“The cruelty is the point” or so we’re told about the Trump administration. But history shows us cruelty isn’t just about sadism. It’s a tactic to advance a broader agenda. When it comes to the Trump administration’s treatment of migrants, the real question is: what are the goals behind the cruelty?
To instill fear.
Ask the Kremlin.
1st, they really really hate brown people, second, he promised his racist base that he was going to deport all the brown people, and he wants to make them happy... as he takes their foodstamps and healthcare and jobs away...
Spot on, sir.
To keep everyone in line and to not object about "the party". 1984/1933 style.
Control. The ruling class, and the working class. That's what they want. And that working class? They want it poor and stupid.
Trumps personal goal? Money and power, and as much of it as he can get. The broader regime's goal? White people. All white people, no variation, just white. An army of pale, sickly, white guys with tiny weiners and lots of guns to defend their whiteness.
Yes, apartheid—or something adjacent—is absolutely on the menu. Trump’s the chaos clown, but I'm afraid it’s Thiel, Musk & the Heritage hacks building the system behind him—one designed to protect power, punish dissent, and erase opposition.
Once our Democracy is restored (and hopefully improved) one of the things we need to do is send these Apartheidists back to South Africa, never to return. Muskrat was really only here to fulfill his eugenicist wet dreams with our sex-selective IVF anyway.
Right? Felon muskrat’s dream isn’t “free speech”—it’s a nation of MAGA broodmares popping out baby Musklings like a damn Pez dispenser. All hail the apartheid techno-future, brought to you by emerald mines, PayPal scams, and a fragile ego wrapped in a rocket fetish.
A deterrent. That is the only goal. The deathpenalty was meant as the ultimate deterrent to commit lethal crimes. That worked out great (yeah right) and they are tying this one out now.
The goal is to create enough civil unrest to justify trump declaring martial Law and suspend the Constitution and elections so he can remain in power until he dies.
Oligarchic rule. Power through fear and violence and owning the means for everything.
The goal is the same as always: power. In this case, it's the power to reshape America into the cishet white nationalist theocracy that the powerseekers want. As Edward Murrow once said, "Senator McCarthy did not create this atmosphere of fear, but he has exploited it."
Fear. Drive down voter turn out. Make people that would stand in elections against them the enemy of the state. Close done hostile media. Become a state like Türkiye or Hungry then like Russia and finally North Korea where your leader is a god. Have you not read Project 2025?
To rob American people blind..
I've never feared someone crossing our borders as much as I do ICE, MAGA's gunz enthusiasts & the ominous threat of driving in their "territory" with California plates.
Segregation.
Can we start saying "cruelty is the point" when hurricane season starts decimating red-states in the Bible belt who no longer have a functioning FEMA or blue-state funding for disaster relief? I mean, we already know super churches aren't going to save them.
I think they want to normalize the idea of sadism and cruelty on the “other”. To misdirect Americans attention from the crimes of the administration and focus that attention on hating the other - even when and perhaps especially when that other is your next door neighbour.
Ah, the Trump admin's cruel game of 'Migrant-Go-Round'! It's not just about sadism, but a clever tactic to 'reboot' the system. But let's not 'bug' out – we need to 'code' out the truth and expose the real agenda behind the cruelty. 🤖
The goal behind the cruelty is to make the population cruel, either becoming willing troopers themselves or simply people who accept it as the norm. Why do you think Romans had gladiatorial games? Not because they were sadists but to make the people believe in the virtue of violence.
You are right. People take on the characteristics of the culture they live in, even when it conflicts with their values. America's warped culture of individualism, 'every person for themself', has created the perfect opportunity for cruelty and destruction to flourish.
Trump HAS to be impeached AND removed. Once removed, all who were appointed by him are removed as well. Thus ending the nightmare.
THIS, George, thank you! The cruelty is a MEANS to an end, specifically to rile up support of a racist, bigoted, and yes, SADISTIC base for political capital. To get re-elected, to grift money, stroke an ego. THAT is the point.
Thank you for sharing this essay. Seems like this malevolent administration is on target to reach its goals.
Just as with abortion and anti LGBT, all about holding and increasing power. Red meat to the base masses, delivering delusional FEELINGS of power While our fascist owners gather ALL the real power and wealth for themselves
It's always white supremacy, especially for the oligarchs.
I highly recommend reading the linked substack article (it is free to read in its entirety).
