This website is dedicated to my novels and the writing process, as well as advocacy for human rights.
A college buddy recently re-entered my life on Facebook, mocking my alarm at the emboldened fascism of the new U.S. administration.
I didn’t know the Jews r worried Elon and Trump are vicious Nazis who will gas chamber them and other inferior minorities? Man will the hispanics and the blacks be pissed because they sure voted a lot for Trump. Wouldn’t that be ironic?
He probably doesn’t know that I studied so much history during our college days, with a focus on the rise of fascism in the 20th Century, that I accidently got a second major for my bachelor’s degree. I’ve walked through concentration camps. I’ve stood in the gas chambers. Something awful still lingers there, as does a tragedy for which Humankind has no words. So instead of responding with equal sarcasm, and ignoring how he unconsciously described minorities as “inferior”, I put my degree to use.
It doesn’t start with gas chambers. We all know this.
Like all successful bullies, the Authoritarian is more cunning than intelligent, recognizing that threats, bombast, and lies will be more effective than reason. In this way, he camouflages his weakness and impotence as a strength that people truly believe.
And to be perceived as strong, the bully picks on the weak. They are but the backs that must be trodden on the climb to power. The Undesirables must be identified. The Other. They are named Enemies to give the people something to rally around. It is better to be one of Us than one of Them. And the People buy into it because they respect and fear and covet the Power. More often than not, they are the regular people and the downtrodden, not those marching with torches or hanging nooses from trees. Over and again, they have been told they are powerless – these Enemies have taken their power, their jobs, their money, and the lives of their fellow citizens. The People used to be great, but no longer. Convinced, they actually relinquish power and critical thinking for pretty promises that their lives will improve. Promises without a plan, though like all great salespeople, he’s manufactured a need in people for the thing he’s selling.
And lo, their salvation is at hand.
They only need a strong ruler who’s willing to make the tough calls that weaker leaders couldn’t. Little lies are ok. Tough words are just words. Anyways, he’s saying the things they want to hear, even if they don’t love the way he says it: they can be as great as they used to be, even if they’re unable to articulate what that actually means. They are in awe of his infallibility (it’s always someone else’s fault) and of all the successes that could only have happened because he was in power.
But adoration and anger are not enough. People need to be inflamed. Dehumanizing language is used. These enemies are animals, an infestation. They are rapists and murderers and crazed. An invasion. They are poisoning our blood. Hate speech and hate crimes increase exponentially, as the rhetoric and threats become more vitriolic and despicable.
The free press is demonized. They are also enemies. Puppets. They are the Lying Press, and all criticism of the Authoritarian is politically motivated, of course. Loyalist publications are created to spread propaganda and attack any citizen, business, or entity perceived to be disloyal. Loyalists delight in Others being trolled and threatened. Businesses are among the first to bend to the pressure because their success is inextricably connected to the new administration. Often purposefully for financial gain.
Other political parties are vilified, their failed policies are amongst the rot that’s ruined the country’s greatness. We certainly can’t blame the Authoritarian’s terrible policies (or lack of actual, coherent, or legal policies). Ironically, the Authoritarian is able to claim credit for successful policies he inherited. Imagine how much more successful he would be if only the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches weren’t all in on the fix.
Certain laws or pieces of a constitution should be attacked or abolished because they keep the Authoritarian in check (especially those protecting speech, assembly, religion, citizenship, voting, and the succession of elected officials). Red herrings, propaganda, and lies are used to misdirect citizens into voting for Party Loyalists. Lost elections are evidence of corruption (who cares if there’s no evidence?). Consequently, the political party has been transformed into an extension of the Authoritarian and is no longer recognizable. It is now The Party. Civil servants (more Puppets!) are pushed out to make room for sycophants whose primary qualification is Party loyalty. Lack of empathy or cruelty are a bonus.
Education is deprioritized in favor of dogma and the perspective of The Party. Mistrust in science is fostered, much to the delight of the religious zealots. The citizenry’s ability to think critically is diminished because they are consuming only a single perspective of things, The Party Message.
Certain conservative religions are courted to attract a greater segment of people and to give the Authoritarian a divine cause, though religion is a convenient means to an end and he doesn’t have a particularly strong faith or conviction in anything but himself. The devout celebrate his coming, believing they have been unfairly persecuted, even as they enjoy more privilege than many of the Others. They believe they are victims dragged into a culture war that seeks to destroy their religion: everything from their ability to celebrate it or pray freely, even though the opposite is true. They proclaim their devotion to him louder than their faith, though these two things soon become indistinguishable. As party and religion align, they can better amplify their perverse messages of anger and hate against progressive religions, foreign religions, LGBTQ+, and certain other minorities. Extreme religious law must trump the Will of the People. The Good Samaritan has been forgotten.
