I think, ultimately, Trump has trained his Party well, and, with so much focused on culture(destroy DEI, and sideline any American promoting such), etc., I think we are seeing the opening efforts to establish totalitarianism in the United States. And with the aid of AI, perhaps, we may even have “thought police” sometime down the line. Trump is creating a master data base on every single American. The aim is totalitarianism. And I would expect along the same approach as China.
At any rate, as things grow worse, we may yet need a second Revolution. The Dark Enlightenment and Project 2025 may force the issue as both aim for totalitarianism….
The national guard’s deployment in Los Angeles sets the US on a familiar authoritarian pathway. History shows the results
www.theguardian.com
History shows that once an authoritarian ruler establishes the infrastructure of a police state, that same infrastructure can be turned on anyone.
Trump and his regime are rapidly creating such an infrastructure, in five steps:
(1) declaring an emergency on the basis of a so-called “rebellion”, “insurrection”, or “invasion”;
(2) using that “emergency” to justify bringing in federal agents with a monopoly on the use of force (Ice, the FBI, DEA, and the national guard) against civilians inside the country;
(3) allowing those militarized agents to make dragnet abductions and warrantless arrests, and detain people without due process;
(4) creating additional prison space and detention camps for those detained, and
(5) eventually, as the situation escalates, declaring martial law.
We are not at martial law yet, thankfully. But once in place, the infrastructure of a police state can build on itself.
Those who are given authority over aspects of it – the internal militia, dragnets, detention camps, and martial law – seek other opportunities to invoke their authority.
As civilian control gives way to military control, the nation splits into those who are most vulnerable to it and those who support it. The dictatorship entrenches itself by fomenting fear and anger on both sides.
Right now, our major bulwarks against Trump’s police state are the federal courts and broad-based peaceful protests – such as the one that many of us will engage in this coming Saturday 14 June, on the
No Kings Day of Action.
It is imperative that we remain peaceful, that we demonstrate our resolve to combat this tyranny but do so non-violently, and that we let America know about the emerging infrastructure of Trump’s police state and the importance of resisting it.
These are frightening and depressing times. But remember: although it takes one authoritarian to establish a police state, it takes just
3.5% of a population to topple him and end it.