What Happens When a Bad-Tempered, Distractible Doofus Runs an Empire?
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What Happens When a Bad-Tempered, Distractible Doofus Runs an Empire? | The New Yorker
One of the few things that Kaiser Wilhelm II, who ruled Germany from 1888 to 1918, had a talent for was causing outrage. One of the many things that Wilhelm was convinced he was brilliant at, despite all evidence to the contrary, was “personal diplomacy,” fixing foreign policy through one-on-one meetings with other European monarchs and statesmen. In fact, Wilhelm could do neither the personal nor the diplomacy, and these meetings rarely went well. The Kaiser viewed other people in instrumental terms, was a compulsive liar, and seemed to have a limited understanding of cause and effect. He was susceptible but never truly controllable. He asserted his authority unpredictably, as if to prove he was still in charge, staging rogue interventions into his own advisers’ policies and sacking ministers without warning. Sound familiar? Revisit Miranda Carter on the lessons of Kaiser Wilhelm II:
What Happens When a Bad-Tempered, Distractible Doofus Runs an Empire?
Miranda Carter draws comparisons between President Donald Trump and Kaiser Wilhelm II, whose touchiness, unpredictability, and narcissism helped precipitate the fall of the German Empire.
The New Yorker (www.newyorker.com)
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What Happens When a Bad-Tempered, Distractible Doofus Runs an Empire? | The New Yorker
One of the few things that Kaiser Wilhelm II, who ruled Germany from 1888 to 1918, had a talent for was causing outrage. One of the many things that Wilhelm was convinced he was brilliant at, despite all evidence to the contrary, was “personal diplomacy,” fixing foreign policy through one-on-one meetings with other European monarchs and statesmen. In fact, Wilhelm could do neither the personal nor the diplomacy, and these meetings rarely went well. The Kaiser viewed other people in instrumental terms, was a compulsive liar, and seemed to have a limited understanding of cause and effect. He was susceptible but never truly controllable. He asserted his authority unpredictably, as if to prove he was still in charge, staging rogue interventions into his own advisers’ policies and sacking ministers without warning. Sound familiar? Revisit Miranda Carter on the lessons of Kaiser Wilhelm II:
What Happens When a Bad-Tempered, Distractible Doofus Runs an Empire?
Miranda Carter draws comparisons between President Donald Trump and Kaiser Wilhelm II, whose touchiness, unpredictability, and narcissism helped precipitate the fall of the German Empire.
The New Yorker (www.newyorker.com)
@didgebaba *waves at everything happening today in the world*
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R relay@relay.infosec.exchange shared this topicR relay@relay.mycrowd.ca shared this topic
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What Happens When a Bad-Tempered, Distractible Doofus Runs an Empire? | The New Yorker
One of the few things that Kaiser Wilhelm II, who ruled Germany from 1888 to 1918, had a talent for was causing outrage. One of the many things that Wilhelm was convinced he was brilliant at, despite all evidence to the contrary, was “personal diplomacy,” fixing foreign policy through one-on-one meetings with other European monarchs and statesmen. In fact, Wilhelm could do neither the personal nor the diplomacy, and these meetings rarely went well. The Kaiser viewed other people in instrumental terms, was a compulsive liar, and seemed to have a limited understanding of cause and effect. He was susceptible but never truly controllable. He asserted his authority unpredictably, as if to prove he was still in charge, staging rogue interventions into his own advisers’ policies and sacking ministers without warning. Sound familiar? Revisit Miranda Carter on the lessons of Kaiser Wilhelm II:
What Happens When a Bad-Tempered, Distractible Doofus Runs an Empire?
Miranda Carter draws comparisons between President Donald Trump and Kaiser Wilhelm II, whose touchiness, unpredictability, and narcissism helped precipitate the fall of the German Empire.
The New Yorker (www.newyorker.com)
@didgebaba "what happened in 1918?"
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What Happens When a Bad-Tempered, Distractible Doofus Runs an Empire? | The New Yorker
One of the few things that Kaiser Wilhelm II, who ruled Germany from 1888 to 1918, had a talent for was causing outrage. One of the many things that Wilhelm was convinced he was brilliant at, despite all evidence to the contrary, was “personal diplomacy,” fixing foreign policy through one-on-one meetings with other European monarchs and statesmen. In fact, Wilhelm could do neither the personal nor the diplomacy, and these meetings rarely went well. The Kaiser viewed other people in instrumental terms, was a compulsive liar, and seemed to have a limited understanding of cause and effect. He was susceptible but never truly controllable. He asserted his authority unpredictably, as if to prove he was still in charge, staging rogue interventions into his own advisers’ policies and sacking ministers without warning. Sound familiar? Revisit Miranda Carter on the lessons of Kaiser Wilhelm II:
What Happens When a Bad-Tempered, Distractible Doofus Runs an Empire?
