One thing that's particularly maddening about what's happening today—beyond that it's happening—is that when people talk about how we are moving toward authoritarianism, toward fascism, by a collection of narcissistic sociopaths, many Americans' eyes glaze over.
Some view it as hyperbole; others don't even know what the words mean. But it's all textbook. Textbook history, textbook political science, textbook psychology, textbook social psychology. Elementary stuff, not obscure. And it's happening in real time, right before our eyes.
I wish my grandma was still alive. She was living through the end of the republik of weimar and the onset of national socialism... and eventually was deported into one of the concentration camps and survived. I would love to hear her opinion on whats happening to the usa..
I'm glad my relatives that survived the Nazis are dead and cannot watch what is happening. They did not deserve to relive the trauma.
“Americans are a stupid people, by and large.” https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/5c0c356b-9d05-491b-a6e7-5de9f64b732c
The danger he represented was obvious in 2016. That was the whole point of the Resistance. I think that most partisans on both sides got it from the beginning. The Republican base wanted a dictator, the Democratic base was in vehement opposition. For the middle though, it’s endless denial.
You idiot Americans are now living in a dictatorship. Way to go. You deserve it assholes. But now you’re fucking up the rest of the world along with fucking up yourselves. Americans are pathetic.
Three days after the election in 2016 I watched Bannon at a presser say that the 3rd goal of the trump administration would be to dismantle the administrative state. The goal has always been a right-wing Nationalist Christian power grab.
Textbooks are boring, so that explains the reaction, I guess.
Some of us didn’t doubt that very early on (like the night the election results were announced), however, the confirmation of the keystone cops did.
Agreed! I’m sad to say there are several folks in my circle (personal and professional) who are SO apathetic to what is happening! It drives me absolutely insane.
I have a colleague who's a liberal who recently said, 'I didn't change my life for any past president, so I'm not going to change it now for this one'. The people closest to me see what's happening and feel as insane as I do that this is happening and there seems little we can do to stop it.
The words we use to describe what is happening in America don’t necessarily convey the proper level of alarm or danger. The words we use come from history, but it’s the present that has me so worried.
Which scares the hell out of me. This country is asleep at the wheel and we’re rolling toward a cliff. Maybe one day, they will all wake up, but by then, it’ll all be too late … I’m losing hope for this country …
We are Frederick Fleet.
It's success is partly down to being plain before your eyes. It's easier to discount when there's no attempt to cover it up.
The courts are enough of a guardrail, either.
America is on an #Auschwitz trajectory here. If you’ve ever wondered how #Nazi Germany got to be Nazi Germany, you’re living through that kind of transformation right now.
And it’s a murder cult. They want to kill people. They want only terrified, uneducated people to work and make them money.
It’s partly the culture. Our culture of narcissism. Their eyes glaze over because fundamentally they are also authoritarians experiencing their own identity crisis where they have an impossible to fulfill need to be high up on the social pecking order. You’re asking them to look within. Many can’t.
Yes "Textbook" as in "In Textbooks" not a metaphor, or turn of phrase actual step-by-step events that you can read about that led to the destruction of democracies that lasts for generations. eventually leading to a husk of the civilization that preceded it. You can read about it IN TEXTBOOKS!
...and it's happening fast without much, if any, resistance.
TBH it didn't help that in the public discourse the impression of past decades was that on the Right, "Everything we don't like is Communism" and on the Left, "fascism". At least in the loudest, terminally online segments.
Civics is a lost vocation. The idea that 'we' are responsible for the people we elect to govern the country, state, city, town. Half US electorate don't know how to judge character and competence. In democracy, character and competence are the whole ballgame. China model better. More effective.
Chinese system emphasizes collective decision-making and stability, which facilitates consistent policy implementation and long term planning. US democratic capitalism can not plan two weeks in advance.
It is what Republicans in Congress want. They COULD stop this train, but they refuse.
The gop thinks they are safe from trump fascism & he will destroy them too All fascist turn in heir closest supporters
The problem is that it is “textbook”. A vast number seek every escape to *not* crack a textbook open to read it. A significant number are deeply unserious and willfully ignorant, looking for someone else to stoke their resentments and tell them what to do to hurt the people they hate.
You hit the nail on the head. It's partly ignorance, some of it is innate distrust, and some of it is people's nature to be self-centered ... and some are not political, but I think the main culprits are the social algorithms and the RW play for dopamine rushes. Propaganda frequently works.
Maybe to one of your points, I was talking to my wife's cousin a few days ago, someone I would consider at least somewhat "plugged in" shocked she'd never heard of Qanon. I think some are just so used to living their lives that they are completely tuned out.
I agree @ourshallowstate.bsky.social @gtconway.bsky.social but I think people are ready to revolt, but need a leader, or strategy, etc and less informational content/rage. The zone is flooded daily by DJT and republicans are great at avoiding will of people so it feels helpless sometimes.
I agree 100%. I am in Canada but am amazed that the only Democrat really making the news for his opposition to Trump is Newsom. Democrats need a leader STAT.
Of all the people, I never would have foreseen Newsom rising to the occasion. I don’t think much of him apart from this but where the hell is everyone else? The formal Democrat leadership has totally shit the bed so…go, Newsom!
If someone had made a tv series like House of Cards about this, nobody would have bought it.
Martin MUST resign and Wikler made head of the DNC for starters.
followed you
Amd a lot of fear - wanting it to not be true and scared of acknowledging it.
Pink slips, healthcare gone, food stamps gone, cheap goods gone, Latino kids schools friends disappeared from one day to the other. Have to cut back at supermarket. Getting spoken down to by politicians. Cops and soldiers with guns everywhere barking orders. Trump will lose on the streets.
Stock and crypto markets are the momentary opiate of the spending class.
