So the USA is turning into a fascist military dictatorship because of capitalism and misinformation campaigns swaying voters etc. etc. How do you (as a USian or not) view what is going to happen in the immediate-to-near future regarding civil liberties & disobedience, especially the current secret police and/or ICE (just getting a big, beautiful budget increase to unbeforeseen heights); and also thinking civil war and outside intervention?
For me, the current situation seems hopeless for the state. The bipartisan system is in its core a laughable excuse for an actual functioning democracy (then again are there any real democracies in the capitalist world?), as both parties are controlled by the same organizations and lobbyists, with governmental administration occasionally changing hands from one to the other only to unmake what little “progress” the currently “progressives” had made last time they were in the administration, forming but a pittance of what the people actually want. But the current administration seems to be too much akin to the Italian fascists or the German NSDAP of yore, and its attempts to control all media too see-through for some, who mostly seem to be in the bluer (richer and thus more better off) states. I think this stark divide between the population will be the force that rips the nation apart, as most people in the bluer more progressive states probably aren’t as big on the secret police appearing unmarked and unannounced and armed, ready to take people away to concentration camps in undisclosed places in foreign nations in unmarked vans as the people of the redder and more conservative states seem to be.
So the question becomes how will the people react? Civil disobedience probably sounds nice right up until they start gunning those disobeying down, and deploying the National Guard and Marines against them (which I think might be unconstitutional there? not sure though because it happened already). The US Armed Forces apparently have 1.3 million active members (without a draft mind you) and even though there are people in this group who aren’t as morally bankrupt as the administration is atm, I think they’d still have enough members positioned around the world in enough places that there isn’t a single force in the world to oppose it willingly and easily. I bring this up because if (or when) push comes to shove and the civil disobedience in the blue states becomes too much for DJ Dump and his christofascist capitalism buddies, and they start driving their military might against their own people with increasing force, who will be there to come in to save the (non-militant minded) people? I think the US administration would consider this a declaration of war, and respond to it as such. So as I see it the US is on a surefire highway to the danger zone to Civil War part II: Electric Boogaloo, and in the end will either rip itself apart or pull the entirety of the western (NATO) countries to war with it. So thank god my country just got in! Wouldn’t wanna miss this one, boys!
Anyway post your prophecies on the manifesting destiny of the US below, we’ll eventually see who got it right.
I’m trying to think of countries America is most likely to end up like, but America’s military power complicates basically any comparison. But I’m thinking there are so many parallels to Nazi germany. A core difference is the access to information we have. First and foremost historical precedent, but also social media (even though it’s also part of the reason we’re in this mess).
If Trump can’t achieve a critical mass of compliance, a military coup is the most likely salvation. Specifically Trump calling the military on mass peaceful protests and in response the military saying “we’d rather coup the president”. Violent resistance would close this avenue off, as it would galvanise the military behind the president.
There’s also the question of whether ICE will be sufficiently militarized by the time this happens, and whether it would even occur to Trump to call in ICE to suppress protests. Nobody but the worst of the worst will join ICE, if their personnel and equipment can overwhelm even the local police (ACAB, but like, not ACAMAGA) then it would take gross incompetence for Trump to lose power.
That is domestically. The question now stands:
Keep in mind I am not an expert. Also this is all putting aside Trump’s narcissism. Trump wants to be seen as a good person and a genius and I’m not sure he’d go as far as to massacre crowds of protesters specifically. If nothing else such violence would look like a failure on his part. Whoever succeeds Trump, a Republican obviously, would need to be Stephen Miller levels of bad.