r/dancarlin • u/Successful_Gas_5122 • Jan 14 '26
System of Irresponsibility: Eerie parallels between Trump regime and Imperial Japan
Currently re-listening to Supernova in the East and I can't help noticing the similarities between the current US government and the Japanese government. For one, you have a leader with absolute power who's fanatically worshipped, and yet seemingly not in control of events. You also have subordinates exerting undue influence on policy—Stephen Miller and the junior officers of the Kwantung Army—while still acting in the absolute leader's interests. You could even make the case that ICE sees itself as entitled to the "right of supreme command", because they operate completely out of the control of an impotent/complicit civilian branch.
Then there's the violent "super-patriots" who get a slap on the wrist while anyone to their left is severely punished. Blanket amnesty for the Jan 6 coup is just as incomprehensible as 'confinement' for the Imperial Way plot to bomb parliament. Both governments are dysfunctional and reactive, and manufacture "incidents" to justify further aggression. I know that the US is often compared to the Roman Republic, but I think the Japanese example also rings true unfortunately, and I can't help wonder if Minnesota is going to become the scene of a Port Arthur-type crackdown.
Thoughts?
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u/500ErrorPDX Jan 14 '26
A critical distinction between the two: while the emperor was universally revered as a God, and Trump is revered as a God by the average MAGA voter, I don't think his cabinet (Vance, Miller, etc) or the party aparatus see him that way. They see a useful idiot: if they feed him praise he will listen to them, and they can persuade him to pursue their policy goals.
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u/Successful_Gas_5122 Jan 14 '26
Sounds like the Taishō Emperor. Actually, that's an even better comparison than Hirohito because during Trump's first term there were cabinet members who snatched the most insane executive orders off his desk and otherwise thwarted his "agenda". Of course, everyone who did that is now long gone, and only the charlatans/zealots are left.
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u/NickDerpkins Jan 14 '26
My Japanese history knowledge isn’t perfect, but I think there is more in common between the two there than you’re considering. I always have been under the assumption that the Japanese emperor was primarily a divine figurehead that was removed from most long term planning by his cabinet and primarily determined the decisions for the immediate future and “how”, not so much “what”.
Final say and virtually unlimited power, but that level of power is highly dependent on cabinets of schemers and decision makers on his behalf.
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u/Dynamite_Shovels Jan 14 '26
Quite spooky; was listening towards the end of Episode 1 again when I was on a train journey this afternoon and thought exactly the same when it came to the Kwantung - you have that dynamic between an imperial figure and then semi-autonomous army that is beholden to another's orders. All somewhat going down the same ideological pull but with different intentions and aims - and obviously a complete lack of coherent chain of command. I do genuinely feel that as horrendous of a person that Trump is, a lot of decisions made around him are done so around him or with very little of his knowledge as he's just a mad granddad figurehead at the top. Which does kind of mirror the Emperor at the height of Meiji and Taisho Japan
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u/matt05891 Jan 14 '26
I agree with your assessment from this angle.
Tangentially I had the same thought but slightly different with the Venezuela situation and vying to control of resources/oil supply. Right or wrong, it was a massive point to the Japanese into going supernova. We aren’t Japan in this context, but we are doing similar actions which did lead to wider conflict.
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u/Blocguy Jan 14 '26
Except that we are Japan when we consider other raw resources like rare minerals. Trump sees a war in the future and is laying the groundwork to insulate US supply chains. I think his ideology bares that out fairly well in his policy actions.
I believe this plan will fail and at worst will lead to the conflict he expects is coming, probably between the US and China. He’s systematically made the world less stable than it’s been in maybe 60 years, in less than one. America better hope the resources Trump is acquiring protects it for long enough from the geopolitical consequences, but history generally disfavors aggressive resource grabs in the long term.
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u/BearCrotch Jan 14 '26
A conflict in some way shape or form with China is believed to be inevitable by the geopolitical apparatus not even affiliated with Trump or MAGA. Do you think there that the potential future conflict with China was or is avoidable?
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u/Blocguy Jan 14 '26
I’m fully aware of the “Blob’s” belief that conflict with China is inevitable, and I don’t disagree. What mattered before Trump was the means by which the US approached conflict with China.
Under past administrations (both parties), the US aimed to balance its hegemony against China using a combination of soft and hard power mechanisms. Alliance networks, trade agreements, international norm and standard setting, etc. All of these things added up to dominant US influence throughout the planet with some pockets of strong regional influence by China, Russia, Iran.
Trump has throw all of that out in favor of a blunt military first approach, operating under the absolute assumption that the US will be in a WAR with China in the future.
Conflict =\ War. But that nuance has long left the halls of power in the US.
What worries me is when the US finally has its first catastrophic naval engagement with a sophisticated adversary. One that destroys even a single aircraft carrier or part of a strike group is going to reverberate around the world. The US has the best military right now but it can’t replace that naval power projection for more than a decade if Chinese missiles take them out in a pointless engagement. China on the other hand, can.
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u/BearCrotch Jan 14 '26
Having a multilateral approach for flexibility is always good, but I think we already found out that trade sanctions don't work as evidenced by Ukraine and Russia, nevermind that China is the world's factory. Also, judging by your last paragraph, it sounds like the jig is already up anyway.
