I asked myself this question over and over. But then a realization came to me.
What do Vladimir Putin of Russia, Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil, Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus, Bong Bong Aquino of the Philippines, Viktor Orban of Hungary, Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey and Bashar al-Assad all have in common?
First, they are all brutal dictators who have imprisoned, killed, tortured their rivals. They have all taken away the freedom to protest, they have taken over the courts which now work as an enforcement arm of the man in charge. They control the press and the internet. The elections are rigged, their countries economies are , for the most part, a disaster.
But the most important thing they have in common is that they were first elected in free and fair elections. How Is that possible you ask. It happened in those countries but I thought it could never happen here. I was wrong. All it took is for people to be lazy, stupid, illiterate, distracted, fatalistic.
In America, 20%+ of people are illiterate. 40%percent can tell you who won dancing with the stars or the plot on the latest Netflix series, but not the policies of the presidential (or local) candidates.
The point being, we get exactly what we deserve. Until and unless we, and people in other countries, wake up, our countries will be run by sociopathic, sadistic, arrogant, greedy, self-seeking, self-centered dictators/ fascists.
Wake up, America. You have one last chance to preserve democracy. Once Trump is re-elected he intends to dispense with the courts and Congress and fire all civil service employees and run the country from the white House. He will choke off the press, arrest his enemies, call out the national guard to stop protests, declare martial law if things start to get out of hand. All his perceived enemies will wind up in the same place Alexiei Navalny did: in jail / gulag / prison camp. You think that’s an exaggeration? Just get on Donald’s shit list and watch what happens.
If that’s okay with you, then don’t miss another episode of New Jersey Shore, Doctor Pimple-popper, Dancing with the Stars, or the Bachelor. And stop rationalizing that it’s okay because the series you’re watching on Netflix has won awards. Awarded for what…distracting you from watching your country go down the drain?