This is something I've been thinking about for a while now.
I remember, over the course of the last 8 years, the Tea Party and Faux News were constantly telling us all how Obama is going to turn America into an Islamic, fascist, communist dictatorship (which, I know, doesn't make any sense, but bear with me). Thing is, none of that actually ever happened. We still have elections, private property still exists. Sharia law isn't civil law and Christianity is still the dominant religion in the Americas.
But now, the shoe's on the other foot. Trump is president and the GOP has the majority in both houses of congress. I hear a lot of progressives, liberals, talking about fascism taking over, about Trump being a dictator. Hell, 1984 has become a best seller because of the cheeto-faced twat and I've heard a lot of people rightly compare him to Brave New World as well. Part of me certainly wants to agree. His governing via executive order leaves me uncomfortable, as do his cabinet choices, but his attacking of the media is where it really scares me.
But, it does leave me to wonder? How are the worries of the left any different from the worries the right had? I mean, they were firmly convinced Obama would be the next Hitler; is it any more true that Trump will be some kind of horrible dictator?
Then I've also heard people say that we're too civilized, we're too advanced, we're too educated for a dictator to take over the United States. I strongly disagree. I think the people of Germany, USSR, Italy, France and China all saw themselves as great and advanced and civilized when dictators took over their countries. Gotta take off those rose colored glasses when you look at yourself critically.
So, that's what I wanted to go over. Historically speaking, what are the conditions that lead to a dictator taking over? What would such an administration look like? And, maybe the most alarming, has anyone else noticed any parallels between modern politics and what we saw when other great nations fell into insanity?
I remember, over the course of the last 8 years, the Tea Party and Faux News were constantly telling us all how Obama is going to turn America into an Islamic, fascist, communist dictatorship (which, I know, doesn't make any sense, but bear with me). Thing is, none of that actually ever happened. We still have elections, private property still exists. Sharia law isn't civil law and Christianity is still the dominant religion in the Americas.
But now, the shoe's on the other foot. Trump is president and the GOP has the majority in both houses of congress. I hear a lot of progressives, liberals, talking about fascism taking over, about Trump being a dictator. Hell, 1984 has become a best seller because of the cheeto-faced twat and I've heard a lot of people rightly compare him to Brave New World as well. Part of me certainly wants to agree. His governing via executive order leaves me uncomfortable, as do his cabinet choices, but his attacking of the media is where it really scares me.
But, it does leave me to wonder? How are the worries of the left any different from the worries the right had? I mean, they were firmly convinced Obama would be the next Hitler; is it any more true that Trump will be some kind of horrible dictator?
Then I've also heard people say that we're too civilized, we're too advanced, we're too educated for a dictator to take over the United States. I strongly disagree. I think the people of Germany, USSR, Italy, France and China all saw themselves as great and advanced and civilized when dictators took over their countries. Gotta take off those rose colored glasses when you look at yourself critically.
So, that's what I wanted to go over. Historically speaking, what are the conditions that lead to a dictator taking over? What would such an administration look like? And, maybe the most alarming, has anyone else noticed any parallels between modern politics and what we saw when other great nations fell into insanity?
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"If you cling to something as the absolute truth and you are caught in it, when the truth comes in person to knock on your door you will refuse to let it in." ~ Siddhartha Gautama
"If you cling to something as the absolute truth and you are caught in it, when the truth comes in person to knock on your door you will refuse to let it in." ~ Siddhartha Gautama