That's the entire reason education is so important, if it wasn't so important, the fascists wouldn't spend the last 30 years attacking it
It would be nice if someone who was on board and is now speaking out against trump would explain how they couldn’t see this in 2015.
College textbooks, yes. I'm not sure they teach some of that in high school. And, he loves the uneducated for a reason.
Anyone who was even halfway paying attention during junior high history and English classes should recognize the similarities between what began in Germany prior the WW2 and what’s happening here.
Willful ignorance.
Even if you don't know the textbook definitions, you probably know what mad cow disease or rabies is. Just think of Trump and the GOP as a collective case of mad cow disease.
And textbook literature. The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears.
As individuals, humans have IQs ranging from idiotic to genius. As a collective, humans don't have the brains God gave to a goose.
Don’t use big words like authoritarianism or fascism. Say dictatorship. Most understand that world. Then give examples of what Trump is doing & compare to Xi, Putin & Hitler.
word not world!
And almost no one is doing anything about it. Total complacency. Just going along with their lives and shrugging shoulders.
"The masses never revolt of their own accord, and they never revolt merely because they are oppressed. Indeed, so long as they are not permitted to have standards of comparison, they never even become aware that they are oppressed." -George Orwell
That’s why the GOP have worked so hard to destroy public education. People who know nothing about world history have no idea that fascists that gained power democratically have never been removed democratically. NEVER. Think Hitler, Mussolini, Orban. It will take generations.
And in the end, fascism doesn’t work out well for anyone, including the fascists. I am reading “The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich” by William Shirer. It is should be REQUIRED reading of all!
There are many educated people who are well aware of this. But this is what they want because they themselves are authoritarians.
If the people can’t read or write cursive, the historical documents can be changed to whatever you want it to be.
And most Americans don’t care as long as they can have their Labor Day barbecues and TV shows. It’s called hegemony, and Americans are more than willing to play the child to Trump‘s “Daddy.”
Yes! Thank you for being vocal for us who see this!
it's why they are uneducated...yet have guns, the plan...weren't you in those meetings, maybe should've thwarted this shit then...
It’s not complicated, that’s why the Trump admin can do it
Look up Personality disorders in the DSM-5 under cluster B, trump is all of that! 🤬
Yes, he has so many psychological problems there cd be one whole textbook about him. It says so much about our society that millions prefer such a sick person.
And there is not enough functional journalism left with the reach to explain it to them.
It’s the curse of being a knowledgeable person. You can see what’s coming far in advance of everyone else, so when you tell them, they think you’re crazy.
BTW eventually she is raped in a a temple wher e she seeks sanctuary is sold into sexual slavery and goes mad before being killed.
"hate to always be Cassandra, but......"
That's why they want so desperately to change the textbooks. That's also what the last round of fascists did. They spent a lot of effort changing what children learned and didn't learn.
Worse still, a solid 35% of the population, minimum, defends it to the death.
The question is why? What is their end game?
Textbooks are woke tho
Blue state secession is the only path forward I can see. The US reputation is shattered, our constitution shown to be utter crap, full of holes big enough to drive a Nazi occupation through. Sane states need to secede and form a sane nation. It's that or be the occupied part of a Nazi nation.
Although I wish Calif could secede, secession = war. The red states cannot survive without the blue states.
Make no mistake, we are at war. It's a cold civil war right now. Proxy battles via gerrymandering, court filings, and flimsy pretexts for occupying Democratic cities. The Nazis aren't going to stop. If a cold war is to win, and not turn to full war, ALL options must be considered.
I’m perfectly willing to volunteer in case of a war declaration. But I think I’m in a small minority. We can’t even get Americans to bother to vote. If “no vote” was a candidate in the 2024 election, it would have won.
Agreed. Nothing makes me more angry. 😡😡
The red states require proof they can’t survive without the blue states, though.
The fact that the blue states produce 70% of the nation’s GDP should be convincing. But I’m OK with letting it be a surprise to them.
Which is why there needs to be a strategy. Take a hard look at our Democratic Party. See any super strategic service-minded intellectuals that can organize a strategy that benefits the people? For me, that answer is clearly, no.
“others don't even know what the words mean.” Yes, “Wannabe Dictator” is the phrase most likely to be understood and spread across political worlds. It also retains hope. Must assume 6th grade reading level and general disinterest in reading anything long if you want to actually reach many people.
Dems, intellectuals, lawyers like precise words, but ordinary Jack & Jill don’t care. Every American knows what “Dictator” means. That’s why it’s the one word Mr. T tried to deny & blur recently. He knows it would catch on. “Wannabe” means he hasn’t succeeded yet, there’s still hope.
which means—i say this with all humility—we need better words as a writer, i humbly suggest our messaging needs to get better, stat (& yes i paid attention at Mass today which is probably why that word popped up twice @lorifreshwater.bsky.social)
I’m blocked from this post :) But I agree we need better words!
ooh Lori what did u say??! oh doesn’t matter!
It’s me so there’s no telling! 😅
💯 Text 👏🏼 Book 👏🏼 I wish ppl would stop with the “they should…” or “if they cared…” regarding the regime. Nope. Go read history & psychology & get with the program already.
We are a nation of watchers, not doers.
That so many people are oblivious speaks volumes about what being “American” has become.Regardless of economic class,we’ve literally become a nation of strangers lost in our own worlds. From clichés,“rugged individualism”to the “me generation”we haven’t experienced any shared sacrifice since WW II.
Many Americans chose not to vote. In every recent election cycle, the candidate of the non-voters would have won the popular vote. We are either apathetic or misinformed. Holding on to democracy is not possible with an electorate who denies the facts. Truth, justice, and the American way died.
Reality, it's not somewhere everyone wants to live in these days. For many it is also not a fun exercise to admit their country is an actual faschist hotbed.
