How will Americans adjust to life in an authoritarian state?

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USA needs to do some fixin'. (so does Canada!) But, I do believe that the 3rd (Judicial) branch of it's government will do it's job and keep things together long enough for the others to fix their s**t. Part of the reason I believe this is as some political news commentators have pointed out, it's in the Judicial branch's own rational self interest to exert it's power over other branches in order to retain it vs. give it up forever if they roll over and let a criminal ex-potus steamroll over the judicial system. They'll smack him down not just to smack him down, but to exert and retain their smack down power as a co-equal branch of the US federal government.

Too late, they've already been bought.

It was interesting hearing some older (60-70) Canadian guy at the beach ranting about "violent antifa," needing to be shut down blah blah blah and it's like uuuuuuh, the biggest antifa operation Ever was the allied forces defeating Hitler's Nazis.. soooo ??? But I guess "antifa," is faux news code for "black people protesting for basic human rights in America."

Bunch of old cranky people watched BLM protests and all of the sudden are anti-antifa.. but Also apparently against fascists (and marxists!) and whatever others BS spews out of trump's mouth. So you're anti-antifa And anti-fascist, eh? Numbskulls.

Yeah, I'm aware of that guy and his cult member wifey. But I doubt the Entire court would give up All of their power to a potus-dictator Forever.

Sell a couple laws that affect regular people? Oh yeah, sure, they've already been doing that BS. But sell themselves short and diminish their power, handing it all over to potus-dictator forever? Unlikely.

To answer your question: I used the expression "liberal left" as an umbrella term to try to make my post as concise as possible. I know the situation regarding the "left" (in the US) is more complex and nuanced - but the two-party system sometimes invites some kind of simplification ("liberal left" being used as an umbrella term to point to all those who should or could resist what they call "the rise of the far-right").

From my point of view all the "factions" that you mention are overburdened by some sort of performative contradictions. The "neoliberals" for perpetuating a system that is already in an advanced state of decomposition (neoliberalism: Thomas Piketty is pretty clear about this even if he uses the term sparingly). The "Sanders Faction" for perpetuating a semantic confusion that does a disservice to their cause (the "Democratic Socialism" they programmatically describe - at least speaking for Sanders - is in fact a form of social democracy[u]: universal healthcare, etc). In a country with a long history of anti-communism the label "socialism" may deter potential electors who might fear what they perceive as a "drastic change of regime" whereas clear statements in favor of a [u]social democratic system would help potential electors to better understand this program (there are examples of social democracy in the world, eg Scandinavian countries) and it could serve their cause to be clearer about this. As for the "Woke Faction": no comment. Which says it all.

From my point of view all these factions or tendencies have in one way or another (more overtly in the case of the neoliberals) abandoned the most destitute and vulnerable constituents to a system of parallel government - philanthropy or philanthro-capitalism - while the "deconstructionist" infighting continues. My two cents. As mentioned I don't live in the US and usually avoid discussing American politics - not good for anyone's mental health in these troubled times.

Sanders-Woke 2024!

You make some valid points but none of these varieties of "liberal" supports what I would consider an authoritarian political culture, which the basis of this discussion. Anyway my post wasn't about how the forthcoming authoritarian era in the US might come about, but how Americans would react when learning that their political freedoms had, in practice, been taken from them. A few people have even addressed this.

As far as being performative is concerned, I would like to make 2 points.

So if one considers the plight of the "disadvantaged", then one must consider one's own politics e.g. if you're a Social Democrat, then you assume that what America lacks is enough of the sort of social safety net entitlements that other Western countries typically have. But there's also the issue whereby the well-off give lip service to the need to "do more" for the less fortunate but not wanting anything to do with such people IRL, which means that in the political sphere, they don't "connect" with "regular folks" who are then attracted to populist leaders. So those "regular folks" are deaf to any idea put forth by a "liberal" or socialist.

So my other point is that so many peoples' basic understanding of the "left" is informed by propaganda disseminated by the Right, including much that originates in Russia. So attacks on Liberals are very often attacks on a perception of Liberalism that is gained from exposure to that sort of propaganda.

One-party rule by the Dems or something further by the left is our only solution.

Basically, ban all non-left-wing parties.

"Not certain who you mean by "liberal left". Do you mean so-called "neoliberals" typified by Joe Biden? Or the Left Wing of the Democratic Party who consider Bernie Sanders to be their spiritual compass? Or some hypothetical foot soldiers who foist "wokeness" on decent people?"

MaxE: I was trying to respond to your (sub) question ^^^^. Sorry if my reply seemed off topic. Interesting thread.

OR just become Canada’s next Province or Territory..

Maybe it's because I'm old enough to remember the 20th century but I would say this ("ban all non-left-wing parties"): that's what the USSR was all about between 1922 and 1991. It's also what the CCP is all about. Not the least bit tempting.

That would be an example of "the tail wagging the dog".

You had me up until 2025.

2025 is nothing. So what if the orange man wins another election. He already won one before. The descent into an authoritarian state is a gradual process. A process that began more than 50 years ago and will continue for more than 50 years. It's not a thing that only happens in the year 2025.

But that's when Donny Trump will win the election, you say? That's when the state becomes authoritarian?

Pinning authoritarianism onto the orange boogeyman is very dangerous because it ignores the wider issues that have been in progress since long before he got elected and will continue long after he dies.

It's a bit like blaming global warming on Dave from down the street when really global warming is caused by a lot of people. If Amtrak Joe wins a second term, it will do little to stop a sequence of events that was never really about Trump in the first place.

https://wrongplanet.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=416473

Comparing people who sacrificed life, limb and years of their lives with a bunch of goons who brawled with Proud Boys types on weekends is highly offensive. The Proud Boys are not the German Military(SMH).

I do agree with you that in MAGA world “antifa” is stand in for whatever they do not like. Unlike Black Lives Matter Antifa were never more then a few hundred self righteous people with too much time on their hands. After George Floyd was murdered Antifa awkwardly tried to glom onto BLM. These days Antifa is only a thing in the paranoid imagination of MAGA’s.



Sanders is not woke because he believes in freedom of expression not cancellation. See 1:05

Relevant comparison when the proud boys are Pro fascist (trumpism) government and were trying to unseat American Democracy and install him as fascist dictator. Fascism is fascism, fascists are fascists.. being against fascist ideology, aka antifa, is antifa. Would you have preferred there was more blood spilled to make it seem more comparable?

Sanders is the most woke old man politician in the USA. Woke != cancellation -> that's your average bud light drinker you're talking about.

Also, can't view that video. All it says, like so many others, is: "! Video unavailable
The uploader has not made this video available in your country"