The goals are to achieve White Supremacy, Oppression as a weapon, terrorizing for the benefit of the rich rigging the system to shift wealth upwards and denigrate any 'undesirables'. They've been doing it for centuries.
Authoritarian regime trying to scare everyone into compliance with their wishes. They'll take over the land and pay peanuts for labor.
At least part of the goal is so we know they can do this to anyone! The big military birthday bash is to feed his ego and tell us he has the army behind him (which may not be the case but he wants us to think so). Part of the power grab is to see what we will yield out of fear.
It’s time to prepare for the upcoming 21st century version of the 1945/1946 Nuremberg Tribunal Trials charging Felon47 and all his willful lackeys with corruption and crimes against humanity & democracy at the new National Criminal Court.
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/21/o...
White supremacy.
They are white supremacist terrorists, it's not complicated. And nearly half of American voters chose them knowing that.
They're trying to scare us all into submission. It won't work on me. Fuck trump and his Nazi administration.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Scary stuff, they certainly don’t behave like Christians, they’re more like racist evil assholes. Someone should point out the Jesus wasn’t a white man and he welcomed all people.
Yes they are. They’re pharisaic. Smug, judgmental, and holier than thou.
To distract you while they rob you blind.
White supremacy
I’d guess eventually a genocide.
“Scholars of fascism will tell you that the first pillar of fascism is to create domestic enemies... In fact 'Make America Great Again' is the quintessential fascist slogan. It’s a myth that celebrates the good ole days of white supremacy." I like seeing this assessment of MAGA in writing. 👍
"We can turn this back, force a reckoning, lock arms, and demand accountability. But the time to do so is now, rather than long after the detention camps they are building for migrants today become the prison camps for the perceived enemies of the state tomorrow." Now means we can't wait until 2026
What do we do ? It will not end well!
But, it will end well! Believe that!👍 (It's just getting to the "end"... that will not be a walk in the park.) I can't speak for "we," but I can speak for myself. I support the ACLU. I follow activist orgs like People Power United and Indivisible. I attend all local protest rallies...
Correct
👍Moose wants to take credit for being right at least once, but once again it was Squirrel who came up with the 'now' concept. 🐱
"the creation of “domestic enemies”... permits the government to target not just the migrants themselves but the liberals and activists who support them as 'enemies of the state'." A cold and calculating logic with no reset button, no going back. But, we can lock arms and resolve to go forward.
Miller looks more and more like a Hitler henchman every time I see him.
To make america a place where no foreigner feels safe or welcome. This'll backfire though, as the tourism data shows.
Easy: control. The Republicans want to set up an oligarchy to control the United States and eliminate Democracy, Rule of Law, Independent Media, Education, Healthcare and any Sense of Wellbeing among the populace. Left with naught but the struggle for survival, people will focus on little else, no?
To intimidate, to promote fear, in order to take over our government and rule with an iron fist that has no respect or regard for humanity. It is the rise of Hitler's nazism in America.
Ethnic cleansing. AI replacing humanity and a few at the top hoarding all the wealth. Malignant narcissists lack empathy, so they don’t care about us — we’re just sacrificial lambs. Cruelty is the point.
A Fascist State
Trump's plan is becoming so obvious: Lie as much as possible, more outrageous the better, so no one believes anything When questioned, be belligerent, blame Joe, they'll waste time being outraged Break the law, we'll soon be all the law there is. Keep stalling til we seize all power with a coup
It's the difference between 'administration of the law' and 'rule'. I'll let you guess which one MAGA/GOP are driving at! 😠
I wouldn't go as far as to say they have a specific goal in mind.
To be Nazis.
This is the goal: Make America WHITE Again. Period.
R E V E N G E
A good (and scary) read.
Master Racism.
Second real question: how can they live with themselves?
They don't have empathy, so that's not a real question for them.
Have been echoing the same sentiment for a while now on many forums, Congress has acquiesced their power to $$Trump and they may try to put up a fight, but once you give up that power it is almost impossible to get it back. It is a big first step in becoming an authoritarian regime..
They want to control you through fear
No humanity whatsoever. The Felon is in dementia mode and these two and Bondi and Horman are running the show. It’s Nazi Germany all over again.
To stop the browning of America. Sorry, too late!
Cruelty is also very expensive.
Ethnic cleansing. Plain and simple.
To instil a fear that going against the ruling party's demands is to end up in the concentration camps, just like 1930s germany......... Anyone getting the hint yet?