…and The Heritage Foundation Playbook “Project 2025 - Mandate for Leadership”
What is not textbook is the size and organization of this country. The regime is weak. Most people, even in L.A. and D.C., are not affected by what the regime is doing. We don’t even see it (in L.A. right now). The reason lawyers see it is because of the complicity of SCOTUS and the GOP Congress.
A lot of us are just plain overwhelmed. There's so much, every day. It's like standing in front of a firehose.
Yes, that’s deliberate. Flood the zone with 💩 is what S Bannon said. It makes people feel overwhelmed & helpless. Newsom’s trolling helps overcome that somewhat by holding a mirror up to T malign actions.
so we toasted by orange fascist felon criminal president wtf....kind of like people really just can't believe it.... BUT -
Insofar as we were a democracy, we will have to look at “us” as one contributing factor, either by ignorance, apathy, decadence, or malice— we’re the problem it’s us. Many of us have been too insulated by our comfort, as long as it didn’t come for is directly…
Also, precisely what Hannah Arendt described as inebriation and torpor inculcated by the strategic disinformation campaign that MAGA has been waging since 2015, befouling the while epistemic ecosystem. Exactly the outcome Arendt predicted the “masses” being manipulated into… @gtconway.bsky.social
I feel like I’m in a horror movie and I’m the only one who sees the monsters.
Anyone who knows world history can see the exact same elements in today’s Republicans as in the dictatorial supporters of every authoritarian who ever lived.
I mean, you are not a liberal 🤷♀️ But you sure as shit aren't a fascist
I'm with you all the way! We need more leaders like you. Rally people, go into the communities where people are fed up with their representatives and letting them know at their town halls. GO THERE! I don't know how to wake people to what is happening. I think most folks are full of fear.
Keep on keeping on it!
"others don't even know what the words" That's been my complaint. "Authoritarianism" is an abstract word and doesn't sound that bad. More visceral words are needed.
Our country is turning into Russia and most people are too lazy to Google authoritarianism, let alone read a book about it. It’s infuriating, George.
I forget which day it was last week that we were working on a matter in Ohio, not a huge one but every person counts IMHO. Legal couldn’t get a volunteer to give up 1-2 hours on the long weekend to organize a case file - case: mom of 4 facing deportation, and did everything the “right” way. SMH 🤦🏻♀️
Every person and every political action counts, no matter how small.
People expect politicians to do all the work, but democracy is not a spectator sport
True
My generation grew up hearing about the “Big War”, the old Soviet Union, and the evils of it all, and how many people suffered because of it - and how we’d never let that happen again. Today’s generation views it as ancient history that they think is no longer relevant to their lives today. Sad.
To the general public, They need it explained in terms they understand. Plain language has immense power. I know you get this. Don't speak down to others who are less educated, but take time to help them understand. This is community building 101.
I keep telling everyone that we are fucked, unless he dies, and if he does it better be quick because he's destroying this Country mighty fast!!
So many view it more in the lense of pro wrestling matches. Our guys is winning cheer cheer!
Some of us were screaming from the rooftops nearly a decade ago. My first thought when I heard he was running was that'll be a laugh and a half ... then I realized he might "win" and panic set in. I was raised in a small town in Northern B.C. in Canada🍁 and have known about Donald trump since the
late 1980's, early 1990's ... the fact that most Americans weren't familiar with him and the danger he presented, was simply mindboggling. To see him installed in 2017 was unthinkable and again in 2025? Seriously America what the everlasting fuck! 😬
The damage Trump has already done can’t be repaired in what’s left of my lifetime. And maybe never. And I guess maga still thinks he is Jesus.
99.9% of our language has been de-fanged.
People who have only known good-faith, law-bound government, dismiss the opposite as preposterous. Can’t judge harshly. Generations of good fortune leave us open to predators like Trump & Co.
We were warned. People don't know their history. 54% of US adults are functionally illiterate--by design. Social media is manipulating us --by design. Fokkkx news programmed Americans with lies. My neighbors don't even believe Jan 6th happened. The coup continues. bsky.app/profile/sick...
But egg prices...
FFS, OMB is run by the fuck who literally WROTE THE BOOK on how to destroy the country. And then thete's fElon's doggie incel boys...
That’s exactly right. He’s doing precisely what an enemy of the US would try to accomplish, step for step.
He is an enemy of the US. The oath to defend against enemies "foreign and domestic" is not idle, although, in the case of MAGAts, it is a lie when sworn to.
I almost wonder if Trump and his lackeys already have deals to relocate to Russia, Qatar, Bahrain etc in case the tide finally turns against them.
It ain’t hyperbole - it’s real and it’s now.
This may seem like a non sequitur, but it’s not. We MUST take back the House and Senate. But the far left will be one of our main obstacles. I’m posting this here for reach.
this is true, we are our own worse enemy.
Many people, apparently, are living lives so marginally meaningful that they simply don’t care one way or the other.
Glazing over- in my own family. 😡 Nevertheless, I persist!
Or as my boss at work says when anyone dares to allude to the danger, "Let's not get political." Even though Trump's evil threatens her livelihood and mine. Americans aren't suffering enough, not yet anyway, to want to acknowledge anything that might disturb their complacency.
But this has nothing to do with politics. More like one big bully deciding what he wants; what's good for him. The hell with people and country.
WTF they are stealing your money and using it to steal your democracy , and at the same time getting rid of things like health care etc. And now that he has his praetorian guard , is anyone really safe . How long before before he crowns himself king, oh and he president when Epstein died in jail
The reality is too much for them to handle. One reason or another. Either they can't fathom it. Or they don't care if the republic dies. Or they want the republic to die. Or they are too busy to pay attention? There's always an easy way out. youtu.be/6Qp5AZZ-N2A
Many people I know are so anxious they can’t stand to talk or think about it.
I think he was named "Wolf" because even a Dog would beat him at Jeopardy. www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5LK...
