It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas of 1934. Vocal minorities intimidate majority members from expressing disagreement with minority opinion. A conservative mob (oxymoron?) stormed the U.S. Capitol; at least they didn’t burn it like the Reichstag. In Hawaii, it’s a protest of a scientific instrument but the trend is worldwide. Once upon a time, thanks to Jimmy Carter’s human-rights-first-policies every dictator in Latin America except Fidel Castro was overthrown. Some Latin American countries are dictatorships again. Cults of personality, are governing all over the world. Nationalist leaders rallying the rabble with illogical calls to repeal the postwar Marshall Plan world and return to the order of 1913, or 1813. Immigrants are perceived as the enemy.
America is unique, our immigrant ancestors arrived here as Irish or Polish or Chinese, and they and certainly their children are Americans. Many other countries only consider you one of them if your family has been there so long nobody remembers where they came from, thus ignoring the migrations that created current populations. There is almost no population on earth that can claim to have always been there. The only country never invaded is Nepal; maybe no invader can breathe at that altitude.
Russia: Vladimir Putin runs it as if he owned it, the government and organized crime are indistinguishable. Actually, it’s more like his stewardship formula is own nothing but control everything. Russia has invaded Ukraine twice and looks like third is planned. France: Numerous candidates use populist rhetoric attempting to disable a liberal but mostly effective government. Austria: Viktor Orban uses racist values to stir the population against Muslim immigrants in a country with a birth rate too low to maintain its own population; he wages a campaign against journalists. Turkey: Recep Tayyip Erdogan takes regular steps to disassemble the western style democracy created by Gamal Ataturk. He resorts to a fake coup against him to manipulate opinion. Jails journalists.
China: Xi Jinping has had the Constitution altered to give him the possibility of Chairman for Life. Our past President was envious. Said “We should try it”. How do you just try something if it’s for life? Philippines: Duterte praises vigilantes who murder in the name of drug enforcement. He condones violence by police, and his followers. Sound familiar? Hmmm just like NAZI brownshirts that followed police officers and intimidated them to harass people who were not breaking any law.
Populist leaders use hate and mob mentality to hold power, get people chanting not too different from a high school pep rally. Venezuela: Nicolas Maduro follows Hugo Chavez who came to power with typically socialist promises but he resorts to brute force when those policies fail, as they always have. Hugo Chavez frequently called the media opposition coup plotters and fascists. Nicaragua: Daniel Ortega calls journalists “children of Goebbels” and enemies of the Nicaraguan people. Goebbels invented the big-lie, tell a lie so outrageous that no one would expect you to believe it, therefore it must be true. Like a miracle. Repeat, repeat, repeat.
USA: A minority president tried to emulate the above to cling to power and convince others he was reelected. Some say his goal is his own TV network, but he already has one, or does Fox have him?
One thing these dictators or wannabe dictators have in common is fear of a free press. That is one of the reasons the First Amendment came first. In the old world, they call the press the fourth estate. First estate is the warrior aristocracy, Alii; second the priesthood, Kahunas; third the people, maoli. Notice how few people constitute the first and second, but have most of the power, the 1% more or less. The fourth estate has the potential to motivate the third and that’s why the first is so afraid of it.
Ken Obenski is a forensic engineer, now safety and freedom advocate in South Kona. He writes a biweekly column for West Hawaii Today. Send feedback to obenskik@gmail.com