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10/ Full essay here ⬇️
When Power Stops Pretending: Trump, Caligula, and the Politics of Spectacle
substack.com/@jenus829/no...
When Power Stops Pretending: Trump, Caligula, and the Politics of Spectacle
substack.com/@jenus829/no...
Jenus829 (@jenus829)
Editor’s note: This essay uses historical analogy carefully, not as provocation but as warning. References to Caligula are not claims of personal equivalence or psychological diagnosis; they are an ex...
substack.com
January 18, 2026 at 5:05 AM
10/ Full essay here ⬇️
When Power Stops Pretending: Trump, Caligula, and the Politics of Spectacle
substack.com/@jenus829/no...
When Power Stops Pretending: Trump, Caligula, and the Politics of Spectacle
substack.com/@jenus829/no...
9/ The U.S. isn’t Rome.
But the pattern is familiar.
And history isn’t whispering anymore—it’s clearing its throat.
But the pattern is familiar.
And history isn’t whispering anymore—it’s clearing its throat.
January 18, 2026 at 5:02 AM
9/ The U.S. isn’t Rome.
But the pattern is familiar.
And history isn’t whispering anymore—it’s clearing its throat.
But the pattern is familiar.
And history isn’t whispering anymore—it’s clearing its throat.
8/ Rome didn’t fall overnight after Caligula.
It limped forward, increasingly reliant on coercion and spectacle, until collapse became structural.
It limped forward, increasingly reliant on coercion and spectacle, until collapse became structural.
January 18, 2026 at 5:01 AM
8/ Rome didn’t fall overnight after Caligula.
It limped forward, increasingly reliant on coercion and spectacle, until collapse became structural.
It limped forward, increasingly reliant on coercion and spectacle, until collapse became structural.
7/ History’s warning isn’t “one man is outrageous.”
It’s that systems collapse when enough people decide rules don’t matter—as long as their side wins.
It’s that systems collapse when enough people decide rules don’t matter—as long as their side wins.
January 18, 2026 at 5:01 AM
7/ History’s warning isn’t “one man is outrageous.”
It’s that systems collapse when enough people decide rules don’t matter—as long as their side wins.
It’s that systems collapse when enough people decide rules don’t matter—as long as their side wins.
6/ This isn’t about personality.
It’s about what happens when power stops even performing respect for law, norms, and institutions.
It’s about what happens when power stops even performing respect for law, norms, and institutions.
January 18, 2026 at 5:00 AM
6/ This isn’t about personality.
It’s about what happens when power stops even performing respect for law, norms, and institutions.
It’s about what happens when power stops even performing respect for law, norms, and institutions.
5/ This is the parallel people are sensing with Donald Trump:
– Personalization of the state
– Open contempt for constraint
– Spectacle replacing governance
– Enemies framed as existential
– Personalization of the state
– Open contempt for constraint
– Spectacle replacing governance
– Enemies framed as existential
January 18, 2026 at 5:00 AM
5/ This is the parallel people are sensing with Donald Trump:
– Personalization of the state
– Open contempt for constraint
– Spectacle replacing governance
– Enemies framed as existential
– Personalization of the state
– Open contempt for constraint
– Spectacle replacing governance
– Enemies framed as existential
4/ The famous “horse as consul” story?
Probably symbolic propaganda.
Its meaning mattered more than its literal truth: institutions existed only at the ruler’s pleasure.
Probably symbolic propaganda.
Its meaning mattered more than its literal truth: institutions existed only at the ruler’s pleasure.
January 18, 2026 at 4:59 AM
4/ The famous “horse as consul” story?
Probably symbolic propaganda.
Its meaning mattered more than its literal truth: institutions existed only at the ruler’s pleasure.
Probably symbolic propaganda.
Its meaning mattered more than its literal truth: institutions existed only at the ruler’s pleasure.
3/ Caligula wasn’t removed for being immoral or weird.
Rome survived immoral rulers before.
He was removed because he made the system ungovernable.
Rome survived immoral rulers before.
He was removed because he made the system ungovernable.
January 18, 2026 at 4:59 AM
3/ Caligula wasn’t removed for being immoral or weird.
Rome survived immoral rulers before.
He was removed because he made the system ungovernable.
Rome survived immoral rulers before.
He was removed because he made the system ungovernable.
2/ That’s why comparisons to Caligula keep resurfacing.
Not because of lurid myths—but because of how power behaves when it stops pretending to be bound.
Not because of lurid myths—but because of how power behaves when it stops pretending to be bound.
January 18, 2026 at 4:59 AM
2/ That’s why comparisons to Caligula keep resurfacing.
Not because of lurid myths—but because of how power behaves when it stops pretending to be bound.
Not because of lurid myths—but because of how power behaves when it stops pretending to be bound.
If politics doesn’t improve our material lives, it’s a failure.
Full stop.
Full stop.
January 12, 2026 at 1:23 AM
If politics doesn’t improve our material lives, it’s a failure.
Full stop.
Full stop.
Progressives & independents need to go into overdrive now:
Educate. Mobilize. Turn out.
Center living standards — not manufactured drama.
Educate. Mobilize. Turn out.
Center living standards — not manufactured drama.
January 12, 2026 at 1:21 AM
Progressives & independents need to go into overdrive now:
Educate. Mobilize. Turn out.
Center living standards — not manufactured drama.
Educate. Mobilize. Turn out.
Center living standards — not manufactured drama.
People don’t live off process fights.
They live off real income vs real prices.
This spectacle sucks oxygen away from real economic accountability.
They live off real income vs real prices.
This spectacle sucks oxygen away from real economic accountability.
January 12, 2026 at 1:21 AM
People don’t live off process fights.
They live off real income vs real prices.
This spectacle sucks oxygen away from real economic accountability.
They live off real income vs real prices.
This spectacle sucks oxygen away from real economic accountability.
Let’s be clear:
This does NOT improve purchasing power parity (PPP).
It does NOT lower costs.
It does NOT raise incomes.
This does NOT improve purchasing power parity (PPP).
It does NOT lower costs.
It does NOT raise incomes.
January 12, 2026 at 1:20 AM
Let’s be clear:
This does NOT improve purchasing power parity (PPP).
It does NOT lower costs.
It does NOT raise incomes.
This does NOT improve purchasing power parity (PPP).
It does NOT lower costs.
It does NOT raise incomes.
This is vintage Trump: chaos, outrage, headlines, distraction.
Meanwhile wages, housing, healthcare, food costs?
Not discussed. Not addressed.
Meanwhile wages, housing, healthcare, food costs?
Not discussed. Not addressed.
January 12, 2026 at 1:19 AM
This is vintage Trump: chaos, outrage, headlines, distraction.
Meanwhile wages, housing, healthcare, food costs?
Not discussed. Not addressed.
Meanwhile wages, housing, healthcare, food costs?
Not discussed. Not addressed.