Rob, I’m not sure I can see any strong nopes on here for the US. Some of them we haven’t sunk all the way yet, but every single one we are on our way. The main one we haven’t gone all the way on yet is control of the press; we still do have at least a portion of the press that is feisty, and we aren’t yet jailing journalists, but there is a lot of complacence, quite a bit of control by advertisers who want to dictate programming, and a lot of self-censorship and constant false equivalency. I suspect when they achieve full bore control of the press, it will be with the full cooperation of the press (with a few outliers who will still try to fuss and fume, and maybe set up underground presses).
Bjarte Foshaug
• Rampant racism
• Belief in the inherent superiority of ingroup members over outsiders
• Belief in the inherent fairness of inequality
• A cult of personality around the leader
• Endless rallies
• Paramilitary groups
• An obsession with weapons and uniforms
• A preference for brute force over reasoned argument
• Belief that willpower trumps physical reality
• Etc… etc…
Bjarte Foshaug
Also important:
• Widespread paranoia and belief in conspiracy theories.
• Belief in an imagined golden age before “they” everything and talk of returning the nation to its former glory.
Bjarte Foshaug
*before “they” ruined everything
Blood Knight in Sour Armor
I actually think that this:
• Belief in an imagined golden age before “they” everything and talk of returning the nation to its former glory.
Is basically what Democrats and/or liberals should embrace going forward (barring the imaginary part)… #MAGA may as well be the DNC slogan after all this garbage.
Acolyte of Sagan
O/T, but the BBC is reporting increasing trouble on the West Bank; gunfire, tear gas and water cannons being used. Also, the UN Security Council is to make an appeal to America to reverse Trump’s decision. That’ll be a waste of breath!
Jeff Engel
Re #7 – “Make America Okay Again” would be as far as that goes; we weren’t great at the end of the Obama administration, but ye gads… This administration apparently thinks America was great in 1850 and we’re racing back to that.
That said, I fear the Democratic Party is likely to remain as centrist as can be and compromise on merely undoing a chunk of the Trump disaster. I do think that’s not just a moral but a political mistake too: the biggest problem the party has is voter apathy, and the biggest cause of that is the horrible compulsion to stay just a tiny bit to the left of the Republicans while assuming everyone to the left will have to vote with the Dems as the lesser of the evils. With the Republicans running on the Jefferson Davis platform, being just to their left is simply too disgusting to get many people to the ballot boxes.
A platform enthusiastically behind treating public means as tools to serve public ends, one in which justice and fairness are not objects on which to compromise, one that regards economic and social inequalities as evils to confront and smash – that’s one that people will support, and it would make the difference between the parties clear.
Fraudulent Elections – This is a major area of concern for me and has been for years. Voting machines are inherently insecure and should not be trusted without post-election audits. In Kansas, such audits are not done nor even allowed. Yes, you read that right – audits of election results are not permitted here. Thus our current system reports outcomes that are unverified and unverifiable. You can read about the work I’ve done on this issue at http://www.showmethevotes.org
Your Name\\\’s not Bruce?
Democratic slogan for the next Presidential election (assuming there is one) could well be “Remember America?”
Comments
14 responses to “Early warning signs”
For NZ:
Nope (although there is a tiny subset inclined that way)
Ditto
Nope
Major Nope
Just the common and garden variety. Not good, but not as bad at a public level at least as we’ve been hearing in the US.
Media – a few speed wobble showing.
Nope
Nope
Nope
NZ has pretty much always been that way.
Yes, in some sectors
Nope and
Nope
A few warning signs, but a long way to fall yet. Still, I believe it can happen quickly, so not complacent about this at all.
The Tea Party insurrection was really the take over of the GOP by fascists. Trump is its product.
Rob, I’m not sure I can see any strong nopes on here for the US. Some of them we haven’t sunk all the way yet, but every single one we are on our way. The main one we haven’t gone all the way on yet is control of the press; we still do have at least a portion of the press that is feisty, and we aren’t yet jailing journalists, but there is a lot of complacence, quite a bit of control by advertisers who want to dictate programming, and a lot of self-censorship and constant false equivalency. I suspect when they achieve full bore control of the press, it will be with the full cooperation of the press (with a few outliers who will still try to fuss and fume, and maybe set up underground presses).
• Rampant racism
• Belief in the inherent superiority of ingroup members over outsiders
• Belief in the inherent fairness of inequality
• A cult of personality around the leader
• Endless rallies
• Paramilitary groups
• An obsession with weapons and uniforms
• A preference for brute force over reasoned argument
• Belief that willpower trumps physical reality
• Etc… etc…
Also important:
• Widespread paranoia and belief in conspiracy theories.
• Belief in an imagined golden age before “they” everything and talk of returning the nation to its former glory.
*before “they” ruined everything
I actually think that this:
• Belief in an imagined golden age before “they” everything and talk of returning the nation to its former glory.
Is basically what Democrats and/or liberals should embrace going forward (barring the imaginary part)… #MAGA may as well be the DNC slogan after all this garbage.
O/T, but the BBC is reporting increasing trouble on the West Bank; gunfire, tear gas and water cannons being used. Also, the UN Security Council is to make an appeal to America to reverse Trump’s decision. That’ll be a waste of breath!
Re #7 – “Make America Okay Again” would be as far as that goes; we weren’t great at the end of the Obama administration, but ye gads… This administration apparently thinks America was great in 1850 and we’re racing back to that.
That said, I fear the Democratic Party is likely to remain as centrist as can be and compromise on merely undoing a chunk of the Trump disaster. I do think that’s not just a moral but a political mistake too: the biggest problem the party has is voter apathy, and the biggest cause of that is the horrible compulsion to stay just a tiny bit to the left of the Republicans while assuming everyone to the left will have to vote with the Dems as the lesser of the evils. With the Republicans running on the Jefferson Davis platform, being just to their left is simply too disgusting to get many people to the ballot boxes.
A platform enthusiastically behind treating public means as tools to serve public ends, one in which justice and fairness are not objects on which to compromise, one that regards economic and social inequalities as evils to confront and smash – that’s one that people will support, and it would make the difference between the parties clear.
Fraudulent Elections – This is a major area of concern for me and has been for years. Voting machines are inherently insecure and should not be trusted without post-election audits. In Kansas, such audits are not done nor even allowed. Yes, you read that right – audits of election results are not permitted here. Thus our current system reports outcomes that are unverified and unverifiable. You can read about the work I’ve done on this issue at http://www.showmethevotes.org
Democratic slogan for the next Presidential election (assuming there is one) could well be “Remember America?”
Maybe “make America Good Again” MAGA v2.0
Drop the ‘G’ and just Make America Again.
America 2.0 beta.