In the late 1930s, an American businessman was traveling in Europe , representing his company as their foreign markets buyer. Spending time in Germany, he began to take notice of events, especially in the cities. In addition, there were some curious broadcasts on the radio newscasts. He began to see things like young people in brown shirts going about yelling slogans against groups of people, especially jews. He witnessed the burning of piles of books in the squares while crowds cheered. He read about the rise of a political party named the national socialist worker party, or Nazi, led by a man named Adolf Hitler. He also heard reports on the radio which gave accounts of the end of World War I which, having had close relatives who fought in that war and told true accounts, seemed rather inaccurate, to say the very least. What was happening here, he often asked himself and posed those same questions in letters back to his home in the states. Once back home, he again raised those questions and, not too long after, the answers came to light. The new “ political party “ took over the country, the constant spewing of outright lies continued and the persecution and slaughter of millions of jewish people began, amidst the wave after wave of lies about who was to blame for all the ills besetting that country, particularly the financial demise.We can all recall, then, the eventual outcome of it all with the price paid on so many levels being enormous.

Fast forward to the current time. While anyone who follows social movements was aware of the presence of fringe groups and even extreme fringe groups out there, we were content to watch them as long as they stayed out on the fringe. This turned out to be a mistake though there was little anyone or any counter movement could do about it all. Then came the election cycle of 2015. Beginning in 2012 with his birther conspiracy theories, a prime candidate for the White House rose to the front and announced his candidacy for the presidency with completely unhinged rants about immigrants from various countries and how he would protect us all from “ invasions “. The catering to those extreme fringe groups had begun and they now they had a pathway to the front of the political agenda. Throughout the campaign, the candidate spent his time spewing rants about all the ills in this country bought about by immigrants and the evils of the “ far left “ whose liberal antics were ruining this country. In spite of losing the popular vote by over three million votes and with the help of a key adversary nation, the campaign was successful, the adverse side of the Electoral College system became quite evident and we now had a known grifter and pathological liar and his family sitting in the Oval Office.

Over the next four years, we saw not only an incredible sense of political paranoia about an imagined “deep state takeover” emanating from the White House but a likewise extreme right wing power grab in congress. The openly shift toward an authoritarian government, with the full support and, in fact, leadership from the Oval Office was in full gear. However, this wave of far right tactics was not limited to inside the Beltway. The outright lies continued with groups outside the beltway and on certain sympathetic so called news outlets. It spread to state legislatures as well and throughout the red state network, the power grabs and the far right legislative agenda surfaced with a vengeance. Strict and unreasonable anti-abortion laws were passed, having legislative mandates determining the outcome of women’s health issues. Blatant voter suppression laws were enacted, clearly designed to prevent large turn out particularly in minority communities. And then there was the banning of books which far right so called education committees deemed unfit for children and they were too “ woke”. One can well see the parallels to Berlin in the 1930s.
The final straw, as it were, was after that authoritarian leaning party lost the next presidential election by over seven million votes, the party actually attempted to overthrow the election and hence, overthrow the government, installing the losing occupant of the Oval Office back to the Office permanently. Again, the parallels are obvious.
The insurrection, while violent and deadly, was, in the end, unsuccessful and the rightfully elected president was inaugurated and took his place in the Oval Office. However, the trend toward authoritarianism not only continued but indeed intensified.
And so, here we are. It is three years past the election but the violence and the lunacy continues. Indeed, it is intensifying. Across the board, a significant segment of the body politic yet believes that the 2020 election was somehow stolen from their party of choice and as such, from their candidate of choice. He continues, in spite of being under scrutiny for a number of criminal activities, to spout this election fraud lies and his demands to be reinstated to the White House.

On a state level, the likewise extreme far right agenda is being pursued and, as more and more states are controlled by the party – the GOP – the more the outlandish actions continue. Wholesale gerrymandering as a way to curb minority voting, blatant discrimination against certain ethnic groups, inhumane laws against the LGBTQ community, controlling Boards of Education and furthering the banning of books. Sadly, to date, it all remains unchecked and the “ opposition party” seems incapable to address the multiple issues facing the public.

Where are we headed ? That question has been asked and answered by many already. That road to authoritarianism has long been travelled and, as one has called it, the road to perdition has been this nation’s route for almost three decades. Can the tide be turned ? Will this nation choose fascism over the republic and its representative governing charter ? Indeed, it can. However, so much will have to change and it must begin in haste with making serious changes in the level of vetting for members of ruling bodies – legislative bodies. both federal and state. From there, well we shall see but that is, for certain, the sine qua non for any salvation.