Their rule will be shorter than they think. The Nazis' "thousand year reign" only lasted about four years. We've seen this playbook before and can fight back.
12 years, 1933 to 1945, and if the US don't start fighting back now, well, good luck.......
Gonna go out on a limb and suggest 'a christofascist white ethnostate'
The goal is to make people terrified to even try coming here, and frighten others into leaving
Sadistic
It’s time to ARREST noem and miller! They do not have immunity
The same it's always been throughout history: control and power.
People who kill and abuse animals are a red flag.
Unfortunately, substack platforms/makes money from Nazis
The goal? "...decrease the surplus population..." - Ebenezer Scrooge When will it be *your* turn to be considered surplus? But unlike "A Christmas Carol" it won't end well if the people don't stand up to the billionaires of today.
Fear, distraction, and desensitization chip away at the protections of our rights. We’re told immigrants steal and succeed unfairly—until we’re the target. Hitler persecuted Jews, Roma, and more. The U.S. has targeted Native Americans, Asians, African Americans—more recently, Hispanics and Haitians.
They want us all to live in fear. That’s how a kleptocracy works. You have to be afraid to stand up to them.
I believe the term they used back in the 30s was "Lebensraum". Remove all the "lives unworthy of life" and take everything they onced owned, including money and land.
They are coming for the Indigenous next !
The cruelty is a highly valued component.
The goal is a “WHITE AMERICA”. And if you are Gay, poor, female, sick, or anything but an angry Christian, you can shut the hell up!! What a great country!!
Two of the most cruelest people on this earth!
They are scared that the white race is becoming the minority. It’s also the reason why they want to outlaw abortion. It’s because white women are mainly the ones who have abortions. All of this is because they are extremely racist.
OMG, Noem is just Miller in drag!
Is Miller straight out of a Nazi Camp movie
I was going to say the same thing. This is the guy that needs to be 86'd!
They want us so used to cruelty everywhere, that we just sit back and take it when they are sliding people into the ...
To completely rule the country for generations. They've won the propaganda war. Won the White House and Hill. Now with JFK jerk off they're beginning a soft eugenics program, the strong survive and the weak die because vaccines are bad.
Normalisation.
Clearly, to influence and train. They don't want them entering the country, so treat them horribly. They don't want people speaking out, so treat them horribly. They don't want law suits, so treat the lawyers horribly.
The cruelty is designed to create a culture of dog-eat-dog. To undermine any sense of community and common purpose. To pit the middle class against the lower class. And create a lower class to rage against. All in service of the rich.
Submission to the point of desperation to get unlimited power. Submission still requires control what is pretty expensive, so you go a step further and destroy any hope so you can relax oversight. Timing is crucial you don’t want to slip into fatalism where weirdoes ran wild and start revolutions.
Lynching psychology.
Faces we will see again at the 2nd Nuremburg trials...
It's the genocide of whomever they perceive as "other". It doesn't matter who the "other" is, so long as it's not "them".
1. Make people terrified of coming here undocumented. 2. Reduce the number of non-white "anchor babies." 3. Protect white Christian nationalists from the "great replacement." 4. Stifle dissent.
The real estate in hell is growing every day. They will all have acres of 🔥!
People *need* an enemy to be controlled. They *need* to feel superior to another. And the point is to numb us to cruelty. Firstly, they're going after "the other" so that the white folks don't panic. Once they're sufficiently numb to the cruelty, they'll say nothing when their neighbours are taken.
"Do it to Julia! Do it to Julia! Not me! Julia! I don’t care what you do to her. Tear her face off, strip her to the bones. Not me! Julia! Not me!"---George Orwell, 1984
🎯 I've been avoiding a reread of that one because I suspect I may put a foot through a wall.
Anger management can be elusive with these idiots running the country (into the ground).
Also this. Goodkind makes an excellent point examining fascism through the lens of fantasy:
Actually, it’s very simple. If you’ve ever been in an abusive relationship or know of one, there is a dynamic. The abuser takes away your freedom and your rights, so that way you feel you must depend only upon the abuser. It’s all about CONTROL. www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/enli...
They want a white male-dominated fake Christian nationalist state.
I don’t think it’s far-fetched to interpret the symbolic and sub textual messaging given the effort they put into staging. And if it’s not intentional, shame on them for the incompetence. We’re donning authoritarian cloth with the backdrop of dehumanized captives, othering to justify mistreatment.
