What is authoritarianism? It is the concentration of power in the hands of a small group of people who act in ways that are not constitutionally accountable to the people they represent and serve. The United States is not becoming an authoritarian country, it already is, and it has happened in 7 short months. It is in the news every day. Things have occurred that put our country under the category of authoritarian government. I recommend getting news not from television, but from the old fashioned news sources that have been around forever such as Associated Press and Reuters, which give you the news with no opinions. You can read the news and form your own opinions.

The top ten elements of authoritarianism may sound familiar to you because they have been in use over the past 10 years. They are as follows:

1. Divide and rule. Foment distrust and fear in the population.

2. Spread lies and conspiracies. Undermine the public’s belief in the truth.

3. Destroy checks and balances. Declare false national emergencies to seize unconstitutional power. Use legal, or false legal, reasons to gut institutions.

4. Demonize opponents and independent media. Undermine public trust in any institutions that hold them accountable.

5. Undermine civil and political rights. Actively suppress free speech and the right to protest, and the rights of minority groups.

6. Blame minorities, immigrants, and other “outsiders” for a country’s problems. Promise to restore national glory.

7. Reward loyalists and punish defectors.

8. Encourage or condone violence to advance political goals. Dehumanize opposition.

9. Organize mass rallies to keep supporters mobilized against made-up threats. Use fear-mongering and hate speech.

10. Make people feel like they are powerless to change things, and change can only come from the top.

This is how democracies die. All of these things have happened and are still happening in our country. Our government was established with checks and balances to keep each of the three branches from doing anything unconstitutional, but that has fallen apart because the party in the majority in the legislative branch has abdicated their power to the President. The legislative branch has the power of the purse. They alone can set tariffs. They alone can shut down government agencies. But they have cowardly asked “how high” each time the President says “jump”, and do what they are told, no matter how it hurts their constituents. And the minority party can’t do a thing about it. The party claiming to be one of law and order is far from it.

We will soon be seeing armed military in more cities across the country in addition to Washington DC, where they were sent based on a lie. That is how authoritarianism works.

There would still be problems with the Democrats in power, but we would not be an authoritarian country with a president taking advice from the dictator of Russia, and the armed military would not be patrolling our streets. We the people, more than ever, can’t sit silently and watch while our freedoms are taken from us and our Constitution is eaten away. If our forefathers did that 250 years ago, they would have accepted being under the rule of King George, and the United States would not have won its independence. We cannot go backwards. We still have the First Amendment along with all our other freedoms…for now.

JOAN DERSHAM

Williamsport

Submitted byVirtual Newsroom