Iconography is adapted. Party flags are flown where people once proudly flew the nation’s colors. Patriotism becomes jingoism becomes populism becomes nationalism. White nationalism. Ironically, those who might be excluded still gravitate to the Party, perhaps thinking, “It’s not people like me. It’s the Others he keeps talking about.” It’s a kind of reverse Stockholm Syndrome. Or perhaps they’re attracted to the power or the new religion or the promise of a better life.
Rallies are held. True spectacles that become spiritual in nature for attendees, with lies and propaganda soothing the wounds that Others have caused. Fabricated grievances are aired. Attendees know they are special, because only the Chosen are invited, though a caste system has begun to emerge, separating the rich and the skilled from the poor and unskilled. Regardless, rich and poor alike become devoted, and no amount of time or money is too much to give, especially for the lower caste which has been thoroughly disenfranchised by The Party Message. For the most privileged, what had been seen as a means to an end – wealth, fame, power – actually becomes a Cause.
Loyal prisoners are released, their sins praised. They were political prisoners and hostages, you see, not violent offenders and insurrectionists who received the full, just, due process of law. Martyrs for the Cause. When the Authoritarian is convicted of crimes, it is just further proof of the corruption of the system.
The nation’s allies are pushed away or abandoned, while other authoritarian regimes are courted. Treaties are violated; pacts and agreements are reneged. The world becomes destabilized, though the Authoritarian’s country has a brief period of perceived strength. Like all his messages, this too is an empty con.
Police are granted greater authority, and violence is encouraged. Innocent citizens are caught up in raids. The blue wall of silence is perverted and abused. The military is asked to take part in policing, which means soldiers will be asked to turn their weapons on citizens. They will be ordered to treat requests for aid and asylum by starving people as acts of an invading force, a war brought to our borders.
Citizens’ ability to freely travel is restricted via government documents, based on criteria like religion or gender. Neighbors are encouraged to inform on neighbors, as are government employees to prove their loyalty to The Party. Ways of identifying and cataloguing the Other are created. They are rounded up, their neighborhoods terrorized, innocent and guilty alike.
Internment camps are established. Call them “detention camps” or “re-education camps”, because that makes people feel more comfortable about their conditions and their legality. The Others’ right to due process, as well as their human rights, are violated with the excuse that they are not citizens or have committed biblical sin. Guilty until never proven innocent. Families are separated. Children are lost in the system. Cruelty is the point. You are not welcome.
Eventually, more camps are needed because more enemies – new enemies – have been identified. If people continue to fear, they continue to relinquish their rights. Willingly. Gratefully. The caricatures of the Others are scary indeed. They don’t want to be next.
Eventually, the plight of the Others is forgotten. People who are out of sight are out of mind. The Authoritarian’s self-fulfilling prophecy has been achieved.
Throughout these times, the Loyal cling harder to their beliefs in the face of criticism of family and friends, again returning to the old self-deception that they are being unfairly persecuted. They are grateful their great culture is not being replaced with something lesser.
Or worse, people become inured to bad things happening to other humans. There’s relief in it happening to someone else. There’s absolution in knowing the right people in power made the right decision. Your personal morality is intact.
They do not understand that the ravenous cravings of the Authoritarian can never be satisfied. Nor can that of his loyalist underlings. Power always wants more power.
This, literally all of this, describes both Nazi Germany and America over the last 10 years and America’s emerging plan for the next 4. So no, we’re not at the gas chambers yet. But why are we on the same road?
He didn’t reply. Who could in the face of such factual historical comparison?
If that seemed long, well, this kind of takeover doesn’t happen overnight. The Nazis’ Beerhall Putsch (first attempt to overthrow the government) occurred in 1923. They regrouped and learned from this failure and turned it into an unfathomably inhumane success. Their government fell 22 years later, leaving more than 3% of the world’s population dead. In the last decade in America, the first tenets of their vile philosophy have been nurtured and allowed to flourish. And welcomed.
It must stop.
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Thanks for reading! Human rights are at the heart of all my writing. If you also believe in advocating for human rights, freedom, and equality, please like or share this post to ensure more people see it. Thanks!
Mike
(C) January 2025
The Lost Royals 