Thread by @rory20s

THREAD - When I look at what’s happening in the US, the increasing polarization and its impact on society worries me the most. Politics has fallen into name calling, unlawfulness , conspiracy theories and bitterness. A trench war is being fought without any progress being made.

You would expect a president to play a mediating role in this, to bring about unity, to try to keep the nation together. But the only thing tRump does is spread more divisions, harden opposites, & provoke hatred.
As president tRump is a desaster to democracy, America & the world.

Democracy is not a game in which you can only win or lose. It's about participating, listening carefully to each other. Asking open questions, looking for the reasons for political positions, and discovering common ground to make progress. It’s also about decency and morale.

tRump uses inflammatory language at kindergarten level. He isn’t interested in the welfare of the population. He has no political vision or plan.
He’s intoxicated by the ultimate power of the presidency that he won; it’s a trophy to him, it allows him to do whatever he likes.

“What we are now experiencing is a classical, fascist technique. The use of language is thus simplified to the point that there is no room for complex, nuanced thoughts. What always precedes war, is the destruction of the dialogue”. - Umberto Eco

We also see this reflected in T’s foreign policy. He curses, imposes sanctions, threatens,shows off his power, intimidates & destroys the possibility of dialogue.
In his desire to always win & unwillingness to make concessions, he spreads division & polarization on a global level

The sad thing is that political polarization is also noticeable in daily life.
Dems and Reps trust each other less & less, in politics, but also in personal life. Violence lies around the corner.
However, if you look at how Americans think about specific political

issues such as taxes, healthcare, gun control, or whatever, then they have drifted somewhat apart over the years, but not nearly as extreme as the increased mutual aversion suggests .
So where did the polarization, which undoubtably has been increased by tRump, come from?

The parties were once loosely-established associations of more or less shared political preferences, but for years now they’ve increasingly represented an identity.
You would think that someone is basing their political choice on which party defends their interests best.

Nowadays people bring aspects of their identity into line with a party. For example, a Christian who voted Democrats for years is now more likely to call himself non-religious.
Republicans have come to see themselves as "white", religious & nationalist.

Party preference is increasingly becoming a primary identity, which determines other aspects of the personality.
With Newt Gingrich and other Republicans, devout Christians
of the kind who eagerly want to start crusades again against all
non-Christians, communists and

other socialist thugs, have seized power. It’s a worrying development and tRump uses it for his fascist “us versus them” rhetoric.
It’s often said: it cannot happen here, it’s not American. But what is really needed to install a fascist government?

A substantial part of the population that is dissatisfied, an authoritarian president, an accommodating congress, and a small majority in the Supreme Court.
There’s no doubt tRump is a fascist but has America become a Fascist state?

The GOP & tRump show all the traits of the Italian Fascist movement before World War II.
There are many similarities between Mussolini & Trump.
The same way of playing the masses, the same pathos and need to be worshiped, the same disdain for truth, marital fidelity and the law

For common folk it’s hard not to get tangled in the web of lies & propaganda. Especially when it’s frequently repeated. Some get caught in the cult ambiance of a rally. Some aren’t particularly interested in politics & are numb or indifferent to what’s said or done. Some resist.

Extreem nationalism, distrust of science, aversion to democracy, worship of the American flag (even the Confederate flag), militarization of the police, stupid patriotism, glorification and worship of tRump, hatred against foreigners, razzia’s on undocumented migrants, racism,

crusading against the mentally ill & the LGBTQ community, loyalty of the military to tRump in stead of the country, are fascist elements that have penetrated into the capillaries of American society & have been taken as normal or is observed with indifference by many.

People only understand what they have lost when they have lost it.
Will it come to war? The US is undoubtedly the largest military force & tRump has the ambition to dominate the world.
It remains to be seen if an ally of yore will join him. The US isn’t the world leader anymore.

Will tRump & GOP be stopped?
So far Congress hasn’t been able to show strong resistance and vigor. They’re devided and only utter angry words. GOP & tRump have placed themselves above the law because they can.
The same situation existed in Germany when Hitler grabbed total power.

If a Dem wins the next presidential elections, fascism hasn’t suddenly gone away. The next president has an almost impossible task to unify the country again, to normalise internat’l relations & to root out fascism in the GOP. The latter will be politically sensative & difficult.

And tRump must be tried for his political crimes. He must be held responsible. He must serve as an example of evil. That’s why I don’t want to discuss his mental health here.
He’s fully aware of what he’s doing and he does it intentionally. Just like Mussolini and Hitler did.

The most important way to overcome polarization is cooperation & proportional representation of both parties. Recovery will have to come bottom-up & top-down. The Resistance must have an important part.
Whether American society will be capable to recover soon is an open question.