Christopher Hitchens warned us: 'The essence of tyranny is not iron law. It is capricious law.' MAGA follows no principle, only loyalty. It rewrites the rules not for justice, but for revenge.
I truly appreciate developing a better understanding of the world around me by reading informative articles by intelligent people. Thank you for providing this opportunity!
This was a fantastic piece. It helps to remember that you cannot argue facts with MAGA because they are not rational or fact-based. You've laid this out very well. Thanks for the work!
Thank you for reading the article. Sadly, MAGA will never argue from a point of objectivity. It will always be loyalty and identity. What happened with Iran is a prim example. They claimed to be the party of peace, but now they're grasping at straws because their leader did the unexpected, and they cant make him look bad, so they're justifying it.
This clearly articulates why trying to suss out a position with a maga is a waste of time. But I’m taking a lot of notes from this. Finally as another author aptly noted - Trump summoned these people. Summoned is spot on.
The psycho-social aspect of how this occurs is not highlighted enough. Most of us think we’re immune from the effects but it’s a daily fact of life. Being able to recognize it, for what it is, is the only way for us to change ourselves and to see it in every aspect of our lives and the world.
If learning history in combination with social sciences were part of our education, the cause/effect would be engrained in us. We could see it forming because it ALWAYS follows the same basic steps.
But, it hasn’t been and what little we did have is being obliterated. If learning history helps us to not repeat it, it has to be taught with context.
If we ever have a chance to rebuild our democracy, this should be part of it.
Got it. MAGA and Invasion of the Body Snatchers have a lot in common (Donald Sutherland version). It took total devastation to enlighten Nazi Germany about Hitler. What's it going to take here in America?
Its unstoppable because we want free societies. If we start controlling what societies do to prevent authoritarianism, we become the authoritarians. Freedom is something that will always need to be defended through this framework.
Yes, and that’s why republics are fragile by design. They require constant maintenance, not passive belief. The best defense against authoritarianism is education; real, critical education. We need to teach how oppression operates on multiple levels: from systemic classism to genocide. Oppression exists on a scale, and understanding that spectrum is essential. We also have to prepare people to recognize manipulation, when someone tries to downplay their own group's power or convince others that their oppression 'doesn’t count,' or that theirs is the only one that matters. Authoritarianism thrives on that kind of division. So yes, the answer is education, but not just facts. We need to teach empathy, intersectionality, and how power masks itself.
At a certain point, you stop convincing and start containing.
Those who actively uphold systems of oppression, who benefit from it, know it, and double down, are not confused. They’re committed. They’ve made their peace with inequality because it serves them. And no amount of education will undo what loyalty to power has calcified.
That’s when change can’t rely on persuasion alone, it must rely on pressure. Not revolution, but structural disempowerment. These people don’t need to be debated. They need to be removed from positions of influence, stripped of their ability to dictate policy, culture, or rights. You don’t beg the arsonist to stop torching the house, you cut off their access to matches.
And no, that’s not authoritarianism. It’s democratic self-preservation. A republic has every right, and every duty, to defend itself against those who would dismantle it from within under the banner of “tradition” or “order.”
Because if you wait until the oppressors are convinced, you’re already living in their world.
Jim, your question is what bothers me most…how do we dissuade this acceptance of authoritarianism? It seems we need the perseverance of waves eroding a cliff and not a tsunami in order to get people to reflect on what’s going on. And God, I wish campaign financing was outlawed and not supported by Citizens United (and the Supreme Court’s decision on presidential immunity).
The authoritarian playbook plays on the weaknesses and dark side of human nature, making it difficult, if not impossible to stop once it is put in motion. Remember, the only thing that got rid of the Nazis was the combined military power of the Allied nations.
What stops it is a swift and uncompromising response from the existing elites to keep the authoritarians from getting started. In modern Germany, the establishment CDU shuts down authoritarianism by not giving the far right the time of day. They'd rather work with the Greens. In France, the mainstream parties agreed to an electoral strategy to deny Marine LePen a parliamentary majority in the second round. The masses cannot stop authoritarianism (because authoritarians play on the worst instincts of the masses and will adapt accordingly) only the elites can.
When elites think that they can negotiate with or co-opt the authoritarian movement, they have sealed their own fate.
I truly appreciate developing a better understanding of the world around me by reading informative articles by intelligent people. Thank you for providing this opportunity!
