The events in Minneapolis last week, and a book I am presently reading by Heather Cox-Richardson called “Democracy Awakening”, prompted me to write this blog, which I have entitled “Brown Shirts” (Their insignia is the picture above). I named it after Hitler’s domestic police enforcers, who became the Gestapo. The pattern that ICE is currently following in the U.S. precisely mirrors that of the “Brown Shirts” evolution in Germany in the early 1930s. ICE’s strategy, and their tactics, are straight out of Hitler’s playbook when he took what was, debatably, a strong European democracy – Germany in the 1920s – and turned it into a dictatorship.
“Democracy Awakening” documents the steps that Hitler took, which are eerily similar to those Trump is following today.
Those steps are: (1) The use of specific, inciteful language and false history; (2) The promise to make groups of the population, that feel they have been left out, dominant again; (3) The downplay of the real conditions in the country with the narrative that it is the “enemies” who have cheated “true patriots” out of power; (4) The deliberate undermining of existing power structures and, as they collapse, the turning of people, who were previously apathetic about politics, into activists who see themselves as heroes reclaiming their country.
There is no attempt to persuade people to support real solutions but, instead, reinforce their fantasies of dominance and self-image in order to organize them into a mass movement. Once people internalize their leader’s propaganda, it doesn’t matter when pieces of it are proven to be lies, because it has become central to those followers’ identities. As the strongman becomes more and more destructive, his followers’ loyalties only increase. The next step doesn’t require the strongman to do anything because having begun to treat their perceived enemies badly, the followers need to believe their victims deserve it, so any attempt at turning against the leader who inspired such behavior would mean admitting they had been wrong, and that they, not their enemies, are evil. They are, by then, committed to their path and they cannot change direction.
Step (5) is to warp history to galvanize the “followers” into an authoritarian movement, and to insist that the new policies are simply following traditional natural, or religious, rules that portray a society based on hierarchies, rather than equality, and this makes the “followers believe they better than their enemies, and are the saviors of their nation; (6) The final step is to announce that following this new version of those natural rules is the only way of creating a clear path to a better nation, and that failing to do so will lead to terrible consequences.
As I said, Trump’s actions, and obvious pathway, not only accurately reflect Hitler’s playbook, he even uses the same words; that is. “enemies”, “reclaiming their country”, “their victims deserve it because they are evil”, “saviors of their nation”, “will lead to terrible consequences”. These words came out of Trump’s mouth in all of his campaign speeches, and continue to do so in almost all of his daily ramblings.
Succinctly, the plan is to CREATE A DISENCHANTED BASE, INSTITUTE A PRIVATE POLICE FORCE (Brown Shirts/ICE), CONTROL THE NARRATIVE WITH AN OVERWHELMING VOLUME OF ANNOUNCEMENTS/NOISE, INTIMIDATE THE POPULATION (Brown Shirts/ICE, BECOME A DICTATOR FOR LIFE (As with his self-appointment as Chairman for life of his Board of Peace and his threat to run for a fourth term), ENFORCE IT WITH THE PRIVATE POLICE FORCE (Gestapo/ICE??), GO TO WAR WITH ANYONE WHO DISAGREES WITH YOU (Individuals, groups, countries).
THE TRAJECTORY OF THESE STEPS IS PRETTY OBVIOUS BUT STOPPING IT, BEFORE IT REACHES THE POINT WHERE WE CAN’T STOP IT, WILL TAKE SOME CONCENTRATED EFFORT, DETERMINATION AND SACRIFICE.
To conclude, I have a couple of thoughts on how he could be stopped: Minneapolis staged a one-day strike. Why not organize that on a rolling basis in all major cities in the country – maybe one a week in a different city, on rotation. If nothing changes, and it won’t because almost no dictator has been known to willingly change course and suddenly become benevolent, then make that a two-day general strike and so on. That can only infuriate Trump, pushing him to make more and more irrational decisions until the country says “ENOUGH, OUT”.
I firmly believe, at this point, that only the people can get rid of him. No institution has shown the slightest intention of doing it, although several are crying about the situation.
As a side note: I would like to think Trump is a political anomaly, but my cynical nature keeps telling me that he isn’t, and his behavior actually reflects a large part of American history and American psyche – “Democracy Awakening” seems to confirm that cynicism.
The second thought, which is less likely to happen, is for the major powers in Europe to wait until the next Davos-type meeting, and, as Trump steps in front of the podium, to stand up in unison and walk out. Trump’s ego will explode and, dangerous though that might be, it may well signal his end.
Your thoughts please, before the “Brown Shirts” prohibit us from thinking and acting.