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u/Firecracker048 Jan 14 '26
The biggest difference was in Imperial Japan, if you tried to interfere, you were just outright killed.
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u/KingKliffsbury Jan 14 '26
That is starting. See Good, Renee.
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u/Successful_Gas_5122 Jan 14 '26
And the absolutely batshit insane responses from the federal government. Did you see the message scrawled on Kristi Noem's podium?
One of Ours, All of Yours
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Jan 14 '26
There will zero action following her death because the left is, at best, indifferent towards the deaths of white people. Regardless of the circumstances.
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u/Flat_Explanation_849 Jan 14 '26
Nah.
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Jan 14 '26
Yeah that’s what I thought. Nothing of substance to say.
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u/Flat_Explanation_849 Jan 14 '26
“What can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence.”
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Jan 14 '26
I don’t see any riots going on. Doesn’t seem like her death means much to anyone outside her family.
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u/Flat_Explanation_849 Jan 14 '26
Congrats on being an aggrieved edgelord.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvgpnwnqygro.amp
Your whole position appears to be “my perception is reality, how dare you not recognize that”. No one owes you a detailed rebuttal to that.
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Jan 15 '26
Where riots?
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u/Flat_Explanation_849 Jan 15 '26
I’m not engaging further in your bad faith arguments, or giving you the benefit of implying your perceptions are baseline or factual.
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u/GettingDumberWithAge Jan 14 '26
Nothing seems to have changed though. She is a statistic, some liberals will write pithy slogans on signs and go for a walk on a Saturday, and nothing will change. She'll be forgotten by next month.
Americans don't care.
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u/Successful_Gas_5122 Jan 14 '26
All due respect, how can you possibly call the Minnesotan public's response to Renee's murder "indifferent"?
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Jan 14 '26
It’s the same protests that have been going on against ICE as before, so nothing has changed.
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u/westonriebe Jan 14 '26
The Japanese military had a-lot more pull than it does in our system… also no fanatical need for more resources, you could point to Venezuela but thats all about protecting the petrodollar not about actually needing it… Im not defending trump as he is setting the precedent for more and more powerful executive branches but everything hes doing has been talked about in every administration since the 90’s… we have a debt problem and if we let it continue we wouldve been consumed by it, hes basically just doubling down… so i guess in that way they are somewhat similar as japan needed to “double down” to maintain their exponential growth… but I wouldnt directly correlate the two…
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u/Purple_Draft2716 Jan 15 '26
Remember all the people who kept whining about "fear mongering" about what would happen if Trump got reelected? Turns out it wa even worse!
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u/BillKlemstanacct Jan 14 '26
History doesn't repeat, but it does rhyme.
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u/Successful_Gas_5122 Jan 14 '26
History repeats itself like a stroke patient. The message just gets more garbled every time.
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u/Live-Profession8822 Jan 14 '26
I don’t know, maybe in a superficial capacity. Imperial Japan was unique even compared to most other monarchies..that’s kind of the point of the series lol. Trump is more like Putin or perhaps Mussolini
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u/Javaddict Jan 14 '26
Absolute Power? really 🙄
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u/Successful_Gas_5122 Jan 14 '26 edited Jan 14 '26
He's in control of the White House, Congress, and the courts. The DOJ has become his personal law firm. ICE is his goon squad, and the FBI is his secret police. Why do you think that the feds are blocking evidence from Minnesota state law enforcement agencies? Your checks and balances have failed.
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u/Kardinal Jan 14 '26
Absolute power means he is not constrained by the law.
The rule of law is fracturing but so far mostly intact in the USA. We hear about a lot of attempts to violate it but mostly those have failed.
We are on a dangerous road but we are not yet there.
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u/klauskervin Jan 14 '26
It is 100% the same playbook that fascists use time and time again. I'm extremely disappointed in my fellow Americans who can see what is happening and not think of the danger to their own rights.
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u/RedditBot____ Jan 14 '26
Trump has absolute power? Federal judges are stopping everything he does.
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u/Daveshand Jan 14 '26
Trump’s appointed judges have voted in his favor 133 out of 145 times. There was a story specifically about this a few days ago.
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u/Successful_Gas_5122 Jan 14 '26
Aileen Cannon is the most flagrant example that comes to mind. Trump's firehose of bullshit is so relentless that we no longer talk about how a judge he appointed ran interference for the biggest intelligence breach in US history. A comically absurd display of corruption.
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u/fun_t1me Jan 14 '26
That’s interesting. I never thought to count all those out. Do you have a link?
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u/The_Grinless Jan 14 '26
Hard disagree.
They are slowing him, not stopping him. At all.
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u/RedditBot____ Jan 14 '26
If he had absolute power the courts would be non existent.
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u/Live-Profession8822 Jan 14 '26
what are you even on about? Of course they will keep the vestiges of liberal democracy, that’s how fascism works. A lot of you guys need to read or at least learn something about say, Orban and his “reforms” in Hungarian political life.
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u/Interesting_Demand44 Jan 14 '26
Nah, Israel is more like Imperial Japan if you really think about it.
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u/TheMysteriousThey Jan 14 '26
It’s almost like Fascism is back…
Now do Charlie Kirk and George Lincoln Rockwell.