American Authoritarianism
Federico Ruiz
When thinking of the United States of America , most people would agree that one of the first things to come to mind is the word freedom- with the o-so-glorious star-spangled banner and a bald eagle in the background . As do most democratic countries , the United States stands for everything related to freedom . Free speech , free press , and , most importantly , a free society : one of the lines in the U . S national anthem even says “ o ’ er the land of the free ”! From a young age , American children learn about all of history ’ s most notable dictators . Authoritarians like Hitler , Stalin , Zedong , and countless others are included in this roster . However , while pupils learn about these leaders from afar , a similar threat is looming even closer than anyone thought . In his bid to seize power through Machiavellian means , Donald Trump became exactly what the American public feared : a full-blown authoritarian .
One of the first stamps of an authoritarian are his faithful followers . After a study was done and published in the Washington Times , it was actually revealed that Trump supporters tend to hold more authoritarian , anti-democratic beliefs . The same publishers of this study also argued that “ Trump has tapped into a current of authoritarianism in the American electorate , one that ’ s bubbled just below the surface for years ” ( Ingraham , 2020 ). Previously unpublished data gathered from a nationwide survey also showed that a salient desire for strong authoritarian leadership , as well as high levels of antidemocratic beliefs , were found amidst Trump supporters . A little over half of Trump supporters even indicated agreement with statements such as “ once our government leaders and the authorities condemn the dangerous elements in our society , it will be the duty of every patriotic citizen to help stomp out the rot that is poisoning our country from within ”.
Another common authoritarian principle is the belief that one must stay in power and suppress political enemies . Trump relentlessly attempted to overturn the election , doing things such as urging swing states to recount their votes and making baseless electoral fraud claims . one of the most shocking things out of all of this , though , is that during a phone call with the secretary of state Brad Raffensperger in reference to the election in the state of Georgia , he said , word by word , “ I just want to find 11,780 votes ”: as a reference , Joe Biden won Georgia by 11,779 votes .
Finally , the most delicious irony of them all : Trump supporters ’ ( and Trump ’ s ) attack on socialism . They claim that they don ’ t want socialism as they will have their freedoms taken away , yet seem to rank high on the authoritarian scale : which , according to the Cambridge dictionary , is literally defined as “ the belief that people must obey completely and not be allowed the freedom to act as they wish ”. They ’ re saying they don ’ t want something , but their attitudes and choices demonstrate the exact opposite . They do not seem to comprehend the difference between socialism and authoritarianism ( and that these two are not necessarily intertwined ). Trump ’ s unfruitful attempts at making asinine points about socialism is perhaps one of the clearest examples of his authoritarian rule : a suppression of all opposing political ideas .
For all these years , Trump has been exactly what his own supporters feared the most : someone who would take their precious freedom away . The fact that his authoritarianism passed unperceived by the masses is a huge demonstration of the ignorance that plagues America . Americans should focus their effort on learning more about politics in order to be more informed and culturized . It is through that , that we can truly make America great again .
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