What the title says. The federal government is incrementally eroding our rights in ways that aren’t going to put people on the streets with guns immediately, but where in a year or two we will wake up one day and realize that we are afraid to speak our minds, to vote for the opposition candidate, or to go outside. Our freedom of movement, speech, conscience, our right to own guns, our right to vote, and our right to conduct commerce will be subjected to federal restriction. Congress, even under a majority democratic house and senate, will do nothing. The supreme court is toothless. At best, state governors will bang theirs fists against their podiums on TV, but the national guards will be nationalized to herd us into concentration camps for opposing the federal government. Attorneys general will waste months in useless court cases, and the white house will simply ignore the ruling. There is absolutely nothing stopping the federal government from doing this right now, and I doubt any semblance of opposition beyond tweeting and complaining on social media will materialize. Governors, Judges, Mayors, Senators, Congressmen will be arrested and replaced with government approved candidates. The United States will cease to even resemble a democracy.
change my view
Currently 52% of US voters believe that trump should be impeached again. I wouldn’t say it’s impossible that the trump regime aspires to put liberal citizens into concentration camps, but I would say that they don’t have the numbers or the logistical capability to accomplish it.
There are about 2-3 police officers at most per 1000 US citizens on average. The US military has about twice the amount of active duty members as the total of US police officers. Military is 2-3x as large as police in other words. So you could add them all together for a worse case scenario of population versus cops & military, and you’d have 8-9 versus 1000 average ratio.
They could start some shit, but they don’t have the numbers to finish it. They can’t take us all.
They don’t need to outnumber the entire US population. First of all, a huge chunk are already blindly following anything without any critical thought. That erases, what, two or three hundred out of every 1000. Then they just need to construct a narrative that keeps most of the remaining people apathetic. Enlightened centrists, apathetic leftists, people too poor or too financially desperate to engage politically, they will prop up the regime unwittingly through inaction. That’s another three or four hundred. The remaining people willing to oppose will have limitations, either of resources (materials, money, guns, etc.), or capabilities (too old or with disabilities). So, realistically, those odds transform into 10 agents per 50 to 100 people. With access to massive wells of resources, it is perfectly feasible to submit an entire country with those proportions.
This is not to be pessimistic. But I have seen this exact same scenario operate in dozens of countries all across the world, and history. The biggest collaborator group of fascist regimes are the people who have been convinced or convinced themselves that laying low and pretending nothing is wrong is better. Those just minding their own business, not political, or wanting to move on with their lives and just being oblivious in general people are what keeps dictators in power.
The solution is extreme organization. Organize, promote opposition, get people to talk to each other regularly, meet in person, construct stable relationships and build a sense of community, belonging and radical empathy. Else, intelligence forces will tear any opposition apart.