I studied and taught history my entire adult life. In 2016, I sounded the alarm about Trump and how his rhetoric foreshadowed the collapse of the Republic. I was called hysterical. The lack of both knowledge and imagination is what got us to today. Time to panic.
Authorianism is here. It is no longer a matter of preventing it. It’s now a matter of ridding ourselves of it.
Agree. I know a lot of people who do not want to face what is happening in any way.
Bingo, George! Your warning was prescient. DJT is consolidating power at breakneck speed.
Those who have actually experienced elsewhere respond differently.
*it*
It’s a frog boil. Filthy rich Republicans put America in the pot decades ago and have been stirring it ever since—encouraging the dumbest of US to elect the dumbest among them.
I think about this every single day...no way to avoid it..it's so disheartening
...it's all in the planning by the Charlatan (a person practicing quackery or a similar confidence trick in order to obtain money, power, fame, or other advantages through pretense or deception)...
Moving toward? We're knee deep in this shizz. We're Atreyu trying to get our neighbors aka Artax, not to friggin quit or lose hope or be scared into submission.
I thought same at time. How he must hate the country to pick these horrid, inappropriate people. & I didn't prove it wrong. I think if ppl were true Reps they would be mad too. This is not a partisan matter. This isn't a Rep acting gov't. How much more damage.
Hell is other people. What’s the saying: 1/3 want to kill another 1/3 while the final 1/3 watches (and does nothing)?
Well, we now know that is true
Authoritarianism takes away our free will. It takes away our freedom of movement. It leaves who has rights - including the right to own guns - up to a small group of people who can and will change their minds on a whim. Authoritarianism will take their guns away. Let's talk about that.
I think the "eyes glaze over" phenomenon is related to a lack of learning, curiosity or critical thinking skills growing up - semi-feral people unable to think beyond "I need a roof, bed, transportation, food, money" and god help anyone who's depending on them.
🎯 And Authoritarian/Fascist/Narcissistic Sociopath/Opus Dei/Oligarchy, published the Project 2025 Handbook. With every minute detail of their plan to end Democracy, Constitution, Rule of Law, etc. Available for all to read. Some embraced it; some hoped Pillars would stand; Some Saw & Tried To Warn.
It’s not so much that eyes are glazing over. It’s more that people feel helpless. There is so much going on you don’t know where to start. And wherever you might start, there’s something even worse that you should take on. And then there’s the numbness factor. You can only take so much outrage!!
I totally agree! I didn't vote for them. I do feel helpless because what am I supposed to do? My partner and I do what we can, as seniors, protesting in nearby towns and cities, and speaking out on line. In the end, the other side will stomp on us because they call the shots right now. Votes matter!
Thanks for doing what you can!!
For fifty years Trump was Putin's loyal servant. Destroy America was the goal. Putin met him in Alaska to slip him a little something. Time for Vance to be Putin's loyal servant.
Most people, understandably, focus on what's going on in their own lives; the rest is an abstraction, a show they don't watch. They assume that basically everything will go on as it has. Don't know how to change that, but we have to get to them on an immediate level.
Complicated concepts not well studied or understood in America (fascism, authoritarianism) dont resonate with far too many Americans Part of maga allure is the dumbed down, simple language with the social/podcast/media blaring the rage bait non stop
It became fashionable in the 90s to NOT talk politics. How absurd!!! We all need to talk politics and DISCUSS even if it’s contentious.
So many haven’t enough knowledge of politics or the government to even discuss.
The “average” person can’t believe it, is not interested in politics or the world.
It's Divide and concur within the United States. American's are literally asleep at the wheel. My friend in Chicago say's Trump is no different than any other politician and but she's also believes that Obama was born in Kenya. And I'm like WTF how are you so blinded by bs.
Frogs telling each other the water still feels fine.
Like the reason they get whipped is they won't go on the right shows like Rogan and Fox News and the breakfast club and jubilee, they are lost in the sauce they know nothing about dealing with bullies look at what Trump is doing with his power and Biden just wanted to sing kum-by-ya
Well where to start, Biden could have picked someone like Kelley from Arizona as a VP and he would have beaten Trump who can apparently only beat women and he could have written a law saying felons cannot hold the office of POTUS and on top of that the Dems are still doing the same old crap
Have you read “Fantasyland”? All about the role of stories in US history. (A) this means that if something isn’t packaged up as an easy story, their brains fall over and (B) they usually commit to the story that makes them feel good. Counterarguing with facts just makes them commit harder.
I see the hubris and laziness of "exceptionalism" at play. Until now, Americans had been trained to believe that their democracy is self-regulating. What we see was impossible if you listened to Obama or Biden. Previous waves of craziness had indeed been beaten back but had left a creeping rot.
It’s even ppl on the left- I’ve been shouting about fascism since the election and my family was like dude, chill.
A few months ago I'd have said that most people aren't going to start paying attention until there are troops in the streets. I can't believe we've just cruised right past that part.
My eyes aren't glazing over. My heart is beating too fast, my brain feels like it's stuttering n I can't maintain a thought longer than 30 seconds just about every day of the week
Preach Truth❤️🍷🌹
So many un and ill informed in this country. So many apathetic and selfish. And racists.
Our streets should look like they did during the Vietnam War Protest Movement.
Its better than it used to be. As a person with multiple Cluster Bs in my family, describing them preTrump was a lesson in isolation- they would glaze over, tell you you were exaggerating, outright call you a liar. At least now, some people know what the terms mean, even if they are being overused.
Americans are spoiled, uninformed, and lazy. I have lost count of the number of people who have no idea what is happening. They still trust the government like a baby trusts a parent.
My own daughter didn’t know who Kilmar Abrego Garcia was
I just wrote a similar thing! It's wild how even the information silos have more silos inside them. The Russian doll.
I know it's hard for the younger generation, so much bad news all the time. She's a doctor and has enough on her plate at work, but I asked both my girls to just read Heather Cox Richardson's newsletter each day and that will give them a good summary of the day without going too much in the weeds.
