GIVE ME LIBERTY OR GIVE ME DEATH! Patrick Henry 1775

Watch and listen

A Final Warning

It was an era of confusion, filled with ugly agitators. The sense of hardship and ever-increasingly difficult economic conditions fuelled the humiliation of the struggling silent majority. Initially, people did take notice of the charismatic, popular new leader who promised radical change. But after the failure of the attempted coup, people didn’t give the movement another thought until the elections. People didn’t take the declarations of the new leader either seriously or literally, preferring to ridicule his outrageous declarations, his funny hairstyle, his bombast and his style. The big democratic newspapers, instead of warning their readers, reassured them day by day that the movement had peaked and that there was no threat to democracy.

After all, the nation was a country where the law rested on a firm foundation, where the rule of law was paramount, where a majority of elected representatives was opposed to the magnetic leader, and where every citizen believed that “his liberty and equal rights were secured by the solemnly affirmed constitution.” But the leader “elevated lying to a matter of course” just as he turned “anti-humanitarianism to law.”

Soon, “not a single pronouncement by any writer had the slightest effect; no book, pamphlet, essay or poem.” Propaganda provided cover for the most brutal aggressions. They introduced their most extreme measures gradually and strategically to gauge how each new outrage was received. Then, they sought to mitigate any protests with small palliative measures and denials.

“Only a single pill at a time and then a moment of waiting to observe the effect of its strength, to see whether the world conscience would still digest the dose. The doses became progressively stronger until all finally perished from them.” But even then, nobody perceived that we all, we all, we all would become victims of the lust of power of this one man.”

Thus wrote  Stefan Zweig in his 1941 memoir, “The World of Yesterday”, before committing suicide with his wife shortly thereafter. Zweig had fled Austria in 1934 and emigrated first to England and then to the US to escape from the rise of Nazism in Germany and Austria. He wrote his memoir with a sense of urgency over a few weeks. His book was perceived as a kind of message to the future, “It is a law of history”, he wrote, “that contemporaries are denied a recognition of the early beginnings of the great movements which determine their times.” As a final gesture, he intended to warn future generations of how the Nazi regime was able to grow and prosper and how he and many others were blind to its beginnings.[1]

Let there be no doubt in our minds. Donald J. Trump is the Hitler of the 21st century, determined to end democracy in the United States for his benefit. And by so doing, lead the world into a global catastrophe. The 2024 elections may very well be the last free elections in the United States of America. Trump has stated that he should get a third term, a redo: “And then after that, we’ll go for another four years because they spied on my campaign. We should get a redo of four years.”[2] At other times, he has suggested postponing the election date over unsubstantiated claims about voter fraud: “Delay the Election until people can properly, securely and safely vote???”.[3] 

Contrary to 2016 and 2020, his authoritarian impulses are becoming more and more transparent and “the doses are increasing”. He sought to ostracise the only remaining Republican challenger still standing in the nomination process after only two contests. The Republican National Committee was entirely on board to declare him the party’s “presumptive nominee” in a travesty of democracy. He was not patient enough to wait for Super Tuesday and refused to welcome Haley’s exit from the nomination process gracefully. For safe measure, Trump reshaped the Republican National Committee (RNC) by placing three trusted leaders at its helm, one of which is his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump. Throw nepotism out the door, and it comes back through the window. Welcome to the new “Republican Nepotism Committee”. Perhaps this has more to do with getting his small, grubby hands on the RNC war chest to help him pay his ever-increasing legal fees.

The outlaw running for president is following the same tried and used method of hiring in-laws to take control of key positions,[4] favoured by dictators the world over.  After the “much-experienced” Jared, we now have the "even more qualified" Lara. The purge at the RNC is already underway and serves as a dress rehearsal for things to come.[5] 

His influence on the elected Republican politicians is such that they are prepared to block any progress on negotiations with Democrats on border security so that Trump can blame Biden and campaign aggressively on immigration. Only Mitt Romney, who has already declared he is not running for re-election in 2024, has dared to speak out about this. By the same token, all future military support for Ukraine is jeopardised, which will have a significant impact on the balance of power in Europe, sending Putin a clear message that the tide is turning and that within only ten months, he will have a free hand to take over Ukraine once and for all.

Beware. He will constantly accuse his opponents of being the enemies of democracy and of using our own words against him. We have to respond in kind and not let him win the battle of words. He is the worst kind of demagogue. Trying to fact-check him is like nailing a jellyfish to the wall, as his whole oratory is based on a tapestry of intricately connected lies.

They are so pernicious and deep-rooted that he has managed to convince a considerable part of the electorate that grass is blue and the earth is flat. His vision of America is so dystopian that it is almost as if he is beating the electorate into submission through fear and anger—a far cry from Obama’s “audacity of hope” theme.

Politics is the art of contrast: autocracy and carnage vs. democracy and hope. This is the reality that Americans are confronted with. This contrast has not been clearly explained, and the economy's excellent standing does not translate into support for Biden, although he objectively introduced the measures necessary for rebuilding the economy.

Facts rather than opinions are at the centre of the current debate. The present article is based on tangible evidence that demonstrates that Trump’s brand of politics is not just authoritarianism; it’s fascism. His inspiration is Hitler, and we cannot avoid the ugly truth that we are confronted with. Trump gets away with subterfuge because he doesn’t look the part. From that perspective, he is more like Mussolini than Hitler. People cannot imagine him as a Hitler-type dictator.

But we cannot afford to be fooled. Remember what he did when he was president the first time. Remember the way he ignored the suffering and deaths caused by COVID, deflecting as he always does on another party, in this case, China. Such disregard for American lives, not to say human lives, is genuinely deplorable, to use a Clintonian term. Remember the January 6 coup attempt and the days leading up to it. Know that if he is president for a second time, he will make sure that “if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again”.

