Which road to despotism?
I reread the definition. Your initial question doesn’t necessarily marry to your final one. Easiest and likely aren’t the same. Easiest would be to simply declare martial law and suspend or disenfranchise Congress. But they seem unlikely as specific steps. The events since 9/11 are instructive. It seems to me that there has been incremental shifts towards despotic leadership in some ways, particularly with the establishment of the Department of Homeland Security and railroading through Congress of the Patriot Act. These govermental instruments and their practical effects are perhaps the thin edge of the wedge. If I was to put money on a scenario that would move USA into the realms of true despotism I think I would go with a multisituational scenario involving changes in oil availability/pricing and resultant economic hardships/unemployment together with some extreme terrorist/national attack on American interests. With
I dunno, orthogonality, people have constantly predicted the collapse of the US into despotism from well before the time of Lincoln. In the early 1900s, it was going to be an anarchist revolt, in the 1930s, a fascist rising, in the 1950s, the communists, in the 1990s, right-wing militias would declare independence. The issue has always been the strength of the institutions in the United States and the number of competing interests that maintain them. Extrapolating from political events that make you uncomfortable does not mean despotism. In general, the US has less restrictions on speech and behavior than it ever did in the past, or in past wars, and appeals to patriotism have always been common. Collapse could take any form, but it is unlikely to be something obvious.
Firstly, I’d like to say that I think that it’s actually pretty unlikely that a true despotism will form. America may have its bad points (of which anyone who reads mefi and isn’t named ParisParisimus is aware), but it’s a long road from a more conservative democracy to an actual despotism. Remember, you can still say, “I think Bush is a moron” in a public place, and although some might get offended and yell at you, the police won’t drag you off that night and shoot you in the head. That being said, if America does go into despotism, I think this is the probable chain of events: 1. More terrorism. Note I mean real terrorism, not a government conspiracy. The X-Files to the contrary, our government couldn’t conceal a Snickers bar much less a major conspiracy without getting caught. The government just isn’t very competent at keeping secrets. If it was, Russia wouldn’t have been able to swipe the Bomb so easily. 2. More terrorism leads to increased anger and xenophobia. There’s been more
I doubt there’ll be a legal despot any time soon. The future will look much like East Germany I imagine. Privacy will go out the window. Both the government and the feds will have total access to most anything and everything. Legal rights will decrease without end. The government’s already established that, under certain circumstances, it can lock people up without charging them. We’ve already got secret trials, also. Again, presumably, for non-citizens. The next step is the power to arrest people without making their arrest public record. Once the feds can disappear people, in the literal sense, surveillance laws won’t even matter, really. People will be eager to share everything with the government for fear of undisclosed arrests. The power of corporations will expand unchecked. Whether corporations establish their own private security firms or just rely on the government, same difference. The net effect will likely be a kind of cultural despotism akin to the former Communist states.
Ooo! Ooo! Ooo! I have a question! *waves hand in air desperately* …wait, no, dammit, I already asked my weekly question… What loquacious said, so very much. But I have to add: Limiting the question to despotism is liable to yield useless answers, because despotism is so, like, passé. Today, if you want to grab power and subjugate people, there’s no need to resort to something as obvious as despotism. That just invites resistance. Buy up the media instead. Look at the subjugation of minds wrought by Rupert Murdoch—and those people have no idea they’re in lockstep. They think they’re thinking for themselves. I’d say more, but I’m saving it up for next week…