This is a perfect example of, “ignorance is NOT bliss”.
The biggest issue was globally around 2016 and the emergence of “post truth” ideology was never resisted more vigorously Timothy Snyder in 2021 “Post-truth is pre-fascism... When we give up on truth, we concede power to those with the wealth and charisma to create spectacle in its place…
And I should add “…those with the wealth and charisma to create spectacle in its place…” we ar talking about “Rocket Boy” A prophecy for what was then 2022
Arrogance is also a thing.
Even my liberal family, generally aware, are clueless of so much. They never heard of Abrego García except, "isn't that the guy they arrested? What happened with that? Wait, what happened in Texas? What about it?" My jaw dropped. A LOT of Americans won't wake up until the boot lands on their neck
Absolutely,the question that is obvious. It rattles in the back of my mind but I can’t speak it. With all the dark money it’s more than possible. Would it explain why so many roll over?
Agree. So few care. All of it predicted and so little is a surprise. Maybe the only slight surprise is given all the bad stuff now clearly happening everyday, too many are still not seeing. For that sin, we deserve what we get
Simple words need to be used. Simple ideas… Life as we know it will change You will have your freedom taken away to do x, y, z It’s like in a Disney movie when the evil king takes over and tells you what to do or if he is in a bad mood people suffer Statements like that.
I had this discussion with my wife yesterday. She hates Trump. We live in Texas and she really hates Abbott. But she still refers to it as "politics". It seems to be difficult for, even really intelligent Americans, to wrap their heads around the fact that this is different.
To be expected though if you have studied the last 10 years. MAGA madness, QAnon, hateful rhetoric, SCOTUS corruption, all were normalized and still are
I had this conversation many times when canvassing 2024. Most common reply “authoritarianism can never happen in US coz we have a constitution!” Me: “So did every democracy that descended into authoritarianism this last decade.”
Dahhhhh
This is much too generous a take on our fellow citizens' enthusiasm for neoauthoritarianism. As long as the browns, blacks, and women being put back in their place and even better be punished and humiliated, decency, justice, and rule of law are things we don't need to talk about.
There's no opposing leadership. Chuck Schumer is even less alive than Trump. Newsom is raging, but he's still not calling for action. Nobody is calling for coordinated, collective action.
Psychological literacy skills need to part of the general education curriculum along with research literacy. Forget AP physics and organic chem — abnormal psychology and research methods would’ve gone a long way in helping people understand how to interpret what’s going on
Not to mention bringing back civics.
No excuse, as Ted Cruz had plenty of education including in civics. These people are driven by racism and sexism and bigotry.
No none of that Freudian BS.
100% agree.
We are NOT moving toward. We are already THERE.
As a yellow dog Dem and a former hippie, I'm truly horrified and don't even recognize my country. I'm 72 so I don't expect to live to see the eventual outcome. I think this is the end of this wonderful American experiment and I feel sorry for my kids & grandkids. #fucktrump
George , he’s not destroying country. (checks CNN’s reporting) He’s just implementing his policies.
The thing I am most embarrassed about is how smug we all were about how much better our democracy was than the rest of the world's.
There's very little Europeans still alive who have experienced a fascist takeover of their country. The difference between the US and Europe is education.
I’m how are you doing?
Maddening
I’ve got friends who emigrated here from the former USSR and they ALL said “this reminds me of THOSE TERRIBLE DAYS”. With emphasis
Ikr. I called bubbles Bush's response to the Katrina refugees ("aren't you so lucky to get to meet ME???"), and no one believed me until the old kkkunt said it. You just have to imagine the absolute grossest, most outrageous, asshole behavior ever, and say it out loud.
Most people can't connect the dots for how the big picture affects their lives directly. We need some national level talented communicators to be making those connections for them - on granular daily examples - beyond 'at the grocery store' or 'at the fuel pump'.
I've been protesting on a street corner in a small city every Saturday for five months now and what bothers me even more than the young white male jack shits who coal roll us and yell Trump! Trump! Trump! are the people who walk by studiously ignoring us. Whistle past the graveyard, numbskulls.
Per Steve Bannon. Wanted to dismantle. Well, he did it. So many agencies/depts dismantled hurting only the weakest and less fortunate and putting our country at serious risk from the rest of the world. Putin and Orban lovers. POWER!! CONTROL!!
It’s a big messaging problem, one the Dems have to contend with immediately
Project 2025 uses different words but the end result objective is the same.
💯
Most republicans I know, think this is absurd. Democrats? They feel helpless.
I've encountered this more times than I can count (cost me a few friends and colleagues along the way too). It's discouraging. Normalcy bias is a tough thing to overcome, and it usually only happens through some sort of direct personal experience --- often trauma.
Just as in Nazi Germany before it was too late.
Saw journalism grad student eyes "glaze over" during a libel workshop re truth, a difficult but powerful defence. No student interest in legal techniques for enhancing story accuracy, detail, reliability or credibility. Just "how can I get my byline and sexy headline above the fold on page one".
Someone I'm close to, who is the CEO of a large company, just said to me "If you said all of these things to the average American, they would think you were insane and hysterical ".
The number of people who are simply apathetic about it as long as they can buy their toys and grill their steaks while rooting for their favorite football team is pathetic. Self absorbed doesn’t even begin to describe the level of solipsism that rules this electorate.
Agree
This is the thing. For reasons none of us will ever understand, Trump hates our country and is doing everything in his power to destroy it.
Most Americans don't have a clue what authoritarianism or fascism mean = indifference and eye glazing over.
like, if you were working for hmmm, maybe, russia?
Some are maga-cult zombies and others are in shock.
You nailed it
Absolutely right
Frog in proverbial boiling water
It's good to be on the right side, George!
Amen. They’ve normalized that fucking word. Nobody has any idea how bad living under an authoritarian is unless you have. FIGHT!