This was a fantastic piece. It helps to remember that you cannot argue facts with MAGA because they are not rational or fact-based. You've laid this out very well. Thanks for the work!
Thank you for reading the article. Sadly, MAGA will never argue from a point of objectivity. It will always be loyalty and identity. What happened with Iran is a prim example. They claimed to be the party of peace, but now they're grasping at straws because their leader did the unexpected, and they cant make him look bad, so they're justifying it.
This clearly articulates why trying to suss out a position with a maga is a waste of time. But I’m taking a lot of notes from this. Finally as another author aptly noted - Trump summoned these people. Summoned is spot on.
Yyyyy
The psycho-social aspect of how this occurs is not highlighted enough. Most of us think we’re immune from the effects but it’s a daily fact of life. Being able to recognize it, for what it is, is the only way for us to change ourselves and to see it in every aspect of our lives and the world.
If learning history in combination with social sciences were part of our education, the cause/effect would be engrained in us. We could see it forming because it ALWAYS follows the same basic steps.
But, it hasn’t been and what little we did have is being obliterated. If learning history helps us to not repeat it, it has to be taught with context.
If we ever have a chance to rebuild our democracy, this should be part of it.
Got it. MAGA and Invasion of the Body Snatchers have a lot in common (Donald Sutherland version). It took total devastation to enlighten Nazi Germany about Hitler. What's it going to take here in America?
Is this authoritarian playbook unstoppable?
Its unstoppable because we want free societies. If we start controlling what societies do to prevent authoritarianism, we become the authoritarians. Freedom is something that will always need to be defended through this framework.
But without such control, free societies will collapse into authoritarianism.
The paradox is as old as Plato.
Yes, and that’s why republics are fragile by design. They require constant maintenance, not passive belief. The best defense against authoritarianism is education; real, critical education. We need to teach how oppression operates on multiple levels: from systemic classism to genocide. Oppression exists on a scale, and understanding that spectrum is essential. We also have to prepare people to recognize manipulation, when someone tries to downplay their own group's power or convince others that their oppression 'doesn’t count,' or that theirs is the only one that matters. Authoritarianism thrives on that kind of division. So yes, the answer is education, but not just facts. We need to teach empathy, intersectionality, and how power masks itself.
How do you convince the “in group” that oppression isn’t in their best interest?
Put another way, “white supremacy” sounds like a good deal for white people.
At a certain point, you stop convincing and start containing.
Those who actively uphold systems of oppression, who benefit from it, know it, and double down, are not confused. They’re committed. They’ve made their peace with inequality because it serves them. And no amount of education will undo what loyalty to power has calcified.
That’s when change can’t rely on persuasion alone, it must rely on pressure. Not revolution, but structural disempowerment. These people don’t need to be debated. They need to be removed from positions of influence, stripped of their ability to dictate policy, culture, or rights. You don’t beg the arsonist to stop torching the house, you cut off their access to matches.
And no, that’s not authoritarianism. It’s democratic self-preservation. A republic has every right, and every duty, to defend itself against those who would dismantle it from within under the banner of “tradition” or “order.”
Because if you wait until the oppressors are convinced, you’re already living in their world.
Which is exactly my point from upthread.
The problem now is that you need the power to be able to stop them.
Jim, your question is what bothers me most…how do we dissuade this acceptance of authoritarianism? It seems we need the perseverance of waves eroding a cliff and not a tsunami in order to get people to reflect on what’s going on. And God, I wish campaign financing was outlawed and not supported by Citizens United (and the Supreme Court’s decision on presidential immunity).
The authoritarian playbook plays on the weaknesses and dark side of human nature, making it difficult, if not impossible to stop once it is put in motion. Remember, the only thing that got rid of the Nazis was the combined military power of the Allied nations.
What stops it is a swift and uncompromising response from the existing elites to keep the authoritarians from getting started. In modern Germany, the establishment CDU shuts down authoritarianism by not giving the far right the time of day. They'd rather work with the Greens. In France, the mainstream parties agreed to an electoral strategy to deny Marine LePen a parliamentary majority in the second round. The masses cannot stop authoritarianism (because authoritarians play on the worst instincts of the masses and will adapt accordingly) only the elites can.
When elites think that they can negotiate with or co-opt the authoritarian movement, they have sealed their own fate.
Thanks for this Jim.
Great article! I would love to make flyers and post this everywhere.