Two other features support this reading of power as an end in itself - incompetence & corruption.
I don& #39;t really know what the Trump & Johnson administrations *stand for*. Nor, I think, do they.
Neither are serious governments, but that places their citizens in serious jeopardy. https://twitter.com/MikeH_PR/status/1264140340619067394">https://twitter.com/MikeH_PR/...

I don& #39;t even see them (or their supporters) as particularly & #39;evil& #39;. I imagine they spend no time contemplating public & #39;goods& #39; or otherwise.

They just hold power because they can. They found the master key to it.

I think @jennirsl nailed the symptoms & what flows from them here https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/04/opinion/boris-johnson-coronavirus-uk.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/0...

Been reflecting a lot on this & #39;Tories are evil& #39; mantra, so popular on Twitter. Was wondering why I& #39;m always so irritated by it. It& #39;s possibly because ascribing any moral valence to them seems to miss this point. It dignifies an empty vessel.

I mean, look at the characters. Truss, Patel, Grayling, Hancock, Raab, Johnson himself. These are not serious people. Apart from Gove, I can& #39;t think of a serious senior figure in this iteration of the Conservative Party (though I thought Julian Smith was ok)