Hundreds of scholars say U.S. is swiftly heading toward authoritarianism
Hundreds of scholars say U.S. is swiftly heading toward authoritarianism
44 comments
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My brothers and sisters in Christ...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guantanamo_Bay_detention_camp
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1985_MOVE_bombing
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Wetback
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supermax_prison#United_States
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Crow_laws
We've always been here.
What these scholars are finally stumbling into is our age-old horrifying authoritarianism directed at upper-middle class gender normative white people. But to believe the nation that's been indulging in plantation farming and zero-hour contracts, bloated national security institutions and public-private surveillance plans, institutionalized misogyny and evangelized genocide for practically every year of its near-250 year history wasn't already authoritarian...
Who knows. Maybe now that the current administration is no longer carving us apart and harvesting from the national body like a surgeon and just coming at us with a rusty machete we can find some kind of intersectional unity. But the way I see people freaking out because pretty blonde girls and middle-aged white men are running afoul of a police force that was exclusively fixated on the epigenetic underclass a few of presidents ago makes me think this is still a nation of white supremacists who feel betrayed because the Supremacist In Chief is simply doing a clumsy job.
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The US has done plenty of racist, shitty, inexcusable things. But "authoritarian" doesn't mean "does racist, shitty, and inexcusable things".
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When the state is imposing shitty racist inexcusable policy via the institutions of the bureaucracy, that's exactly what it means.
The FBI is authoritarian. The DEA is authoritarian. The DHS is authoritarian. Always have been, since their founding. They exist to extract labor from the political underclass by forcing submission on pain of imprisonment and death.
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USA hasn't just done a bunch of racist, shitty, inexcusable things. USA is a bunch of racist, shitty, inexcusable things.
It's literally a regime founded by rapist slavers to violently preserve their disgusting privilege. Always been authoritarian.
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That’s awfully absolutist of you not seeing the huge difference in scale, the blatant ignoring of checks and balances, states rights, and the resulting constitutional crisis. Never before have so many government leaders so blatantly committed so many acts of corruption while holding themselves above the law. Never before have we so intentionally cut so many services and intentionally disrupted the economy so much. Never before have we done so much harm to the US’s stature in the world, damaged our future so much. Previous attempts to ruin education for religious or other malicious reasons have been mostly local, never before has there been such an attempt to control education across the board, everywhere, at every level
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the blatant ignoring of checks and balances, states rights, and the resulting constitutional crisis
You're describing any number of prior administrations. The phrase "Constitutional Crisis" absolutely echoed through the Bush 43 administration, as his bureaucracy was constantly ignoring court orders (FISA most famously) and end-running legislative constraints through EOs and Signing Statements.
Never before have so many government leaders so blatantly committed so many acts of corruption while holding themselves above the law. Never before have we so intentionally cut so many services and intentionally disrupted the economy so much. Never before have we done so much harm to the US’s stature in the world, damaged our future so much.
Everything is glaring in the moment. But all of Trump's malfeasance is just an extension of the breaches of decorum, precedent, and law executed by prior administrations. Our status as world leader wasn't single-handedly wrecked by Trump. It has been systematically distorted and eroded since at least the Reagan Administration.
This isn't a Never Before situation. It is a long continuation of horrible policies.
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Exactly. One glance at the list of countries by incarceration rates will confirm that the US has been a police state for a while now; it's just who is being targeted that is changing.
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In the Chinese VN White or Black, one of the first things the church guys did after taking control of the US was trim the prison populations. Though I imagine being able to see the future helped a bunch.
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World War 1 was so traumatic for Europe because the terrible weapons of mass destruction that they had been using to dominate the rest of the world were suddenly being used on them.
I think this is probably similar for people in the US who are not in a minority now, along the lines you describe.
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Dont forget The Trail of Tears, or that they tried to starve Indians to death right after.
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You're not wrong, but I don't see the advantage of turning your nose up at people who want to be your allies.
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nicely put!
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It doesn’t take a scholar to say that.
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Millions of voters missed it
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Millions of voters wanted it. They don’t realize that the circle of acceptable in-groups only gets smaller. They’re cheering at the cruelty today, but it won’t take long to catch them too.
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Every commenter here: "As a Linux user, I knew that this was coming since before the American Revolution. "
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And we were right! Finally some recognition.
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took the words right out of my mouth...
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You don’t have to be a scholar to know that.
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Getting pretty sick of the "told you so" or "well duh" takes.
You've got acknowledgement now. What do you want to do about it?
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This is what Republicans said they would do. People voted for it
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USA media really hates to arrive anywhere huh.
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Every GOP legislator is complicit. What do think is going to happen? Pretty soon DOGE will cut them.
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Every current AND former
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oh yeah, did conservatives just forget about critical race theory or what
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And everyone in power is complicit.
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Highly recommend hiking, or at least going for a scenic drive. I have been heading over to local trails a few times a week and it's amazing how much my brain has rewired from it. Like, I know the shit is bad, that hasn't changed, but seeing nature in force reinstalls this feeling of control. Nature always wins, these people will all be worm food one day.
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Yep. Gut punch after gut punch.
There really is zero point in living
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You know what comes next. Right?
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Everyone goes on holiday for 10 years?
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Where were they for the last 24 years?
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Just trying to function under capitalism while providing for their family? Often both immediate and extended since many of our scholars and scientists are immigrants who came here for a higher wage to send money back home to their parents.
And mostly being increasingly annoyed at how almost all media attacks intellectuals and paints us as "out of touch" and "having no common sense". All while acknowledging that the entire world is shifting authoritarian but not expecting the US to speedrun a decade or two of erosion of civil rights.
But hey, good on you for continuing to demonstrate just how ingrained anti-intellectualism is into the cultural zeitgeist. Because this shit has been going on for a lot longer than 24 years. Most people attribute it to reagan. But the end result is that basically everyone grew up on (national equivalents of) nickelodean sitcoms where the protagonist kid proves they are smarter than their teachers because they understood a pun or knew one tidbit of trivia.
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Heads buried in the sand praying it'll go away if they don't acknowledge it.
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Not to worry! Until there are laws on the books it's not fascism according to Donald Musk. So as long as there are no laws saying it's authoritarianism there is nothing to worry about!
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NPR is a major authority on whitewashing and justifying genocide.
Their promotion of these phony narratives is a major reason why authoritarianism has always been the norm.
44 comments