It’s not just maddening, it is, to me, terrifying because there is very little hope that the public at large will take any meaningful action if they are this dis-engaged at this very late stage. The building is on fire 🔥, the exits are blocked & the fire trucks have broken down. 😔
This is a country problem. Not partisan. Everyone is & w/b hurting if they're allowed to go on. But Reps have to be vocally mad too. What Trump & ilk doing doesn't benefit them either. Again, what can be done?
France 1934 - Fascists stormed Parliament. Within days 12 Million people went on strike, shutting down the country. Thats almost 30% of the population- all the workers. Only 1.5% of Americans showed up for No Kings Day - 1 lousy day. What to do? Demand action from Dem leaders & show up every day.
Sorry, "moving towards"? Nope. We're here. The only question is, will we, CAN we come back from it?
I'm with you George, he hates America and Americans because he believes we are the ones responsible for criticism of him.
George W did the same, as detailed by @alfranken.bsky.social in his various books
I agree. Trump has intentionally tried to harm the country. cbwrong.blogspot.com/2025/08/trum...
A lot of people weren’t paying attention in History class and/or they’re too young to have parents or grandparents who lived through the WW2 years.
I think that is about a third of the electorate. Gavin Newsom seems to energizing people who haven't been energized by Democrats. Trump has to be broken, to change the direction of our country.
What’s particularly maddening to me is the large number of people who tell us we have to do something when they know there is nothing we can effectively do.
It’s the exact same playbook he did the first time around only that time there were people who stood up to him and he wasn’t as brazen. This time, he has the “supreme” court telling him he’s invincible and he believes it. Plus he has his own army of pardoned criminals to rely on.
I believe a lot of people live with people who are lesser versions of a sociopathic/psychopathic narcassist than trump is, so they are conditioned to believe this behavior is normal. I also believe this is a phenomenon largely within the white, cis male population, from my personal experience.
They can't enjoy their brunch if they admit to reality.
All revolutions only require 5% of society and this is why. Most don't care. This is a curse but also a blessing. Focus on engaging those that can be engaged, ignore the people who can't be bothered.
Krasnov is too uneducated and stupid to be a Leninist. He must be parroting Bannon.
Bernie attended a Stalinist Kibbutz. So "progressive".
Right? 🙄 I recently posted a few things about George Orwell and his ideas about left-wing & right-wing totalitarianism. Extremism is extremism. Everyone should read more. Might be this article (posted several) theconversation.com/orwells-oppo...
It's because, after all, Americans prefer someone who can validate their hate over preserving their republic.
Why not telling them what they’re about to lose? How life is under authoritarian rule? Maybe talking to people living under those conditions would wake people up. We know, because we’ve read and we’ve informed ourselves.
It needs to be broken down, into pieces, at a fifth grade reading level. Some people can’t handle the big picture. And it has to relate to their everyday lives. I’m working on it but it takes a while.
Don't Look Up meets Idiocracy.
American culture is like this: God blesses his favorites with the good things. If you don't have the good things, its because you don't deserve it and you don't matter because you belong to Satan and deserve the fires of hell. If you are blessed, you are good, even if you did bad things to get it.
I think part of that may because there doesn't seem to be much we can actually Do about it. I'm frustrated and angry, but honestly I'm tired of hearing about how bad it is, every single news cycle. I want to take action,but we appear to have few leaders willing to lead
I keep wondering - where are the dems? Where is the outrage, the leadership? Newsome, Pritzker, AOC, Crocket, Saunders, Raskin - is that it? A few other quiet voices, but overall it is very distressing to witness the dems sitting back while Rome burns.
Everyone with the authority to end this nightmare, is choosing not to do so. All the warnings been ignored are why fascism is alive & well in 2025. I hate this time line. OTP vp
For me, the tipping point was the MSG Nuremberg rally. When the polls remained fairly constant, you just knew that way too many Americans were willing to take the plunge on restoring Trump. Not because they trusted that he'd govern in a manner similar to 2017-21 but for their deep rage at the world.
Two things: a. Many suburban/exurban residents in particular states ignore everything outside their day to day lives except prices/401k etc. b. Been a lot of "crying wolf" over the years.
How to we engage the masses?
Americans don’t get the term “fascism.” The mistake some make, I think, is using terms that have no basis for many. Instead of saying what is actually happening. The firefighter arrested. A private company nationalized. Health benefits for seniors eliminated (more clear than “Medicaid”). Etc
The most infuriating thing is knowing full well, they will be the whiniest and most outraged that it’s happened, despite being the same people that enabled it and voted for this most vile of criminals.
A criminal president running an illegal government staffed by incompetents and grifters is a plan not an outcome
The press is a big part of the problem. There’s no shortage of people, like you, who have been on the networks to raise awareness. And what does the press do in return? They invite MAGAs as guests to give them their perspective on the situation 🙄😠 The media is complicit. All about the money.
Maybe rather than just revenge against individuals, Trump and his enablers want revenge against the entire country. I think there’s a word for that.
The conservatives think tanks have been playing the very long game since before the civil war. This is the product of decades of moving, misinformation, disinformation, positioning, propaganda. It finally found mainstream foothold in TeaParty politics and then grew like a fucking fungus from there
And racism
This 👇🏼 frightened me, because , if Nexon is right, I don't know that we have the ability to build the necessary coalition.
“Fascism” is a turn-off word; “dictator” we all understand.
Even worse…. The verbs indicate that we aren’t smack in the middle of fascism NOW‼️ When in fact we are‼️ What else is it we are waiting for and need to see⁉️⁉️⁉️⁉️ I want a list that doesn’t only include one or two things. Like gas chambers…. WTF PEOPLE⁉️⁉️⁉️
The people who use "woke" as their favorite slur are happy to see everyone sleepwalking through this dictatorial takeover.
