What is America Now?

What is America now? You may not have a ready answer, so here’s a multiple-choice quiz to help form your response. You have three selections:?

Choice A

Choice B

Choice C: both of the above ?

And here are the descriptions for each option: ?

• Choice A: Nazi Germany. I can hear the screeching already: “You can’t go there--that’s too far!” “This kind of comparison is offensive to Jewish people!” “Nobody here has sent anyone to the gas chambers!”

I hear all this—doesn’t matter. I’m not calling anyone Hitler—yet. But historically, it’s undeniable that what Trump is doing right now is exactly what the Nazis did to begin terrorizing Germany. The way they seized control nearly a hundred years ago is exactly what Trump is doing. It’s an instant replay. The brilliant Yale professor Timothy Snyder wrote a book called On Tyranny in 2017. It is, in effect, a 20-step user’s guide for building a dictatorship. The first three of his 20 are, (1) Don’t obey in advance, (2) Defend institutions, and (3) Beware the one-party state. The brown shirt Republicans in Congress--and many news organizations--are obeying in advance. Institutions are being destroyed on a whim. And one-party rule is now the rule of the land. If you’ve read history, there’s a reason all of this feels familiar.

• Choice B: Putin’s Russia. Aside from providing? a perfect test case for Snyder’s book, Putin provides his own template for America in 2025. ?Consider how Putin runs his nation:

All power is concentrated in a single leader.

All wealth is appropriated by a minute group of chosen oligarchs.

Everyone else struggles to survive.

Designated enemies of the leader are harassed, jailed and even murdered.

The first two steps are complete. The other two are on the way.

• Choice C: . Like a teen cover band, Trump is perfectly happy to copy the work of others. (But, of course, he will pay no royalties.) ?The people who lead Russia now…like Germany in the 1930’s…are Trump’s personal rock idols. In a matter of just weeks, historic damage has been done to America. But the playbook is far from fully deployed.

Most galling of all, the spear tip of this assault exists in a single human form: Elon Musk. He is a foreign-born, former immigrant, who came to this country and stayed long enough to legally ?violate the terms of his residency. But unlike our current undocumented immigrants from south of the border, Musk was never hounded by ICE agents. Instead, he had enough money to just buy his permanent occupation of America. He is the richest man in the world. But he was never elected to any office. And he works for a make-believe “agency” which is not a part of the government he’s now dismantling. His so-called agency is so evil and mystical it should only exist in a Harry Potter book.?? _

I sympathize with the parents of any son or daughter on the spectrum. But Musk is much more than that; he belongs to all of us. He is the poster child for all autism challenges; and he is now empowered to manically reinvent our government--and our democracy. ? ___

Finally, as the instructor who created this quiz, I want to let you know that unless you chose choice C—both of the above—unfortunately, you have flunked.

However, you will have ample time to study the problem…and request a retest.

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