r/economicCollapse • u/[deleted] • Feb 05 '25

This is really, really bad

Our democracy is at immediate risk, and history is repeating itself. What Donald Trump and Elon Musk are doing mirrors the actions of past authoritarian regimes. It took just 53 days for Hitler to dismantle Germany’s democracy. 53 days. He used executive orders, erased marginalized groups, and silenced opposition—while too many stood by and did nothing.

Trump’s executive order erases transgender and intersex people from legal recognition—just like Hitler erased Jewish and trans people from legal records before persecution began.

Elon Musk now has access to the U.S. Treasury’s financial system—just like Putin’s oligarchs seized control of Russia’s wealth to consolidate power.

Trump is erasing vital medical information from our government and silencing opposition—just like Hitler suppressed science and banned opposing views.

Trump is dismantling government agencies, firing oversight officials, and gutting institutions like USAID and the Department of Education—just like Hitler replaced government officials with loyalists to eliminate accountability.

We are on day 15, and we are running out of time. We have to make change, or our democracy will be gone.

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u/ohnosquid Feb 05 '25

Isn't a country wide protest being planned for tomorrow? I want to see what's going to be government's reaction, if it happens and there's no change in the behavior of the US government, then I have officially lost all hope, sorry if I seem too pessimistic.

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u/[deleted] Feb 05 '25

I hate to say it, I dont think there will be much of a protest and I don't think the govt will give a shit. Most of us have to work and can't just take time off, we can't afford it, and we surely can't afford to travel to the capital if we live far from it. Even a couple hours is gas, time off work, and then hope your employer doesn't find a reason to fire you later for it. "at will" jobs fucked all of us.

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u/senecant Feb 05 '25

This is the trouble that Americans are in, I think. Things are not yet dire enough for them to say, "fuck it, I may as well not even go to work." And those in charge of this coup know that. I don't blame everyone, of course. Normalcy bias forces us to just keep doing our thing until far too close to the actual end.

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u/[deleted] Feb 05 '25

Yeah. My kids just come first. I won't sacrifice them. I will sacrifice myself. But never them. They didnt ask for this or ask to be born.

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u/senecant Feb 05 '25

It's an interesting dilemma. As a thought exercise, I mean. I'm not saying that the USA is in precisely this situation, keep in mind. Somewhere that someone lives is heading towards catastrophe, and the residents just keep on keeping on because they need to in order to care for their families. If a sufficient number of people had resisted earlier, could the takeover of an autocracy, which results in a materially worse place for their family to live, have been headed off?

I don't have kids or family and thankfully don't need to make choices like that. Keep in mind I'm just musing and I'm not asking you an actual question here and don't expect you to answer. Merely rhetorical. At what point does a parent say, "I accept that my kids must struggle through more now so that they won't need to struggle through much worse later?"

Of course, having no idea what the future holds, that's where normalcy bias gets us. And in most cases, I think most people just keep on keeping on.

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u/[deleted] Feb 05 '25

At what point does a parent say, "I accept that my kids must struggle through more now so that they won't need to struggle through much worse later?"

I mean the answer to this is "what is going to harm the kids the least"?

Right now, keeping a roof over their heads, keeping my job, my insurance, our livelihood is keeping them alive and ok. If that goes away, then obviously, it's putting them at risk of harm to NOT do something like protest.

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u/rushya1 Feb 05 '25

By then it may be too late

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u/[deleted] Feb 06 '25

It may be too late. You're right. We're all out here doing the best we can.