🧵The Anatomy of “Othering”:
How Authoritarians Build Permission for Violence
All autocratic regimes need enemies. Authoritarians invent them to seize power.
If there’s one universal truth in the history of authoritarianism, it’s this: violence doesn’t begin with bullets—it begins with words. It begins with a process. A framework. A campaign to paint certain people as dangerous, alien, corrupt, or diseased. To make them “other.”
How Authoritarians Build Permission for Violence
All autocratic regimes need enemies. Authoritarians invent them to seize power.
If there’s one universal truth in the history of authoritarianism, it’s this: violence doesn’t begin with bullets—it begins with words. It begins with a process. A framework. A campaign to paint certain people as dangerous, alien, corrupt, or diseased. To make them “other.”
Once a group is defined as outside the moral circle of society, anything becomes permissible. Ostracization. Censorship. Persecution. Deportation. Detention. Extermination. The list evolves, but the logic remains the same: they are not like us. And because they are not like us, they must be stopped.
Recurring Themes in Authoritarian “Othering”
Dehumanization – Comparing people to animals (vermin, cockroaches), diseases, or machines.
Collective Blame – Holding a whole group responsible for societal ills or conspiracies.
Conspiracy Theory – Framing others as part of secret plots (e.g., Jews, Deep State, Soros).
Dehumanization – Comparing people to animals (vermin, cockroaches), diseases, or machines.
Collective Blame – Holding a whole group responsible for societal ills or conspiracies.
Conspiracy Theory – Framing others as part of secret plots (e.g., Jews, Deep State, Soros).
Cultural Pollution – Claiming the group corrupts tradition, morality, or racial purity.
Economic Parasitism – Blaming them for hoarding wealth or stealing jobs.
Sexual Danger – Accusing the other of threatening “our” women and children.
Security Threat – Casting them as terrorists, spies, or saboteurs.
Let’s walk through some of the most infamous examples of this process—and then fast-forward to what’s happening to us right now.
Economic Parasitism – Blaming them for hoarding wealth or stealing jobs.
Sexual Danger – Accusing the other of threatening “our” women and children.
Security Threat – Casting them as terrorists, spies, or saboteurs.
Let’s walk through some of the most infamous examples of this process—and then fast-forward to what’s happening to us right now.
Nazi Germany: Dehumanization as Doctrine
The Nazis didn’t start with gas chambers. They started with books, newspapers, and speeches.
Jews were labeled as disease vectors—vermin infesting the body of the nation. Communists were cast as foreign agitators corrupting German strength. Socialists and liberals were “November traitors” blamed for Germany’s loss in WWI. Intellectuals, artists, judges, lawyers—anyone loyal to a pluralistic republic—became enemies of the volk.
The Nazis didn’t start with gas chambers. They started with books, newspapers, and speeches.
Jews were labeled as disease vectors—vermin infesting the body of the nation. Communists were cast as foreign agitators corrupting German strength. Socialists and liberals were “November traitors” blamed for Germany’s loss in WWI. Intellectuals, artists, judges, lawyers—anyone loyal to a pluralistic republic—became enemies of the volk.
This multi-front “othering” campaign was not a side project of Nazi rule. It was the foundation. Without it, the violence that followed would have lacked justification. With it, genocide became a public health measure.
Stalin’s Soviet Union: Class as a Weapon
Stalin’s totalitarianism didn’t require race science—it had class war.
The “kulaks,” a loosely defined group of more prosperous peasants, were labeled “enemies of the people.” That label justified land seizures, deportations, forced famine (the Holodomor), and executions.
Stalin’s totalitarianism didn’t require race science—it had class war.
The “kulaks,” a loosely defined group of more prosperous peasants, were labeled “enemies of the people.” That label justified land seizures, deportations, forced famine (the Holodomor), and executions.
Later, Stalin’s paranoia turned inward. Loyal communists, generals, and bureaucrats were accused of fabricated conspiracies—spies, wreckers, Trotskyites, saboteurs. Intellectuals were derided as “rootless cosmopolitans,” a thinly veiled dog whistle for Jews and scholars.
In Stalinism, the other was everywhere—because fear had to be everywhere.
In Stalinism, the other was everywhere—because fear had to be everywhere.
Khmer Rouge: Killing Knowledge
In Cambodia, the Khmer Rouge took the concept of “purity” to nightmarish extremes.
They sought to eliminate not just the urban bourgeoisie, but any trace of modernity. Wearing glasses could get you killed. Speaking French? Dead. Holding a pen instead of a hoe? Dead. Being educated? Dead.