Whilst “kitchen table” issues are essential in ordinary elections, this is no normal situation. If you are forced to live under a fascist regime, your mortgage rates will be the least of your concerns if you don’t have any rights anymore and if your freedom is taken away. Ask the brave people of Ukraine who are fighting for their lives in Eastern Ukraine what it is like to live under the threat of permanent Russian dominance, doing their best to simply survive and avoid the death that rains down on them daily.

Too many people are still feeling economic pain and are insecure. Harris must not only focus on the positive effects of his policies over the past three years but also portray her vision for a new term based on taking her existing program to the next level with more progressive measures. This would also allow him to emphasise the need for a Democrat-controlled Senate and House. Trump's defeat is only the beginning and should not be an end.

The 2024 elections in the US are of the utmost importance for all peoples of the world who believe in democracy on every continent. If you live in Warsaw, you are very much aware that less than 200 km away, Russia has nuclear weapons poised to strike in the Kaliningrad enclave. Belarus also has nuclear weapons and is a staunch ally (so as not to say dependent state) of Russia. The history of Polish / Russian relations is one of violence and tragedy, and Polish people have notoriously long memories. Biden understands the lessons of the past. He is on the right side of history.

Nobody can stand by and watch the silent disaster unfolding. As Europeans, we can only let our voices be heard as loudly as possible, raise the alarm, and ring the church bells. We have to be the Paul Reveres of the modern world.

Ex-President Trump has the gall to call himself “Honest Don”,[6] not realising that the term “Don” is actually very appropriate in the circumstances as it relates to mafia families. It is as if Hitler were to claim the Nobel Peace Prize in the early 1940s (one of Trump’s most coveted prizes). Dictators are not necessarily defeated by comedy, but parody can convey powerful messages. The best illustration is Charlie Chaplin, who filmed “The Great Dictator” in 1940 at the height of Nazism. “Don Hynkel” is a more appropriate name for the ex-president. We must all brush up on our Chaplin knowledge and remember the film’s final speech.[7]

Only the American people can take the final step and fight back against Trump to rid America of this scourge forever.

The modern weapon of choice is not the musket but the power of the ballot box. The path to success will depend on achieving the highest turnout ever in the history of the United States across all demographics and presidential and down-ballot races. Voting Democrat is not simply a vote for Biden, against Trump, or for the American Constitution. It is a vote for freedom, liberty, and democracy.

For all those who want to avoid fascism, whether Republican, Democrat or Independent, it should be a day of pride to forever rid the US of the scourge of fascism and send Trump back to whence he came. It is a matter of pride, not reluctance or holding one’s nose, as if voting for freedom is less important than voting for a Democrat if you are generally not inclined to do so.

Liberty is so precious that its full impact is only felt when lost. Modern-day Hong Kong shows what can happen when promises are broken, and democratic rights are abolished to be replaced by draconic “security laws.”

The clarion call is loud and clear. It is up to each American citizen to exercise their most precious democratic right, the right to vote.

As George Bernard Shaw famously declared, “Democracy is a device that ensures we shall be governed no better than we deserve.” The most significant risk for democracy is the so-called authoritarian voter who falls prey to the strange allure of the strongman leader.[8] The most recent speeches of the two candidates for the November election are a lesson in contrast and depict radically different world visions.[9] 

May the time of wisdom prevail over the time of foolishness. Belief in what can be achieved together in a spirit of tolerance, magnanimity and hope matters; a dystopian vision of American carnage and despair is the opposite of what the Founding Fathers foresaw for the American Republic. Countless generations of Americans and Europeans have fought for the essential values of democracy. Through dark times and winters of despair, unsung heroes’ courage, abnegation and unselfishness showed the way to an everlasting spring of hope.

[1] For a detailed analysis of Zweig’s view on fascism, see George Prochnik : “When it’s too late to stop fascism, according to Stefan Zweig)”, The New Yorker, February 6, 2017, “https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/when-its-too-late-to-stop-fascism-according-to-stefan-zweig”

[2] Peter Wade: „“Trump Says He’ll Seek a Third Term Because ‘They Spied On Me’”, Rolling Stone, August 17, 2020, www.rolingstone.com/politics/politics-news/trump-third-term-because-they-spied-on-him-1045743/

[3] Tweet dated July 30, 2020 at 2:46 pm from @realDonaldTrump

[4] Ruth Ben-Ghiat: “Authoritarians and their sons-in-law from Mussolini to Trump : Partners in corruption”, Resolute Square, January 4, 2024, https://resolutesquare.com/articles/6PLmiDzRlFItjCDwPy2Mz1/authoritarians-and-their-sons-in-law

[5] Sophia Cai: “"A harbinger of things to come": Trump's RNC shakeup signals plans for 2025”, Axios, March 13, 2024, www.axios.com/2024/03/13/trump-rnc-makeover-2025-plan-government

[6] Heather Digby Parton: “Trump's new "Honest Don" nickname can't distract from his obvious decline”, Salon, March 13, 2024, https://www.salon.com/2024/03/13/new-honest-don-nickname-cant-distract-from-his-obvious-decline/

[7] “Charlie Chaplin - Final Speech from The Great Dictator “, https://youtu.be/J7GY1Xg6X20?si=i4rVyYyP65NBt1gX

[8] Jeremy Cliffe: “The strange allure of the strongman leader “, The New Statesman, April 27, 2022, www.newstatesman.com/culture/books/2022/04/accounting-for-the-strongman-leaders-illogical-allure

[9] See Appendix Five

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN