10 Steps to Autocracy

I saw a yard sign today. It read, "Fight Truth Decay." It's funny and serious all at once.

"Yes, we know he's outrageous, but we've got it all under control." That seemed to be Republican sentiment in 2017. That sentiment is no longer valid, because it no longer matters. What matters is the complete demolition of democracy in the the pursuit of absolute power.

Autocracy

There are ten steps to complete control, and all of them are in play right now. (From a variety of online sources including The Authoritarian Playbook, The Conversation, and Stacey Abrams.

1. Exploiting divisions and polarizing society: Autocratic leaders often thrive on societal divisions, stoking fear and distrust among different groups, according to The Commons Social Change Library.
2. Attacking independent institutions: This includes undermining the media, judiciary, and other checks and balances within a democratic system. They might attack these institutions through legal means or by installing loyalists.
3. Spreading disinformation and controlling information: Authoritarian regimes use propaganda and control media outlets to shape public perception and suppress dissenting voices.
4. Aggrandizing executive power: Leaders increase their authority, often through executive orders or constitutional changes, while weakening legislatures and other institutions that limit their power.
5. Targeting and silencing the opposition: This includes restricting the ability of political opponents and civil society organizations to operate, potentially through legal action, harassment, or violence.
6. Manipulating elections: While maintaining the facade of democracy, autocrats may rig elections through vote suppression, gerrymandering, or altering voting rules.
7. Exploiting nationalism and populism: Leaders appeal to a sense of national pride and popular resentment against elites or minorities to solidify their power base.
8. Using emergency powers to justify repression: Claiming a need to maintain order or address threats (real or perceived), leaders might declare states of emergency to bypass legal constraints and repress dissent.
9. Controlling the economy and rewarding loyalists: Autocratic leaders often use economic control and patronage networks to ensure elite support and keep the public dependent on the regime.
10. Exporting the model and collaborating with other autocracies: Authoritarian regimes may seek to expand their influence internationally and exchange strategies for maintaining power. 

Now what?

A United Front!

"Trumpism… is primarily about the acquisition of power — power for its own sake. It is a multifront assault to make the earth a playground for ruthless men, so of course any institutions that might restrain power must be weakened or destroyed. Trumpism is about ego, appetite and acquisitiveness and is driven by a primal aversion to the higher elements of the human spirit — learning, compassion, scientific wonder, the pursuit of justice. …

What is happening now is not normal politics. We’re seeing an assault on the fundamental institutions of our civic life, things we should all swear loyalty to — Democrat, independent or Republican. It’s time for a comprehensive national civic uprising. It’s time for Americans in universities, law, business, nonprofits and the scientific community, and civil servants and beyond to form one coordinated mass movement. Trump is about power. The only way he’s going to be stopped is if he’s confronted by some movement that possesses rival power. …I’m really not a movement guy. I don’t naturally march in demonstrations or attend rallies that I’m not covering as a journalist. But this is what America needs right now.” -David Brooks

We hold the future in our hands

Despite the Chaos

This morning I choose to share some hopeful words from David Brooks in an article written for the Atlantic, I Should Have Seen This Coming.

 "I have thought of America as a deeply flawed nation that is nonetheless a force for tremendous good in the world. From Abraham Lincoln to Franklin D. Roosevelt to Ronald Reagan and beyond, Americans fought for freedom and human dignity and against tyranny; we promoted democracy, funded the Marshall Plan, and saved millions of people across Africa from HIV and AIDS. When we caused harm—Vietnam, Iraq—it was because of our overconfidence and naivete, not evil intentions."

Included in the message is a call to action to stand up for a hopeful future that lifts all of us up. There are signs of movement, people are beginning to push back against the authoritarian rule of the Trump administration. 

Cory Booker's speech on the Senate floor. 

The lawyer in Michigan who is taking on cases defending the civil rights of foreign students despite being detained by immigration and customs officials. They wanted access to his cellphone.

The protests last Saturday. 

Sermons on the dignity of humankind. 

Richard Blumenthal's hold on nominations of Trump's appointees should be a starting point.

Brooks Says...

 "In the long term, Trumpism is doomed. Power without prudence and humility invariably fails. Nations, like people, change not when times are good but in response to pain. At a moment when Trumpism seems to be devouring everything, the temptation is to believe that this time is different." 

"But history doesn’t stop moving. Even now, as I travel around the country, I see the forces of repair gathering in neighborhoods and communities. If you’re part of an organization that builds trust across class, you’re fighting Trumpism. If you’re a Democrat jettisoning insular faculty-lounge progressivism in favor of a Whig-like working-class abundance agenda, you’re fighting Trumpism. If you are standing up for a moral code of tolerance and pluralism that can hold America together, you’re fighting Trumpism."

"Over time, changes in values lead to changes in relationships, which lead to changes in civic life, which eventually lead to changes in policy and then in the general trajectory of the nation. It starts slow, but as the Book of Job says, the sparks will fly upward."

Dignity

It isn't my imagination that we used to be able to talk to one another. Cultish tribalism was on the fringes. Lincoln was right when he spoke about a house divided. The issue he was speaking about was slavery. The issue today is about raw power, and brutish acts aimed at denying human dignity to all that might stand in the way of attainment of that power.

“A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved—I do not expect the house to fall—but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing, or all the other."

Spring is a time for hope

 

Easter Delivers Messages Hope

You just have to listen.

Our Lord has written the promise of resurrection, not in books alone, but in every leaf in springtime. MLK, Jr.

I've lived through turbulent times. It has made me resilient.

