Near the time of Trump’s inauguration Nartin Mycielski released an article on Authoritarianism near the time of Trump’s inauguration. Here is a list of predictions and warnings about Trump’s first year in office.
Put check marks by the ones applying to Trump to see how he is doing on this list. There are only 15 in this check list. (Consider some examples: Stalin, Hitler, Putin) Most Americans haven’t lived under an authoritarian regime. Many have no idea what to expect. This can help.
1) They will come to power with a campaign based on fear, scaremongering and distorting the truth.
2) They will divide and rule.
3) Through convoluted laws and threats they will try to control mainstream media and limit press freedom.
4) They will create chaos, maintain a constant sense of conflict and danger.
5) They will distort the truth, deny facts and blatantly lie.
6) They will incite and then leak fake, superficial “scandals.”
7) They will propose shocking laws to provoke your outrage.
8) They will challenge women’s social status, undermine gender equality and interfere with reproductive rights.
9) They will try to take control of the judiciary.
10) They will try to limit freedom of assembly, calling it a necessity for your security.
11) They will distort the language, coin new terms and labels, repeat shocking phrases until you accept them as normal and subconsciously associate them with whom they like. A “thief," “liar” or “traitor” will automatically mean the opposition, while a “patriot” = “true American”
12) They will take over your national symbols, associate them with their regime, remake them into attributes of their power.
13) They will try to rewrite history to suit their needs and use the education system to support their agenda.
14) They will alienate foreign allies and partners, convincing you that you don’t need them. They won’t care for the rest of the world, with their focus on “making your country great again.
15) They will eventually manipulate the electoral system. They might say it’s to correct flaws, to make it more fair, more similar to the rest of the world, or just to make it better.
Remember: Those who find excuses to beat up others, can find excuses to beat you up too. In other words, hate can never be trusted as a companion.