Miranda Carter draws comparisons between President Donald Trump and Kaiser Wilhelm II, whose touchiness, unpredictability, and narcissism helped precipitate the fall of the German Empire.
The New Yorker (www.newyorker.com)
@didgebaba Kaiser Trumphelm.
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What Happens When a Bad-Tempered, Distractible Doofus Runs an Empire? | The New Yorker
One of the few things that Kaiser Wilhelm II, who ruled Germany from 1888 to 1918, had a talent for was causing outrage. One of the many things that Wilhelm was convinced he was brilliant at, despite all evidence to the contrary, was “personal diplomacy,” fixing foreign policy through one-on-one meetings with other European monarchs and statesmen. In fact, Wilhelm could do neither the personal nor the diplomacy, and these meetings rarely went well. The Kaiser viewed other people in instrumental terms, was a compulsive liar, and seemed to have a limited understanding of cause and effect. He was susceptible but never truly controllable. He asserted his authority unpredictably, as if to prove he was still in charge, staging rogue interventions into his own advisers’ policies and sacking ministers without warning. Sound familiar? Revisit Miranda Carter on the lessons of Kaiser Wilhelm II:
What Happens When a Bad-Tempered, Distractible Doofus Runs an Empire?
Miranda Carter draws comparisons between President Donald Trump and Kaiser Wilhelm II, whose touchiness, unpredictability, and narcissism helped precipitate the fall of the German Empire.
The New Yorker (www.newyorker.com)
@didgebaba "If international conflict is around the corner, it would seem that you really don’t want a narcissist in control of a global power."
Yeeeeaaaah.
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What Happens When a Bad-Tempered, Distractible Doofus Runs an Empire? | The New Yorker
One of the few things that Kaiser Wilhelm II, who ruled Germany from 1888 to 1918, had a talent for was causing outrage. One of the many things that Wilhelm was convinced he was brilliant at, despite all evidence to the contrary, was “personal diplomacy,” fixing foreign policy through one-on-one meetings with other European monarchs and statesmen. In fact, Wilhelm could do neither the personal nor the diplomacy, and these meetings rarely went well. The Kaiser viewed other people in instrumental terms, was a compulsive liar, and seemed to have a limited understanding of cause and effect. He was susceptible but never truly controllable. He asserted his authority unpredictably, as if to prove he was still in charge, staging rogue interventions into his own advisers’ policies and sacking ministers without warning. Sound familiar? Revisit Miranda Carter on the lessons of Kaiser Wilhelm II:
What Happens When a Bad-Tempered, Distractible Doofus Runs an Empire?
Miranda Carter draws comparisons between President Donald Trump and Kaiser Wilhelm II, whose touchiness, unpredictability, and narcissism helped precipitate the fall of the German Empire.
The New Yorker (www.newyorker.com)
And then the German Empire ended.
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What Happens When a Bad-Tempered, Distractible Doofus Runs an Empire? | The New Yorker
One of the few things that Kaiser Wilhelm II, who ruled Germany from 1888 to 1918, had a talent for was causing outrage. One of the many things that Wilhelm was convinced he was brilliant at, despite all evidence to the contrary, was “personal diplomacy,” fixing foreign policy through one-on-one meetings with other European monarchs and statesmen. In fact, Wilhelm could do neither the personal nor the diplomacy, and these meetings rarely went well. The Kaiser viewed other people in instrumental terms, was a compulsive liar, and seemed to have a limited understanding of cause and effect. He was susceptible but never truly controllable. He asserted his authority unpredictably, as if to prove he was still in charge, staging rogue interventions into his own advisers’ policies and sacking ministers without warning. Sound familiar? Revisit Miranda Carter on the lessons of Kaiser Wilhelm II:
What Happens When a Bad-Tempered, Distractible Doofus Runs an Empire?
Miranda Carter draws comparisons between President Donald Trump and Kaiser Wilhelm II, whose touchiness, unpredictability, and narcissism helped precipitate the fall of the German Empire.
The New Yorker (www.newyorker.com)
@didgebaba Yep.
The Kaiser was the first German leader with death camps in the 20th century too.
Moving the goalposts still won't change that fact.
To see Germans acting like Germans should surprise exactly nobody at this point.
History doesn't blink.
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