 On the evening of April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King was assassinated. He was fatally shot while standing on the balcony of a motel in Memphis, where King had traveled to support a sanitation workers’ strike. In the wake of his death, a wave of riots swept major cities across the country, while President Johnson declared a national day of mourning. (History Channel)

Seven days earlier President Johnson spoke to the American people on television's most watched night. "With America's sons in the fields far away, with America's future under challenge right here at home, with our hopes and the world's hopes for peace in the balance every day, I do not believe that I should devote an hour or a day of my time to any personal partisan causes or to any duties other than the awesome duties of this office — the presidency of this country," he said he would not run for re-election. He feared growing animosity and partisanship would irreparably divide us. 

The night of April 4th, Bobbie Kennedy quelled a riot with an impassioned speech in Indianapolis. These are the most remembered words, "What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence or lawlessness, but is love and wisdom, and compassion toward one another, and a feeling of justice towards those who still suffer within our country, whether they be white or whether they be black." A little over two months later Bobbie Kennedy was assassinated. 

We have not healed from our dysfunction brought about by continued fear of the other, bigotry, hatred, and racism. 

It's Easter. 

Jesus brought a message of hope, that all are created equal in the eyes of God, that we are to love on another, no exceptions. Is anybody listening? 

You might be asking, "Jesus and the Christians? Aren't they all about exclusion? And what do they have to do with social justice? Quite a lot, actually.

A Christian vision of social justice

Conservative columnist David Brooks recently wrote an article about Christian Justice.

Brooks interviewed Esau McCaulley, a New Testament professor at Wheaton College and a contributing writer for New York Times opinion. "He described a distinctly Christian vision of social justice I found riveting and a little strange (in a good way) and important for everybody to hear, Christian and non-Christian, believer and nonbeliever." 

 

"This vision begins with respect for the equal dignity of each person. It is based on the idea that we are all made in the image of God."

 

"Racism is a sin enmeshed with other sins, like greed and lust. Some people don’t like “sin” talk. But to cast racism as a sin is useful in many ways."

 

"A struggle against a sin is not the work of a week or a year, since sin keeps popping back up. But this vision has led to some of the most significant social justice victories in history: William Wilberforce’s fight against the slave trade, the Rev. Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s and the Confessing Church’s struggle against Nazism. And, of course, Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil rights movement."

Be resilient. Join me.

Civil Discourse in the Age of Hostility

It Won't Be Easy

A recent study by Pew Research suggests there's an increasing partisan divide in this country. There's evidence of divisions within Republicans and Democrats not just between Republicans and Democrats. The Republican coalition is divided by immigration, global economic engagement, acceptance of homosexuality. The four groups in the Democratic coalition differ on a number of issues: While they all strongly support the social safety net, the Democratic-leaning groups are divided on government regulation of business, and government performance more generally. And like the GOP coalition, they disagree on U.S. global involvement.

Throw into this mix the partisan politics that result in a do nothing congress and the divisive nature of presidential politics and you have people who more are willing to call each other names than to look for commonalities to solve problems. According to the report the extremists on both sides are the most likely to be politically active and, therefore, have the most influence. The Pew Study says, "The power of partisanship is reflected in attitudes about Donald Trump. In the survey, conducted in June, Trump’s job ratings are more deeply polarized along partisan lines than those of any president in more than 60 years."

I think it's explained by an anonymous source as, "There's my enlightened point of view...everybody else is a brain dead zealot." There's not a whole lot of room for conversation after that, nor was anybody invited to interject anything constructive. Angry tweets laced with name calling do not lend themselves to mutually agreeable outcomes.

The Answer

Civil discourse is engagement in discourse intended to enhance understanding. ... David Gergen describes civil discourse as "the language of dispassionate objectivity", and suggests that it requires respect of the other participants, such as the reader.

Our local paper (yes, I still read the paper), until recently, included commentary on a daily basis with columnists from the left and right. It was something I looked forward to. I enjoyed the multiple viewpoints on issues facing all of us. These were thoughtful and well-considered viewpoints which pretty much eliminates people who think the earth is flat. I think the reasoned and thoughtful discussion is important to gain a better perspective of what the other side is offering. If we just yell at each other, nothing will get accomplished.

Conservative Columnist David Brooks of the New York Times recently wrote a column about dealing with fanaticism. Brooks mentions four incidents within the past two weeks. The first was at a Nationals game. A pro Trump supporter went into a 10 minute, profanity laced tirade directed at Brooks, his wife and his son.Then he watched a debate among students about whether extremists should be allowed on campus. In Spain Brooks is told by leaders in Madrid that there was no way to have constructive discussions with separatists. Finally, Brooks was with pro-Brexit and anti-Brexit activists trying to have a civil conversation with one another. The conclusion he reaches is biblical. Love your enemy.

Brooks suggests you listen and engage. Paraphrase what is being said to show you're interested instead of attacking back. "Finally, it’s best to greet fanaticism with love for the sake of the country. As Stephen L. Carter points out in his 1998 book, Civility, the best abolitionists restrained their natural hatred of slaveholders because they thought the reform of manners and the abolition of slavery were part of the same cause — to restore the dignity of every human being."

Civility, Carter writes, “is the sum of the many sacrifices we are called to make for the sake of living together.”

If you're looking for the biblical passage about loving your enemy, here are two... Luke 6:27-36  and  Matthew 5:43-48. 

Civility is not not saying negative or harsh things. It is not the absence of critical analysis. It is the manner in which we are sharing this territorial freedom of political discussion. If our discourse is yelled and screamed and interrupted and patronized, that's uncivil. -Richard Dreyfuss
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