Op-ed: A Chilling Thought Experiment

Close your eyes. Imagine it’s 1933 and you’re living in Germany. A hateful wannabe-dictator has democratically ascended to head the government. He is rapidly consolidating his control of every facet of the government.  He is firing everyone in positions of authority — including oversight officials whose job is to ensure accountability to the rule of law — and replacing them with sycophants who are loyal to the leader and to him alone. In particular, he fires any military or law enforcement officials who might objectively follow the country’s legal principles and norms, and replaces them with cronies willing to use force to carry out the leader’s agenda.

He bullies and demonizes anyone who disagrees with him, in the public, the legislature or the courts. He bans books that disagree with his viewpoints or that call for a more free and open society. And he targets universities, students, professors — anyone who thinks analytically based on scientific facts — for special demonization and retribution.  Without warning, his blackbooted thugs snatch people off the streets and “disappear” them. He claims these actions are necessary in order to protect (unspecified) national security objectives.

The leader’s single-minded goal appears to be consolidating his personal power, demolishing any opposition, and ensuring his authority far into the future. And, by the way, he wants to annihilate certain marginalized groups, creating a nation consisting only of “pure” people (who happen to be white and Christian).

Now open your eyes. Welcome to the United States barely two months after Donald Trump began his second term as president. We’re living in a shockingly similar scenario. Trump — with the help of the Heritage Foundation and billionaires like Elon Musk — has made it clear what path he will continue following.

It’s up to the rest of us to plan how we’ll confront this onslaught before it’s too late. Every day that this dictatorial trend continues unstopped, our job becomes harder to reverse the momentum and restore our democracy. We must mobilize as many people as possible — urgently — to take all kinds of non-violent action.

Examples of such action:

• talk about the erosion of democracy with your family/friends/religious and community groups;
• call/write your state/federal representatives; urge them to push back against authoritarian policies;
• help with drives to register voters and to get out the vote (GOTV);
• raise your concerns about democracy and the rule of law in public venues; and
• show up at rallies and protests.

There’s no time for complacency. Our house is on fire.