Trump is the new Sun King

11 Feb, 2025, No comments

- Let’s assume the worst, then it might not be so bad -

Trump and his men have been busy in recent weeks. The blitzkrieg against the Rule of Law, the environment, LGBTQ+ people, air travel safety, Mexicans, Black people, Palestinians, and public services has begun. At the same time, efforts to fill the pockets of the oligarchs are in full swing. Decent people are shocked and dismayed daily by Trump’s malice. But if they value democracy and their mental well-being, they would do better to assume the worst. Being prepared for what Trump might do is more effective than constantly chasing after him. What does that worst-case scenario look like?

That Trump would quickly issue orders against marginalized groups was expected. And that he would try to eliminate opposition. All generals known to prioritize the Constitution over his orders have been fired. The same goes for tens of thousands of potentially troublesome civil servants. The mass media and major social platforms are adjusting to the new reality. Liberal Hollywood is being brought under control by a team of aging movie stars.

Bringing institutions into line follows the playbook of strongmen like Orbán, Putin, and Mussolini. Trump even wants to shut down entire government departments, like Milei in Argentina. But Trump’s approach resembles Louis XIV more than classic autocrats: he simply does whatever he wants. Just as he denies truth itself, Trump acts as if the rule of law doesn’t exist. He reactivates TikTok without legal authority. A nonexistent Ministry of Efficiency (DOGE)now appears to be in charge, led by Elon Musk, an unelected “minister.” A group of Musk loyalists has seized control of the federal payment system. Funds already budgeted are simply not being paid out. Vice President Vance has said he doesn't accept courts "stopping the President's agenda". The core of an organized government is disappearing.

Chaos as a Strategy

This arbitrary rule creates chaos—but that is the goal. A flood of executive actions paralyzes democratic opposition. This is known as “flooding the zone”—in the endless stream of media headlines and executive orders, decent people freeze like deer in headlights. The media focuses on distractions, such as renaming the Gulf of Mexico, while Trump’s regime quietly implements dozens of measures each day to dismantle the rule of law.

Resistance can come only from protests and strikes, foreign governments, and Democratic governors of major states. Maybe big business will get tired of chaos. But otherwise, Congress is under Trump’s control, as is the Supreme Court and now the military. The forces of democracy are not powerless, and a full dictatorship is not inevitable. But they are on the defensive, shocked and demoralized. The mass media still pretends this is an unusual version of normality. Decent people, even in Europe, continue to be caught off guard. This makes them weaker than necessary—and more hopeless than they should be. Organized resistance is absent.

Preparing for the Worst

It is time for decent people to assume the worst. First, they must accept the reality of Trump’s vision. This vision is clearly outlined in Project 2025, so extreme that Trump had to distance himself from it during the election—only to now rapidly implement it. And that vision is:

A much smaller government
Wealth transfers to oligarchs
Persecution of anyone who is not white, American, male, right-wing, rich, Christian, cis-hetero, and mentally fit.

The conservative utopia under the new emperor.

What Could Go Wrong? Quickly?

Almost everything.

If 90 million people lose their Medicaid coverage, even partially or temporarily, mass deaths and unrest will follow.
A wave of ICE raids will not only harm minorities but also rip apart social and economic structures.
1.2 million same-sex couples separated, at least in law.
A national abortion and trans ban.
The only thing needed to declare a state of emergency is a terrorist attack—real or fabricated. And once declared, it will never be lifted.
The next election will be even less fair than the last.

International Fallout

Trump could simply seize Greenland.
He could attack Iran.
Palestinians face a choice: exile or armed resistance.
Trump may force Zelensky to surrender land without giving Ukraine the ability to defend itself against future Russian attacks.
International law will be discarded entirely.

The U.S. has been a rogue state since 1950, prioritizing resources, corporate interests, and Zionism over everything else. Cuba, Iran, Venezuela, Libya, Iraq, Palestine, Grenada, El Salvador, Colombia, Egypt, Syria—to name just a few—know this all too well. Under Trump, all restraints will be lifted. Even the pretense of following international law will disappear.

Economic and Climate Consequences

Trump has already started (and ended and restarted) a trade war with Colombia, Canada, and Mexico. Europe is next.
By ordering maximum oil extraction, Trump accelerates climate catastrophe—threatening global stability, prosperity and civilization.
The U.S. dominates AI and IT—under Trump, Europe will fall further behind. If he decides to block European access to U.S. platforms and systems, Europe would be forced to do Trump's bidding.

Musk and Thiel as Co-President

Elon Musk is now effectively co-president and seems to have Trump under his spell. VP Vance is Robin to revolutionary fascist businessman (and former South African) Peter Thiel's batman. Their reading list and public statements suggest they sees rapid change and crisis as opportunities and weapons. And in all versions of his imagined future, Musk is the messiah.

Their Nazi sympathies and antisemitism have been obvious for years—now, they are explicit. He fantasizes about civil war and a battle between AI and human-cyborg elites. Those without brain chips are already considered lost. Musk’s bulletproof Cybertruck is straight out of the dystopian film Elysium. His vision is clear: Mars as a new civilization for the chosen few while Earth burns. By letting existing structures collapse, a new humanity will emerge. Putin, as the crusader against “decadent European modernity,” fits seamlessly into this vision. So does Trump’s evangelical base, eagerly awaiting the rapture.

