Originally published at: Yale history professor Timothy Snyder predicts the horrific aftermath of a Trump coup in 2024 | Boing Boing
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wow man, i did NOT need to read this today.
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Still rooting for his imminent demise before 2024.
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I keep thinking of how we only avoided collapse in 2020 because most government officials of both parties fulfilled their sworn legal and Constitutional duties.
Wondering how many of those people have since quit because Trumpists have made their lives a living hell and were replaced by right-wing extremists.
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Dr. Snyder, who also coined the term “sado-populism” to describe the ideology that might give rise to such a coup/civil war/authoritarian federal government, is one of the best and most eloquent current authorities on these matters. Anyone who doesn’t read his articles is missing a big piece of the current picture.
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Historians aren’t here to cheer you up, we’re here to tell you the truth about the past and what it might mean for the future.
I think what people like Synder and David Stanley are trying to do here is to wake us up so we don’t go down those roads. The question is if we’ll listen to them, or dismiss them as “too alarmist”…
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Here’s one example. It’s sobering reading:
https://twitter.com/ItsStephPerera/status/1478836142950727680?s=20
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This is what I’ve been trying (and mostly failing) to say about the fealty of the military; he doesn’t have it. However, that probably results in far more violence and chaos as there isn’t an institution large or organized enough to restore “order”. Look at any authoritarian government collapse and you’ll inevitably find people lamenting the lack of stability, safety and rise in corruption and violence from self-appointed authorities. Expect to see all those yokels from Jan 6th being sprung from prison as political martyrs and their buddies driving looted Army Humvees with .50 cal guns mounted atop “policing” your neighborhood (as soon as they’re done purging the Black neighborhoods).
But hey, at least people are paying attention now. This shit was clear as glass five years ago.
After a nice perp walk to Riker’s Island, please.
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So how do we derail this slow-motion flaming train wreck of a cluster fuck? I feel like I’m screaming into the void.
I won’t give in to despair, but cheesus crust it’s getting harder every day.
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Wish it was up to me, but alas…
I tend to be realistic in my ‘optimism;’ he’s far more likely to drop dead before doing any actual jail time.
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I just want somebody who studies these things to tell me what New York and California would do in this situation.
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Yeah, and he’ll probably get more exercise in jail. The food is probably better than the trash he eats, too.
Now you’ve got me reconsidering this whole “prosecution” thing.
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A few places to start 1) volunteer for a local group to help the D’s when the midterm elections, having the House makes shenanigans a lot harder to pull off 2) donate to Democratic organizations so they can hire people to work 3) Keep writing and influencing others about the danger, we need to get a few key leaders, and a lot of other people to realize that now is our window to make changes, we can’t wait until the facists have already rigged the elections.
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My expectation is that they’d stay in the Union in the short-term while they worked out terms to disentangle their residents’ financial assets from the rest of the country’s economy. Once that was done, the 5th largest economy on the globe and what would still be one of the planet’s main financial centres would both tell the sado-populist central government to f*ck off whether or not they stay in the U.S. and remain on the USD (which, if it stops being the global reserve currency, is unlikely).
Which wouldn’t be a clean solution by any means. California still has more Republicans than a lot of the “red states” combined, plus the “State of Jefferson” nutballs who’d carry out an insurgency. Upstate New York is pretty right-wing too. And a fascist federal government would not hesitate to revoke posse commitatus to pressure them (and other states trying to exit) into staying and complying.
The point being, it would still be as bad as Snyder predicts.
ETA: It won’t be reason to celebrate for the U.S.'s immediate neighbours, either. Having a nuclear-armed fascist government and/or a Syrian- or Yugoslav-style conflict on the other other side of the Canadian or Mexican border will mean rough times for those countries.
Even if they’re shielded from armed conflict, they’ll still have to deal with: losing a vital trade partner; the effect on their own currencies of the USD losing global reserve status; a refugee crisis; a fully militarised border; and homegrown sado-populists emboldened by the success of their American comrades. It will still be better than being stuck in the Basket Cases of America, but life will change for the worse in both countries. Just a thought for any smug and complacent Canadians or Mexicans rooting for violent uprisings in the U.S.
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Obligatory:
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And more than ANY other single state including Texas and Florida.
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Has a nation with such a substantial military stockpile and economic power fallen apart like this before? Is there even a precedent for how wide ranging or what the long tail of USian influence would continue to be? I shudder at the inner turmoil our nation could face, and the potential internal revision of history to “…who knows who even started the fighting…” but even more seeing the day if/when other nations who want to continue to “do business” with the shambolic tatters of the US start making mealy-mouthed statements akin to how they currently ignore Taiwan’s independence, etc…
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Um, yes. The Soviet Union. We’re in fact still watching the fall out from that.
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Of course! That disassembly was - at least by comparison - a more “intentional” process and Russia ended up with Putin. Woof.
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McDonald’s/Burger King should have come out with a “King Trump Burger” with 3x the calories, salt, cholesterol/nitrates/nitrites in 2016. We wouldn’t be talking about his 2024 run otherwise.
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