5 November 2016: What we individually can do to stop America’s Next Hitler
What we individually can do to stop America’s Next Hitler
The election is days away, but regardless of the results, there is a lot that needs to be done to restore democratic values to this nation. Trump may be a fascist (YES: #1, #2, NO: #1, #2), but it should be troubling that the fascist qualities he displays are supported by 45% of the American public, regardless of their reasons. This support arises during a sound, if not perfect economy. Who or what will the American people support during the next recession, projected to occur in only a few years?
Individually, there is much we can do. In the movie Mulan, the Emperor says “A single grain of rice can tip the scale. One man may be the difference between victory and defeat” . He is actually echoing a powerful theory of How Nature Works, by the late Danish physicist, Per Bak, called self organized criticality. Large systems with many components, living or non-living, tend to evolve into a critical state, in which minor disturbances cause events whose impact and frequency follows a power law distribution, with a high frequency of minor impact events and a small tail of major impact events. Self organized criticality accurately describes such disparate events as earthquakes, stock and commodity price fluctuation and extinction events for species. It can be illustrated by dropping one grain of sand at a time on the center of a table to create a sand pile. Initially, the grains stay where they land. As the slope increases, a single grain is likely to cause other grains to topple. At this point, the dynamics have changed from an individual grain causing predictable patterns to possibly causing a landslide of sand grains. The take home message is that we cannot know the impact of our participation – it may just add to the sand pile, or may start an avalanche of activity. But doing nothing will do nothing.
1. Increase our own political activity
We cannot expect others to do what we will not do. Of course, I vote, but I also calendar regular communications with my public officials. I am busy, but I can have enough time to send a two paragraph email every month to an elected official. Public officials are very good at sensing the mood of the electorate, but we have to tell them what our mood is. Otherwise, they are more likely to respond to major contributors, and assume the public doesn’t care what they do. Of course, it doesn’t hurt to send them a contribution, even if only $10 or $25, so they feel more connected to your point of view.
Many of us are frustrated at our seeming inability to convince our friends to turn from “the dark side” towards rational thinking. It may be more productive to talk to those who are undecided, or not participating, and to try to get them involved.
What we do is up to us, but we should do something. Many of us grew up wondering why the Germans in the 1930’s were so passive about the rise of Hitler. To be fair, the Germans were suffering from a severe economic crisis, and didn’t know what a Hitler could do. We do not have these excuses.
2. Stop supporting the promoters of fascism and the anti-tax movement
As a physician and business owner, I am privileged. I don’t have to count every penny, and have choices about where to spend my money. I have decided that to the extent possible, I will not patronize businesses supporting anti-democracy values. Of course, this means I will boycott all Trump related businesses. I also boycott Meijer, Krogerand other companies that have low worker pay compared to CEO pay packages. I boycott companies that push their religious beliefs on their employees by denying birth control coverage. Of course, this is not always possible – we cannot research intensively every decision we make, but I do what I can, and have written the management of Meijer and Kroger to tell them of my decision.
3. Stop supporting the anti-democracy media
Fox “News” is far from balanced. It makes no pretense at accuracy. Unless you are doing research of some type, rational people should boycott anything to do with Fox, and tell them why. This includes local affiliates. Why should we support their anti-democratic behavior with our dollars? Of course, every company says or does things we don’t like, but Fox is so extreme that they deserve a harsh response.
4. Be the best person you can be
The United States is at war – with itself. Will we support policies that promote the general welfare, or those that use government to transfer wealth and power from the masses to the elite? Will sovereignty continue to be vested in citizens, or will we worship and sacrifice to the Gods of commerce, lowering their taxes and giving them sweetheart deals, with the hope that they will bestow their beneficence upon us?
In Michigan, government of the people has been replaced by idol worship. Groups like the Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce, in my opinion, have supported and continue to support (a) transferring the tax burden from the business community and the wealthy to the middle and lower classes, (b) taking political rights away from African-Americans, other minorities and groups that cannot easily fight back, and (c) helping elect politicians who support these views, even while they dismantle government, and give us third world roads and infrastructure, underfund cities and public education, and literally poison our residents.
In response, we have to be the best people we can be. This means we have to be healthy and strong. Are we eating and exercising properly? Are we getting appropriate medical care? Are we educating our mind, and expanding our abilities to think, write and speak? It is not just about us – we need a strong country for our children and grandchildren. All of us have to be at our best to fight the greed and bigotry that is accelerating all around us.
Nathan Hale is reported to have said “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.” What about you?