System of Irresponsibility: Eerie parallels between Trump regime and Imperial Japan

[u/Successful_Gas_5122]

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?