Licensed under CC-CC0 1.0
Estimated reading time: 6 minutes
Until now, I’ve never had any direct experience with living under authoritarianism. However, through both my first and present wife I’ve learned what that life is. Although I grew up in a democracy, I now recognize the key difference between authoritarianism and democracy.
It’s all about living in fear.
The Philippines Under Marcos
My first (ex-) wife Marilou is a Filipina who grew up in a town outside the capital city of Manilla. She emigrated to the U.S. in 1985 where we met, and we became engaged about one year after her arrival. She was fourteen when then-Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law, and established himself as dictator-for-life. Marcos was still in power when Marilou came to the U.S.
Marilou used to talk about coming home from school the day Marcos declared martial law and seeing her mother crying, telling Marilou they just lost their freedom. During the years after, she witnessed first-hand the authoritarianism Marcos inflicted on his country.
My Shock of Awareness
I’ve never forgotten an incident, while we were still dating, that truly shocked me. One evening we were watching the news, back when we still had real TV offering on-air guest editorials. This particular night we listened to a Talking Heads’ diatribe on something then-president Reagan had recently done. In a flowery monologue, this Talking Head essentially called Reagan a senile old fool. Which to me seemed pretty tame, considering even then I thought worse of Reagan.
However, when the editorial was finished, Marilou turned to me with a sad, somber look and asked “will they arrest him?”
I felt a momentary shock seeing she was dead serious. Marilou explained that if anyone had publicly talked about Marcos like our Talking Head did about Reagan, Marcos would immediately have the person arrested. Then shut down the news station for good measure. It was my first glimmer of how people live in fear under authoritarianism.
Under Marcos, the Philippine government paid only lip-service to the needs of the people they were supposed to serve. Most of Marcos’ energies were directed towards rewarding family and friends and punishing his perceived enemies. He ruled through fear.
China Under Mao
My present wife, Winnie, is a native of Southeastern China, born during Mao’s “Cultural Revolution.” She arrived here in 2005 already my wife, after living her entire life under China’s single-party rule. I could write a book from the stories Winnie has told me of deprivations and corruption running through modern Chinese culture. Distilling those stories captures the essence of Winnie’s descriptions of Chinese life.
That essence is the overwhelming sense of fear. A fear that at any moment, anyone could get caught up in a police sweep and thrown into jail for reasons fabricated after the fact. The fear that someone “with connections” could take everything you own, simply because they could and wanted what you had. Fear of going hungry and homeless and no money to “gift” someone for a job. Being afraid of getting sick, because the doctors were corrupt and had minimal training and couldn’t be trusted. Afraid to trust even your own family, because the people in your family was also frightened of going to jail or being hungry and homeless and sick and needed to take care of themselves first.
The Powerful and Powerless
I also sense a feeling of powerlessness through Winnie’s stories. Everyday citizens have no ability to make life better. Personal survival takes precedence over personal morality and the corruption flows on. The People have no recourse for peacefully petitioning their government for a redress of grievances. Any illusions otherwise were crushed during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, buttressed by CCP actions since taking back Hong Kong.
Although Mao has long since departed this world (but still enshrined as a deity), the present CCP provides a debased extension of Mao’s rule. Where Mao at least made a pretense, although misguided, of serving the people of his country, the present CCP gives only lip service. They support only the rich and powerful who in return swear fealty to the CCP. The vast majority of Chinese people get only trickle-down crumbs dropped by the powerful.
It Couldn’t Happen Here
I’ve lived my entire life in American Democracy. I’ve never accepted that our country is “perfect,” and that there weren’t things we could change for the better. But, I’ve never felt the fears my ex- and present wives experienced back in their home countries. I’ve never been afraid of my government or felt powerless. Despite being imperfect, I always felt our government inherently worked to make life better for all Americans. I never lived in fear or felt powerless.
But Now Trump
Trump’s entire presidential campaign was focused on promises to make life worse for despised minorities and reward his benefactors. We opened the door and let him in. Now, the twice-impeached convicted felon and adjudicated-rapist is President-elect #47. I’m already feeling the sense of fear and powerlessness my ex- and present wives described.
Trump has breathed new life into the 17th century phrase “kakistocracy;” a government run by the worst, least qualified, most unscrupulous citizens available. He’s breathlessly announcing the people he selected to populate his administration as if they’re trophies. These people, Trump Vassals®, are his rewards for a lifetime of dodging accountability. The people selected for the most important leadership positions in America promise Trump total fealty while raping our country in His Name.
Nothing gives me the slightest glimmer of hope these vassals will make our country better for everyday Americans. Our despised minorities of handmaidens-in-waiting and gender-traitors and dark-skinned immigrants are already frightened. The wealthy and powerful are already licking their lips as they see dollars blooming on their money trees.
The America I grew up in is already gone. I’m angry at the direction this country has chosen and fearful of what happens next. Do We The People become serfs living in ruins of the American Experiment?
How Does it End?
Marcos’ rule ended with the “People Power Revolution,” which was bloodless only because of the power of their Catholic Church and U.S. involvement. China, through 2,000 years of recorded history, has never changed governments without a violent revolution.
So, if a demented Trump and his gaggle of freak followers turn our government into an authoritarian dystopia, how does it end? How do we get back to a democracy?
Be First to Comment