The American republic could die, just like Rome.
Thom Hartmann
Wavering for some time on the verge of becoming a complete oligarchy, America is on the verge of flipping from a democratic republic to a strongman or autocratic form of government, something that’s happened to dozens of democracies in the past few decades, but never before here. It’s possible we won’t recover from it.
The death of a republic is different from the death of a nation; Rome was a nation for nearly 2,000 years, but its period of being a republic was only around 300 years long. For the rest, it was a brutal empire with a small but wealthy and corrupt ruling class and a thin patina of democracy-for-show.
Those who pay attention to the news (and I mean the edited, fact-checked, traditional, main-stream, news) know that the news is not good. The plutocrats are consolidating their power in such a way that they will be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to dislodge. The Republican Party has been completely theirs since Ronald Reagan. Now, using Donald Trump as a distraction for the masses, they are quite far along with their plan to take over the court system.
Talk radio and Fox News have lied to and manipulated the fears of the less educated for decades. Now the analytical tools behind modern social media enables the plutocrats to identify the vulnerable, stoke their outrage, and control their opinions much more directly.
The blind followers of authoritarianism have been trained to be impervious to logic, reason, and now even facts. Donald Trump can lie outrageously, contradict himself, invent stories and statistics, appoint incompetents, attack allies, and befriend tyrants, and his base continues to cheer him on.
In a recent article, author and radio commentator Thom Hartmann has documented the symptoms of a republic in crisis. He discusses the roles played by billionaires, Fox News, and elected Republicans. He compares our current situation to both the Fall of Rome, and the rise of Hitler.
In particular, Hartman calls out the corrupt behaviors of Donald J. Trump. The following list is from that article. It is important to remember that even ONE of the items on this list is a serious blow to our republic.
Symptoms of a Republic in Crisis
- Calling the press “the enemy of the people.”
- Refusing to interact with Congress as the Constitution dictates
- Packing the courts with demonstrably unqualified ideologues
- Lying to the people on a daily basis
- Embracing autocrats while trashing traditional allies
- Breaking the law and flaunting a Nixon-era “guideline” from the DOJ saying that the president can’t be prosecuted, while he runs out the clock on the statute of limitations
- Bragging that he’s making money on the presidency and daring anybody to stop him
- Putting lobbyists in charge of public lands, our banking system, and our environment
- Embracing violent and hateful people and movements, both at home and abroad
Anyone who cares about the ideals this country used to stand for must do everything they can to oppose the imminent collapse of our democratic republic. The 2020 election can either be a turning point or a last gasp.
America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.
Abraham Lincoln
Sources: Thom Hartmann, “This is How Republics Die,” Common Dreams, May 21, 2019.
Bob Altemeyer, The Authoritarians, Free Ebook, 2006.
About the Photo: This sand sculpture of a distraught Honest Abe was the winner of Texas Sandfest 2019. It was made by sculptor Damon Langlois of Victoria British Columbia, who is also known as “SandyMan.”
Photo Source: Abby Zimet, “Liberty is Crumbling,” Common Dreams, May 6, 2019.
Hopefully the warnings will be heard. Votes counted. Course corrected.
Why can’t the Deseret News, our own Church newspaper, see we have elected a mad man president of the U.S.? Please tell me!