It’s way too many Americans being hateful, ignorant and/or apathetic. It’s *that* simple.
Absolutely. How ppl don’t see these actions & aren’t activated & outraged is beyond my comprehension. But how they weren’t outraged in Nov 2016 or thru djt’s 1st term or Jan 6th is beyond comprehension. Either ppl are ignorant or lazy or don’t care about the conseq. & the conseq are significant.
Fitting that America is going to arrogance its way into authoritarianism
I agree with that. I've become gradually more convinced that DonOld has picked these people because they will damage their agencies. Most of his picks feel like a black eye to the country. He is either getting instructions from some outside sources, or he's actively trying to destroy the US.
If someone in France were to try one tenth the shit #Trump is doing to the US, the entire country would be in flames; Americans are incredibly passive while their freedoms are being stripped away!
My MAGA brother, somewhat racist & elitist, told me “it will all be OK, it all settles out…”. No hope for him opening his eyes, except to watch FOX News all day long, no hope that he’ll ever give up his cult. That % of Fox News audience is a fixed amount, but until they die, they’re hooked.
When you realize who he answers to, the cabinet choices are deliberate. He does not want this country to be excelling. It's his revenge bus tour. Lower standards from the top down, to make it easier for the regime to do what it's trying to do. Resistance can stop a steamroller. Sandy gears fail.
You have always been right. He is sick and dangerous.
It's maddening to me they keep saying, "... moving toward authoritarianism," when we're in it.
Bc 21% are illiterate and 54% read below a 6th grade level and don’t understand what you’re saying
as a historian, I have warned what Trump and his co-conspirators were aiming at for a long time now; the problem is, no one believed me; and now, we are here ... the question is, will we be brave enough to stop it or will we succumb to fascism?
Thanks for using "narcissistic sociopaths." Maybe because people have dealt with narcissistic sociopaths all their life and are burnt out. Some of us were spawned by them (they don't raise anyone). End-stage NP is not pretty for sure. Looks like we are there. We are not moving towards. We are in.
If we elect a criminal to be president, we should expect the president to commit crimes, yes?
True then. True now.
GOD SAID IN SECOND FES, THE LONELION. CHAPTER 2 CHAPTER 2 THAT HE WOULD SEND THEM A STRONG DELUSION BECAUSE THEY REFUSE TO LOVE ONTHAT THEY WOULD BELIEVE A LIE THAT WILL KILL THEM. READ IT BABIES❤️ YOU WILL BETTER UNDERSTAND WHAT'S HAPPENING💫
I’m horrified that fully 3 in 10 Americans think this is all ok and voted for him in spite of the warnings coming in hot from all angles. That alone gives me shivers.
We’re not moving TOWARD authoritarianism. We’re already there. We have been since January. Stop moving the goalposts.
It’s what Bannon wanted to do first term!
It's also in part because the average American is dumb as hell.
WE ARE NOT "MOVING TOWARDS AUTHORITARIANISM". WE ARE THERE.
That's the point. He's going to privatize everything.
I feel like the worst part is that we're basically already IN an authoritarian state. It's just going to be a while before we see and feel the full effects. Which explains why eyes glaze over.
Yep
I'm wondering if the warnings from past decades about wars that may erupt over controlling the world's scarce resources might be true, but instead it's oligarchs rather than countries who are killing the poor to hoard it all for themselves.
My experience with peeps is I'm good, move on.
Yet they are more than willing to listen to those kinds of statements about the mythical dangers from antifa and the socialists and the Communists. Go figure. I'm guessing it's because the hysteria on the right is meme-driven and emotionally charged and doesn't use big words and concepts.
Agreed George, and a lot people not quite eyes glazed, who are out protesting and yet also having to work to pay the bills. If I didnt need to work. I would be on the streets everyday
It’s because the media’s eyes that glaze over first
By moving toward do you mean already there? I would say you are in a fascist authoritarian rule headed to totalitarian dictatorship. And the speed at which it is moving is staggering. I’m just an observer, not an expert but that’s what I see.
www.allrisenews.com/p/1000-prote...
Multi Syllable Words may not be MAGA strong suit…
The comment must have been an epiphany for Wolf.
This old grandma will be out demonstrating tomorrow with my young grandsons. I want them to see what democracy looks like while there’s still time.
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻🇺🇸💙🗽
If you don’t acknowledge it you don’t have to decide what do about it/accept you are complicit
CNN keeps bringing them damn Republicans on their shit show to worship Trump and RFK Jr.. Scott Jennings can say his supporters support that evil shit but we don't. Don't bring that shit to our Blue States!
I see this among my Democratic-voting millennial coworkers. They concede things are awful, but the awfulness has not yet sufficiently affected their own lives. They think they are going to somehow skate through this. Mostly, they act like this isn’t happening. That attitude is very widespread.
Don't forget the Pedophile Protectors: GOP = Guardians of Pedophiles: GOP = REP = AFP = American Fascist Party Don't forget Mid-Terms are coming:
Moving towards? Feels like we’re already there.
How did we get here? Money. Blood on both sides for the incremental moves over the past 50 years. Last ten? Conservative media, GOP and corporations fully responsible. Cheney and Kinzinger will be noted in history as standouts among a sea of spineless sycophants who only see green.
That’s biology’s pattern vs “human’s” conscience. Some will resist l, others just follow like dumb herd.
The rest of the world sees it. Unfortunately, the media keeps trying to normalize his behavior. They keep trying to find a rational reason. If Biden had done this, Fox News would’ve lost its mind.
They believe “it could never happen here. We are always victorious over fascism”. Pure hubris.
We have been fighting against Trump for 10 years now. There is no Dem leadership anymore. Congress is virtually silent - both sides kneeling to the great orange dictator - we hit the streets, marching. Media and Nat’l news remain silent. Pushing Trumps agenda on their own.
