In my 2022 novel, “Cyber WarOne of the characters suggests that internet technology allows democracy to be transformed into a democratic dictatorship. But when I wrote it, I couldn’t imagine this fiction could explain America under President Trump today.
Most of the world is caught up in the tariff war that is burning the world, but here a much more important development is quietly taking place at home.
Following President Vladimir Putin, Trump is on his way to become an elected dictator. His actions reflect a statement from Louis XIV in 1655 to the Paris Parliament. “Nation, that’s me.” And in the next election, Trump doesn’t need a self-coop and doesn’t have to incite his supporters the way he tried in 2020.
In the 2028 presidential election where he can’t win the constitution, the gates to the White House may be wide open. He is not afraid of Congress, the judiciary, the judiciary, American voters, the media, or even the giants of the US economy. He has already tested the waters, and it appears that these agencies and voters are surrendering to his direction.
Since Trump took office on January 20th, the House has served as a mouthpiece to support his numerous executive orders, stacking his initiatives on rubber.Inspector fires,USAIDAnd wholesaleCivil servant rejection. We will not deliberate any initiative or order, rejection, modification or support as an equal branch of the government does.
The judiciary, another comparable branch of the government, gave TrumpImmunityFor all his actions regarding the core power of his office. The ruling doesn’t give the president any full power, but it’s spacious enough to allow Trump to act as if he were beyond the law.
For example, Trump publicly denounced federal judge James Boasberg, calling him a “radical left-madman” when the judge blocked the Trump administration from deporting the accused Venezuelan gang members. It is understandable that other judges could be threatened by ruling against Trump’s wishes.
Trump did not spare the media out of his discomfort of vengeance. For example, he sued millions of people from ABC News and settled down ($15 million) and filed a similar lawsuit.CBS NewsAnd Iowa’sDes Moines Sign up. He later expressed plans to cut government contributionsPBS and NPR.
Trump’s message is clear. Please don’t throw me in bad light. Otherwise I will not sue you or cut down government support. The result is that mass media organizations have been silenced in self-censorship reports of Trump and his critics.
Additionally, Titans of US industry, such as Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Apple’s Tim Cook and Google’s Sundar Pichai, have quickly become Koto before Trump in fear of retaliation and losses to their businesses. Many of them attended his inauguration,Over a million dollars.
Finally, Trump is threatening to cancel millions of dollars in research funds for many higher education powerhouses, such as Harvard.Cornell and NorthwesternIf they do not change many of their policies as per his instructions.
So far, many institutions haveAcceptedAt Trump’s demand. In the case of Columbia University, the Trump administrationInstall federal monitoringTo ensure the desired operation. This is supposed to suffocate the free flow of innovation and ideas that American universities have been praised around the world.
In this climate of Trump’s surrender or implicit support, many Americans feel helpless. They were raised as citizens with the authority to elect Congress and President. But slowly, they are beginning to feel that voting is a form of electing a pre-determined democratic tyrant.
Is there anything we can do to reverse this process and save the United States as a democracy? perhaps.
However, this requires a coordinated effort of all Americans and their institutions, ready to fight for their republic. in particular:
- Congress must regain its role as an equal branch of the government and push it back when the administrative agencies obscured its powers.
- The judiciary must recapture its role in interpreting and implementing the law.
- Media should practice independent reporting on topics of choice.
- Business leaders must become Wimps and stop providing blind support to administrators.
- Most importantly, citizens of this country must exercise their role as founders of all powers of representative governments and go to the barricades to fight for this privilege if necessary.
I have a belief in American values that have been ingrained in fairness and free choice, including American government choices.
In the final analysis, As Thomas Jefferson said“The government you elect is the government you deserve.” He was right there at the time, and he is now.
Professor Avraham Shama is an award-winning author and university professor. He writes about fiscal, government and policy issues.
