Trump's Plans for the Oil Industry

[Dill]

(05-13-2024, 11:06 PM)Mike M (the other one) Wrote:  Whatever dude. If just because he has some Authoritarian tendencies doesn't make him an Authoritarian. 
That's like saying if a guy kisses another guy, he is a homosexual? You are trying hard to skip steps. US cannot and never will have an Authoritarian in charge with out a major event and it aint happening in Trumps lifetime no matter what the media tells you.

Well the bolded is open for discussion, isn't it?  A guy who humiliates subordinates, describes immigrants in dehumanizing language, demands flattery, unnecessarily (and against tradition) sped up executions his last months in office, constantly violated rule of law to stay in power when he was president--up to actually attempting a coup--and now vows vengeance on his enemies--how does all that amount to no more than "tendencies"?  

You seem to argue the US just can't ever have an Authoritarian in charge, so if Trump is elected it will mean he is not an authoritarian, regardless of his behavior.  The mass of voters ready elect Trump clearly includes people either blind to the authoritarian behavior or ready to endorse it. 

Whyever would you suppose I rely on "the media" to judge this? As a close reader of both Plato and Aristotle, I can readily see in Trump's behavior their description of the rising tyrants which cursed early Greek democracies--e.g., both authors agree they arise from "the people" to attack a perceived elite, presenting themselves as heroes of the Demos, initially promising them all manner of politic gifts, including revenge, and asking for ever more power to "protect" the people, first against internal, then external enemies. They do not tolerate others with exceptional talents for leadership or advice, choosing flatterers and what we call "yes-men" for advisors rather than those who speak truth to power, punishing resistance wherever they encounter it, and savoring public humiliation of subordinates. That's just the first stage. When I see a ring of Cabinet Secretaries and staff take turns telling the Dear Leader how much they appreciate the chance to serve him, or "manly" Republican men who have suffered egregious personal insults flocking to Mar a Lago to win back approval, or a poll which shows over 55 million believe the leader if he says the election was rigged, I don't need "the media" to explain what is happening. 

This is a very old pattern, but also much studied in 20th century history, where more indicators have been added--anti-feminism, party trust in a Dear Leader, who speaks of purging "poison" from the body politic, sows distrust of free press, the courts, and government via an electronic propaganda campaign to whip up division and constitutional crisis which only he can resolve.  Now the rise of authoritarianism is a global 21st century concern, as so many democracies are experiencing what political scientists call "autocratization" or democratic backsliding. Notice on the Economist' map below how the US has already taken a step down from "full" to "flawed" democracy.

My concern is not necessarily that an authoritarian will "take over" permanently and change our form of government, though that is certainly possible. My more immediate fear is that the US will elect an authoritarian and his behavior will precipitate a constitutional/democratic crisis which could dwarf the turmoil of the '60s. And it's not clear what shape our institutions might have after that. All at a time when an autocratic Russia and China are challenging the liberal world order the US has underwritten since 1945.