Project 2025 is the goal. The total eradication of everyone who isn't cis, straight, Christian, and white...and the total subjugation of straight, white, Christian, women by the men that are left. It is a zero sum game to them...which means it is a zero sum game to us.
Animal farm is now playing out live in the US. The only question now is will the other animals fight back this time. 🤔
The enjoying the cruelty
Normalisation. If you bend the moral gauge so far, then a less cruel action seems like a better option by comparison, even though its still cruel on its own.
I Assume Destabilization Of Our Government For A White Supremacy Dictatorship Takeover.
CRUELTY. Is why Ivana took her tumble down those stairs.
These 2 nimrods are just despicable..
All fascists are just robbers. The german nazis were a bunch of goons who saw a chance of enriching themselves at the cost of the lives of their victims. It’s all about stealing other ppls wealth in the end. Everything else is smoke and mirrors. Theft is the goal, violence/oppression the means.
To cow the populace into silence. When they start talking about possibly incarcerating citizens in notorious foreign prisons, we're supposed to be afraid to protest or possibly fall afoul of the government.
i hope this angers people instead with nothing left to lose, everything is to be gained
It does seem to be pushing people further into resistance.
The goal is to only have white people in America. Yeah, they are racist AF.
Hint: it rhymes with "Right Flower."
The cruelty is the point *and* the goal. Stop making this more complicated than it is. They are sadists, they are psychopaths.
To make everyone afraid to resist
I think its obvious. Trump wants to create an Aryon nation.
If random cruelty and large military parades used to show power and force the Nazis would still be in power. But they aren't. trump and his felonious billionaire admin are not going to win either.
The goal is the collapse of the middle and lower class into serfdom and an end to democracy and direct rule by the financial elite.
They want to normalise the random disappearances so that when it happens to people who aren’t immigrants the public are no longer concerned.
I don't understand how Trump can be against DEI when his cabinet is stuffed full of psychopaths and sociopaths. 🤔
I used to try and understand why these aholes do the shit they do. Now, I say fuck it. There are no excuses or reasons I think we need to worry about. They just need to be stopped. When someone, anyone, is acting in a way to dehumanize others they should just be stopped.
Do they have the brains to have goals?
The goal is obvious and has been for ages: An America where white, evangelical, heterosexual, conservative men are fully in control of everyone's lives, and immune to criticism and consequences for their own heinous, selfish, greedy behavior.
Don't forget, repubs are the pedophile party. Look up how many repubs legislators have been busted for child porn.
They just want us all to suffer
Get rid of all the brown people (probably including genociding the Native American tribes) and downgrading our Democracy into a Fascist pseudo-theocracy. "Pseudo" because the scripture they purport to revere teaches the exact opposite of what they believe.
But what's the goal? Also cruelty.
Best way to hide looting the Treasury is to have people too worried about basic survival to notice.
The trump administration’s treatment of immigrants borders on Hitler’s treat… Need I say more?
Self enrichment
The goal is to turn USA into China with them being the crazy rich whiteys with the rest of us working at slave wages.
The goal is quite clear in my opinion it’s to instill fear in potential asylum seekers in hopes they’ll turn back And it’s working … But Yes it’s cruel
You are wrong! It to instill fear in Americans!
The post is about migrants but sure fear is the way fascism works
I got that! But it is to keep Americans scared too!
And the ones that fear him the most are corporate CEOs and media moguls
Fact
We know the goal, George. It’s genocide. They’re testing the public to see what they can get away with.
To take a page out of the UK’s book, I’d imagine the main point is to create “a hostile environment” (actual quote) - immigrants don’t feel welcome, don’t stay and raise families, don’t encourage others to come. Only works if you don’t actually need immigrants.
It’s the same for disfavored minorities. They want to make life so miserable for us here that we leave society voluntarily. Whether that be through becoming a political refugee to another country or suicide, they don’t care. Well, they might care, they much prefer the latter.
Spoilers - the UK does actually need immigrants and has based its economy on being able to import workers whenever it likes, using the advantages of the English language and a mostly functional social safety net to do so, for decades. This is honestly unethical but it can’t manage without, either.
Weak people think being cruel shows strength, when all it really shows is just how terrible they are.
Rumors are the Knights of the Golden Circle are involved
The goal is sowing hate and division.
It is always Fascism! In the end the 2nd Amendment was just for shooting kids! It wasnt for a Tyrannical Government at all !