In Cambodia, the Khmer Rouge took the concept of “purity” to nightmarish extremes.
They sought to eliminate not just the urban bourgeoisie, but any trace of modernity. Wearing glasses could get you killed. Speaking French? Dead. Holding a pen instead of a hoe? Dead. Being educated? Dead.
Ethnic minorities like the Vietnamese and Chinese were purged too, but this regime’s true enemy was memory. Knowledge. Critical thought. If you could read, you might think. And if you could think, you might resist.
Rwanda’s genocide was not spontaneous combustion—it was mass arson fueled by state media.
Hutu Power propagandists spent years stoking fear of the Tutsi minority. Radio hosts referred to them as inyenzi—cockroaches. They weren’t political opponents. They were vermin. They were disease. They were the thing you stamp out before it spreads.
Hutu Power propagandists spent years stoking fear of the Tutsi minority. Radio hosts referred to them as inyenzi—cockroaches. They weren’t political opponents. They were vermin. They were disease. They were the thing you stamp out before it spreads.
When the killings began in 1994, it wasn’t just militias. Ordinary civilians, neighbors, even teachers picked up machetes. The othering had worked. It had shifted the moral center. Tutsis weren’t people anymore.
America’s Shame: From Slavery to Internment
This country is not immune. In fact, it’s fluent in the language of othering.
Slavery was justified by dehumanization: Black people weren’t just different—they were biologically inferior, cursed by God, suited only for labor.
Native Americans were branded as savages—standing in the way of “manifest destiny.”
This country is not immune. In fact, it’s fluent in the language of othering.
Slavery was justified by dehumanization: Black people weren’t just different—they were biologically inferior, cursed by God, suited only for labor.
Native Americans were branded as savages—standing in the way of “manifest destiny.”
Japanese Americans were interned during WWII, stripped of property, liberty, and dignity—just for looking like the enemy. Loyalty didn’t matter. Citizenship didn’t matter. Only race.
Each of these chapters reveals the same blueprint: define a group, assign them blame, remove their rights, then remove them altogether.
Each of these chapters reveals the same blueprint: define a group, assign them blame, remove their rights, then remove them altogether.
Today’s Target: You
Fast-forward to now.
You want to know who the “other” is today? It’s you. It’s me. It’s anyone who refuses to kneel to the cult of Trump.
Donald Trump’s authoritarian movement has zeroed in on a new enemy class: the elites, the intellectuals, the academics, the Democrats, the experts, the journalists, the judges, and the “deep state.”
Fast-forward to now.
You want to know who the “other” is today? It’s you. It’s me. It’s anyone who refuses to kneel to the cult of Trump.
Donald Trump’s authoritarian movement has zeroed in on a new enemy class: the elites, the intellectuals, the academics, the Democrats, the experts, the journalists, the judges, and the “deep state.”
It’s not a coincidence that MAGA ideology reserves its greatest contempt for intelligence. For thought. For facts. If you understand the Constitution, you’re a problem. If you challenge power, you’re the enemy. If you tell the truth, you’re a liar. If you study science, you’re corrupt.
Online, the othering has taken on grotesque new shapes. Every day, people like me—political strategists, professors, journalists—are branded as pedophiles and child abusers. Why? Because we support the basic humanity of trans people.
The logic goes like this: If you support LGBTQ rights, you must secretly want to mutilate children. And if that’s true, well—then anything is justified to stop you. Censorship. Surveillance. Harassment. Jail. Even worse.
It’s perverted. It’s deranged. And it’s exactly how authoritarianism works.
It’s perverted. It’s deranged. And it’s exactly how authoritarianism works.
The Permission Slip for Violence
This isn’t “just rhetoric.” Rhetoric is what writes the permission slips. It’s what tells a man with a gun that a librarian is a threat. It’s what convinces a judge that prosecuting Trump is treason. It’s what tells an entire country that certain people aren’t really people anymore.
This isn’t “just rhetoric.” Rhetoric is what writes the permission slips. It’s what tells a man with a gun that a librarian is a threat. It’s what convinces a judge that prosecuting Trump is treason. It’s what tells an entire country that certain people aren’t really people anymore.
Othering is the preparation. The arming. The ritual that makes the unthinkable, thinkable.
It’s happening right now—and the target is not some faraway minority group. It’s you. It’s all of us.
We are the other now.
(Plz RT this thread) thecycle.substack.com/p/the-anatomy-…
It’s happening right now—and the target is not some faraway minority group. It’s you. It’s all of us.
We are the other now.
(Plz RT this thread) thecycle.substack.com/p/the-anatomy-…
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