There are leaders. My state has them, for example. The problem is that no one actually cares to find out what they're doing or support them. Example: Where were Texas Dems when their reps left the state & were threatened with arrest? They weren't even protesting.
And that was widely medialized. Serbia started protesting , from the grass roots, last November. They are still at it. Capital, other cities... Almost every week. US? Everyone is waiting for someone to organize something and there seem to be little grass roots. And Unis are utterly silent.
While the students wete ready to go "Free Gaza" agai st Biden and Harris. Almost like it... Was an influence op same as Stein's campaign. And with the "war on humanities" I fear some US students are rather set to run MAGA Struggle Sessions.
Consider the art and science of bread and circus and how far Rome has come, to this day. 🪐
Eyes glaze over when people don’t know what to do with the information. We elect a government that makes decisions for us to better our lives. But there are no levers to stop it when it goes bad. None.
Agree 100% We seem to have been lulled into a trance of acquiescence! Sadly, that must end in the nation’s demise! “The price we pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men” - Plato
They are more accurately described as *psychopaths.* Compare the difference between the definitions of psychopaths and sociopaths.
Don’t worry. The USA is a full on fascist regime now, and Americans don’t care.
It's partly baked in denial when swift, tumultuous disasters are threatening. The other part is we seem to have become a culture of reactivism - only react after it hits. General illiteracy, lack of critical thinking skills taught, complex world economies, $ billion propaganda machines all at play
A lot of Americans have no intellectual curiosity at all. And, a lot of them graduated from college.
The militarization of American cities is for control when Americans take to the streets, which I think is likely if the courts fail, and I can't say for certain that the Supreme Court is not planning to fail us.
Perhaps it’s because we’ve been hearing ‘constitutional crisis’ for 10 years. It loses some of it’s impact.
It's going to take their grand child going deaf from measles, losing their job & healthcare, MeMaw getting booted out of the nursing home to come live with them or $20/lb ground beef killing their spouse from eColi for it to sink in. Proof Americans are intellectually lazy, self absorbed, stupid.
I’ve lived in Arkansas my whole life and won’t ever have any way to escape. When this goes on, most of my neighbors will already know that it’s just bc of the gays and the liberals, like always. It will not steer them toward sense, I promise you.
For decades I have wondered how German citizens in the early 1930s could allow Hitler and his henchmen to take over and completely turn their country into an evil, terrifying empire. In the last 7 months, having lived through this daily, incremental slide to dictatorship, I now understand.
A way to battle it to publicize the new @garethgore.bsky.social book, OPUS, which details how Leonard Leo is following the playbook used by the Catholic cult, Opus Dei. They gain political power thru money laundering. Why doesn’t the media talk about what @thcarter123.bsky.social has been saying?
Bingo. My words also right from the start…
Yes. It’s too inconvenient for them to think about let alone take action. Their little bubble is comfortable so don’t rock the boat.
It feels like we're underwater trying to yell these things
Right. "... moving towards ...." my arse.
Why ? Why has the press given up?
Yes. There seems to be a weird belief that it’s somehow impolite to bring up the destruction of democracy. So rude. A breach of etiquette.
"George Was Right About Everything".
That is a very sad thought to even imagine that citizens have been conditioned and controlled thru media, tv, commercials, social media to blindly accept and not question, complain, pushback, be annoyed, be vocal, to express dislikes. “Free your mind and your azz will follow!” (George Clinton)
That’s always been the plan. We are Poland to Hitler. We are native tribes to American presidents. It has always been about destroying to pick up the pieces for the aggressors. This isn’t an oligarchy it is a kleptocracy.
It's overwhelming. Precisely designed to be just that.
This ⬆️ 💯 To "overwhelm" is the authoritarian plan so people disengage, and a takeover becomes easier.
Courage is what matters along with wisdom that sometimes comes late. However, every adult American who opposes this government, needs to ask themselves what they’ll sacrifice to remove Trumpet and his cabinet. Will they risk danger, even their lives? Sacrifice is needed. Now.
I'm in the UK but have family in the US. A few MAGA but mostly traditional Republicans. We've talked about Trump's move to authoritarianism & they just don't care. They are white, financially comfortable, & have privileged lives - as long as that isn't threatened then there's no problem.
I think everybody should experience what I experienced while working for an American company in Iran in 1978-1979. They’ll then understand what authoritarianism looks like and how it affects their freedom. Granted, Iran is a theocracy but we aren’t that far off the mark.
Please...They "glaze over" because they can't deal beyond their pay check to pay check troubles...people are trying desperately to make ends meet & do not have the wherewithal to deal w such lofty enterprises of "authoritarianism/fascism" which is why tRump is where he is & Dems are where they are
Brazilian here and I have absolutely NO DOUBT about what is happening to this country 😬
aw, now you talkin' logic n stuff.
They won’t know it until armed U.S. paratroopers rain down in their yard & bust down their font door.
This is just under 12 million. Can we get at LEAST 12 million people angry that the RW plan is DEATH to the poor old & sick to get underground as fast as we can for the rich?? DO YOU CARE?!? They are ensuring you get BASTED in COVID so you at least get to be SICK if you aren't the other 2 already.
Huh. I smelled this plan a few years ago and didn't think the population would be self-hating enough to defeat its own existence by voting for a party that continuously defunds their programs. I was wrong about hate as a currency & how it can overcome reason to satiate some SADISTIC desire of some.😢
But who was behind him encouraging him to these people? He snot 😂that smart!!! Come on seriously!!!!!
Yep, total denial or change the subject or tell you you are exaggerating- until it happens to them, white middle class republicans.
We are not moving toward…we are there already. Congressional and judicial branches are not providing appropriate checks and balances.
"From the CDC to the CIA, the Trump administration is tossing out the world’s top experts and replacing them with unqualified, unctuous acolytes. Disaster awaits." fridainsight.substack.com/p/the-myster...
