"as anyone would"

I guess altruism is a made up thing?

Few are cartoon villains; few are thinking of externalities. But the people pushing for this change know what they’re doing. They are actively plotting wealth transfer from the working class to the capitalist class.

Those who suffer from conspiracy phobia are fond of saying: “Do you actually think there’s a group of people sitting around in a room plotting things?” For some reason that image is assumed to be so patently absurd as to invite only disclaimers. But where else would people of power get together – on park benches or carousels? Indeed, they meet in rooms: corporate boardrooms, Pentagon command rooms, at the Bohemian Grove, in the choice dining rooms at the best restaurants, resorts, hotels, and estates, in the many conference rooms at the White House, the NSA, the CIA, or wherever. And, yes, they consciously plot – though they call it “planning” and “strategizing” – and they do so in great secrecy, often resisting all efforts at public disclosure. No one confabulates and plans more than political and corporate elites and their hired specialists. To make the world safe for those who own it, politically active elements of the owning class have created a national security state that expends billions of dollars and enlists the efforts of vast numbers of people.

— Michael Parenti

These people ARE cartoonish villains because that is literally their entire cultural frame of reference. They are profoundly ignorant, none more than their Fuhrer himself. None of these people paid attention in school, they all beat up some nerd to do their homework. Obvious morons like Trump and Hegseth got their entire educations from TV and movies, and their entire political education from the Conservative Propaganda Machine.

They are cartoonish buffoons, but they think they look tough. It's obviously very frustrating for them that we don't take their fearsomeness seriously.