No Concrete Plan—But a Clear Direction

There is no precise plan, but this is worse than ordinary corruption. Ordinary dictators tend to be conservative and stay in the WHO, UNESCO, the Paris Agreement, international courts, and foreign aid programs. They want to stay rich and play king in peace. Trump and Musk are different. And they are also the most powerful men in history.

What Next?

The future looks rocky for humanity. It might not all happen—but it could. Or it could be even worse. Those who understand Trump’s regime, and also Wilders’ rise in the Netherlands, and prepare for the worst, can resist. Those who don’t will remain passengers on this wild ride.

Elections or a Creeping Coup?

23 Oct, 2024, No comments

Pretending that Harris vs. Trump is a fair fight only serves fascism.

U.S. presidential elections traditionally draw enormous global attention. Rightly so, because whether Trump or Harris wins, the consequences will be significant. Trump not only threatens climate policy and peace but also democracy itself. But what if the democratic process has already been severely compromised? An upcoming "win" for Trump would then not be so much an election victory but more the completion of a creeping coup. That would make it the third time.

Elon Musk is doing his part for Trump

With $45 million a week in campaign money, including illegal voter bribery through giveaways . His employees are posing as the Harris campaign to scare voters away. Russian dictator Vladimir Putin has financially supported Trump for decades and was electorally active in the U.S. in 2016 through hacking and social media manipulation. The Wikipedia page on this foreign interference is as long as a short book. According to Harvard University, it was crucial for Trump's narrow "victory." In 2020, the interference wasn’t enough, but according to the FBI and CIA, Vladimir is, of course, trying again in 2024.

This direct interference is just one part of a bigger problem. The electoral system itself invites abuse. With only two major parties, the goal is not to get many votes, but more than the other. Voters in a country without a basic registry must actively register and indicate their voting preference in a public register. That register is then used by the two big parties to remove opposing voters under the pretext of "suspected fraud." Suppressing votes is easier in the U.S. than in Europe—and especially lucrative.

None of this is new.

After slavery was abolished in the U.S. in 1865, the Black community was systematically disenfranchised. Thanks to the civil rights movement in the 1960s, many of these “Jim Crow” laws were abolished. However, as the political climate has shifted rightward in many states for decades, these practices are making a comeback. Republicans, now the dominant party in the South, enforce strict voter ID laws—documents that Black and Indigenous people are less likely to have. For example, you can vote with a gun license (a "white" hobby), but not with a student ID (students tend to vote Democrat). Polling places are scarce in Black neighborhoods, and early voting, popular among minorities and often organized through churches, is curtailed—like Sunday voting. Civil rights groups estimate that these tactics suppress hundreds of thousands of votes in states like Georgia alone.

Voter purges also happen through sophisticated methods like "caging." Since the 1990s, Republicans have sent mail to Democratic neighborhoods and removed voters whose mail is undeliverable. In 2000, Al Gore was denied victory when 58,000 voters in Florida were wrongfully purged simply because their names resembled those of criminals (who are often Black and ineligible to vote).

And now it's full throttle to capture power

Under Trump, voter suppression has been ramped up. Republicans in battleground states deploy thousands of "vigilantes" to actively disenfranchise voters. Many of these states have also passed laws that make it easier to ignore election results . After all, the president is not elected directly by the people but via the Electoral College. Thanks to new laws, states like Georgia and Texas can now disregard election results and assign electors to Trump under false claims of "voter fraud."

Trump still refuses to acknowledge the 2020 result and continues to fuel his radical base with fraud allegations. This is part of a broader strategy to push the election outcome to the Supreme Court. As early as 2000, the Court shamelessly sided with Bush, stating that "further counting of votes in Florida could undermine the legitimacy of his victory." Bush and Trump then packed the Court with more far-right judges, and Obama’s nominee, Merrick Garland, was unlawfully denied confirmation. Now, little can go wrong for Trump there.

Kamala Harris, who is highly capable, is not without a chance. But she needs a clear majority. Obama and Biden managed that. But even then, state legislatures or the Supreme Court could distort the outcome. Yet we in Europe continue to believe in the integrity of these elections. Focusing on the election spectacle instead of the structural manipulations blinds us to reality. This lack of international pressure for reform gives would-be dictator Trump more credibility (and freedom) if he indeed is declared president.

Why don’t the Democrats themselves denounce all this manipulation?

Complaining about the rules of the game is difficult when you're the only one playing the democratic game. You quickly appear like a sore loser. During John Kerry’s concession speech in 2004, his body language and choice of words made it clear he knew he had really won, but saw no room to complain about it. Even Trump's openly violent coup attempt in 2020 is rarely called that by Democrats or democrats. As a center-right party in a deeply unequal country, Democrats have little reason to engage the half (!) of the population that doesn’t vote in an inclusive democracy.

Regardless of all this, if Trump becomes president, both Europe and democratic America will likely accept the result without much criticism. This starkly contrasts with the strong critiques our government and media level against leaders like Erdoğan in Turkey or Maduro in Venezuela. Ironically, there seems to be less going on there than in the U.S., but they are leaders the Netherlands doesn't want. And that’s remarkable, because from Trump—and inevitably Vance afterward—we’re going to suffer far more than from Maduro or Erdoğan.

Welcome post

11 Jun, 2020, No comments

This is some dummy text to demonstrate how a blog post will look. You can delete this dummy post and add your own real blog posts.

To edit a post, just click Edit post at the top of any post. To add or delete a post, open the full-fledged Blog editor from the left toolbar.