asking the questions, or segway into descriptions of his next architectural creation. He can't stay awake during meetings; he's been caught on video on numerous occasions nodding off as someone is speaking. If they're not talking about him, no interest- take a nap. Preposterous!
The seriousness of all this is that we have no competent head of government at the national level. The president pays more attention to goldifying his White Palace and remaking DC into his own little kingdom than he does to his presidential duties. He has abdicated responsibilities to his Cabinet of Incompetence. Pete Hegseth is bent on making the military macho again -- amp up their testosterone levels, make them into killers.
He's depleting our defense stockpile attacking Iran, a war that started unnecessarily and has made matters worse; making us vulnerable to any other global aggressor. The war with Iran and the control it now has over commerce in the Strait of Hormuz has delt a big hit to our economy, and that of the entire world. One that has, along with Trump’s tariffs, caused prices to rise with no relief in sight and no end to the conflict in sight either.
We have no Congress at the moment that will help steer us out of this mess. Republicans control both the Senate and the House, the White House, and the Supreme Court. Yet, they blame Democrats for everything. Ridiculous!
Democrats have to start out every term fixing messes. They get the economic indicators to rise back up, and democratic administrations use diplomacy and cooperation with our allies to avoid wars, not provoke them. We should be helping Ukraine win right now rather than starting trouble in the middle east, causing harm to NATO, and alienating our former allies, especially Canada! That is just plain dumb, with a b!
President Barack Obama had to save us from the economic disaster of 2008; Joe Biden had to save us from the economic effects of a mismanaged COVID epidemic. Lesson to be learned; instead of flopping back and forth, let's concentrate on allowing the party that has proven it will support the constitution and work for the good of the people rather than further enriching the wealthy which hurts all average Americans, by voting for Democratic candidates in the upcoming midterm elections. Switching the control of Congress, while still maintaining a balance, will help to curb some of the excesses of the current administration.
"From the sublime to the ridiculous is but a step." From the movie "Idiocracy" as satire to documentary is but a step, a 20-year step. For a more serious approach to what we may be facing, a quick primer written by Timothy Snyder, "On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century" will give you something to think about.
"Animal Farm", "1984", by George Orwell, "Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury, "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley or "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood, are just a few of the "science fiction dystopia" novels written to warn us about letting government get away from the democratic process and relinquishing our rights as citizens to determine the direction of our country.
We might also find in this deeper reading some similarities to our current state of affairs; much like “Idiocracy” whose satire is not so unbelievable anymore.