Annie and Andy get your gun!

[UnseenParticipant]

This highly-researched article maintains that there is no example in history of a peaceful throwing off of a dictatorship.

The article: I researched every attempt to stop fascism in history. The success rate is 0%.

The opening paragraphs:

In 1933, German conservatives thought they could control Hitler. Two years later, they were being executed in their own homes. I spent weeks researching this question, desperately looking for counter-examples, for hope, for any time in history where people successfully stopped fascists after they started winning elections.

Here’s what I found: Once fascists win power democratically, they have never been removed democratically. Not once. Ever.

I know that sounds impossible. I kept digging, thinking surely someone, somewhere, stopped them. The actual record is so much worse than you think.

AI summary of key poinhts:

Key Points
Fascists, once elected democratically, have never been removed democratically. Historical examples include Germany, Italy, Spain, and Hungary.

Conservatives often ally with fascists as a “lesser evil,” but are inevitably purged after fascists consolidate power.

Violence is a key strategy for fascists, enabling them to create chaos and justify authoritarian control. Democratic resistance often fails due to adherence to rules fascists ignore.

Historical methods for removing fascist regimes include war, military coups, or waiting decades for natural decline, all at great human cost.

Current conditions in the U.S. are unprecedented: wealthy democracy, nuclear weapons, advanced surveillance, and polarized population. Historical playbooks may not apply.

Proposed responses include state-level coalitions, selective non-compliance, potential secession, and international intervention to counter authoritarianism.

The opposition still controls significant economic, technological, and cultural resources, offering unique opportunities for resistance.

• This topic was modified 4 months, 3 weeks ago by  Unseen.

[Simon PayntonParticipant]

I know Trump would like the USA to be a dictatorship, because that would please his “ego the size of a planet”.  But he’s probably not able to pull it off in the United States of America, because its defences are too strong.  It remains a democracy, albeit he is busy politicising the machinery of government in his favour.

[UnseenParticipant]

Simon Paynton wrote:

I know Trump would like the USA to be a dictatorship, because that would please his “ego the size of a planet”. But he’s probably not able to pull it off in the United States of America, because its defences are too strong. It remains a democracy, albeit he is busy politicising the machinery of government in his favour.

Unless things change, Simon, he has the currently dominant political party (especially on the state level) working for him. So, it’s no time to be complacent.

[Simon PayntonParticipant]

Unseen wrote:

Unless things change, Simon, he has the currently dominant political party (especially on the state level) working for him. So, it’s no time to be complacent.

I know he’s acting dangerously, but I think the dynamics are different from other fascist or would-be fascist regimes.  Trump’s glory is in Trump only, since everyone already thinks that the USA is the greatest country in the world.  Hitler’s glory was in Hitler and Germany, and Putin’s glory is in Putin and Russia.  Both Germany and Russia have felt they were humiliated by the West.  So, because it’s a cult of personality rather than the revenge fantasy of a humiliated nation, it’s more shallow.

[UnseenParticipant]

Simon Paynton wrote:

Unseen wrote:

Unless things change, Simon, he has the currently dominant political party (especially on the state level) working for him. So, it’s no time to be complacent.

I know he’s acting dangerously, but I think the dynamics are different from other fascist or would-be fascist regimes.

Ever heard of the old “distinction without a difference,” Simon?

Trump’s glory is in Trump only, since everyone already thinks that the USA is the greatest country in the world. Hitler’s glory was in Hitler and Germany, and Putin’s glory is in Putin and Russia. Both Germany and Russia have felt they were humiliated by the West.

Pay attention, Simon. “Make America Great Again” is a slogan supported by claims that America is being taken advantage of, that other countries are cheating us by not paying their allotted share of NATO funding while laughing at us for doing nothing about it. Humiliation, in other words.

So, because it’s a cult of personality rather than the revenge fantasy of a humiliated nation, it’s more shallow. Hitler was seen by many as a savior who would make Germany great again.

Germans saw

[Simon PayntonParticipant]

Unseen wrote:

“Make America Great Again” is a slogan supported by claims that America is being taken advantage of, that other countries are cheating us by not paying their allotted share of NATO funding while laughing at us for doing nothing about it. Humiliation, in other words.

Yes, but America isn’t reeling from humiliation like Germany was or Russia is.  I know Trump thrives on victimhood, and many of his supporters have a victim mentality.  But being laughed at for one’s Christian beliefs isn’t the same thing as national humiliation at the hands of the West (imagined, in the case of Russia).

[UnseenParticipant]

Simon Paynton wrote:

Unseen wrote:

“Make America Great Again” is a slogan supported by claims that America is being taken advantage of, that other countries are cheating us by not paying their allotted share of NATO funding while laughing at us for doing nothing about it. Humiliation, in other words.

Yes, but America isn’t reeling from humiliation like Germany was or Russia is. I know Trump thrives on victimhood, and many of his supporters have a victim mentality. But being laughed at for one’s Christian beliefs isn’t the same thing as national humiliation at the hands of the West (imagined, in the case of Russia).

Of course, you are speaking for yourself, not the MAGA voter.

[Author]

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