Last Chance For Sanity

Open your eyes, America

What must it have been like to be German in the 1930s? The holocaust has always been difficult for me to understand. I’ve always assumed that the people who supported Hitler must have been the evilest people imaginable.

We all want to think we would have said or done something if we were alive during that time. However, I haven’t spent a lot of time thinking about something like that happening in America. I just thought we were above all of that, somehow more civilized.

I was born in 1967, and I grew up feeling the United States was a safe place to live. Nuclear war was a concern, but I always felt the United States was strong enough to deter the Soviet Union. Every time something terrible happened in another country, I was confident in my belief that America would never face that kind of danger.

I felt secure that I lived in a country that had the power to keep us safe. I also felt confident that our country had protections to ensure that no single person or party gained too much power.

In 1984 the movie Red Dawn depicted a Soviet invasion of America. The film was entertaining but wasn’t frightening because I didn’t believe anything like that would ever actually happen in America.

I remember the 1989 execution of Nicolae and Elena Ceaușescu, the Romanian dictator and his wife. I didn’t understand the politics at the time, and all I knew was this seemed very savage. I was grateful that American’s would never allow this kind of violence in our country.

My innocent view of safety in America began changing in 1995 with the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah federal building in Oklahoma City. I couldn’t believe that Americans hated our country so much that they would harm fellow Americans.

September 11, 2001, was devastating. I no longer felt safe in my own country. I couldn’t believe some people hated America so much that they would sacrifice themselves to inflict unimaginable damage to our country.

2016 was a devastating year for me due to the tragic death of my husband. I paid very little attention to politics. As a lifelong Republican, I voted along party lines. I thought I was doing the right thing at the time. Over the next four years, I would wake up.

In 2020 I am a lot more in tune with social issues and politics. There are a lot of reasons to be scared. A sizeable segment of our population does not recognize the systemic racism that still exists in our country.

I grew up with many of the same beliefs as these people, so I’m not entirely surprised. I wish there were a way to take them each through the journey I went through before I finally opened my eyes.

I had a further awakening as I watched how Trump dealt with the pandemic and the deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and others. I finally spoke up and changed my political affiliation.

As I became more involved in politics, I started noticing references to Trump and fascism. Is Trump a fascist? Could that even happen in America? If so, what makes America different from Nazi Germany?

“Fascism, in today’s context, isn’t mere authoritarianism, but the attempt to suppress all dissent, public or private, in the name of the nation; it is the expression of a regimented society that elevates order as both the means and end of all political life.” Shadi Hamid in The Atlantic

Trump is exhibiting the qualities of an aspiring fascist. The possibility of a fascist president should concern all of us. You may think he is different than Hitler or Mussolini, and you would be correct. But 21st-century fascism is different from 20th-century fascism.

In the 20th century, dictators were brutal, and they ruled by terrorizing citizens, causing fear, and making brutality public. Dictators repressed information as another method of controlling citizens. Censorship and travel restrictions served to isolate countries.

21st-century fascists operate with a different playbook.

“Rather than terrorizing or indoctrinating the population, rulers survive by leading citizens to believe — rationally but incorrectly — that they are competent and public-spirited. Having won popularity, dictators score points both at home and abroad by mimicking democracy. Violent repression, rather than helping, would be counterproductive because it would undercut the image of able governance that leaders seek to cultivate.” (Guriev & Treisman)

Guriev & Treisman note that rather than repressing information, 21st-century fascists manipulate information. Trump does this by declaring anything reported by mainstream media outlets, “fake news.” Ironically, by disavowing all mainstream media, Trump’s supporters rely on very narrow information sources with virtually no fact-checking.

CNN described this process in 2017:

“The autocrats move in and slowly start dismantling the system. First, they win an election, then they begin discrediting the opposition, smearing and undercutting the free press, inventing “enemies of the people,” at home to undercut critics’ claims. Foreign threats are also helpful, especially if the autocrats can claim they have allies lurking within the homeland.” Frida Ghitis via CNN

One week before the 2020 presidential election, the polls seem to indicate that Trump’s presidency will end. We can’t risk complacency. We need to make sure that we all do our part for our country. Since 2020 has not been kind so far, if Trump wins, we need to stick together and ensure that democracy is not lost.