By Marc Albritton
“This morning I woke up in curfew. Dear lord I was a prisoner too. Could not recognize the faces stand over me. All dressed in uniforms of brutality.” These hauntingly prophetic words were delivered to us by Bob Marley more than three decades ago. The warning was, when people fall asleep politically and socially, when they finally awake, they may find themselves in an inescapable prison of their own slumber. After we proudly elected President Obama we rejoiced and celebrated and then we treated ourselves to a well-deserved political break and fell quietly asleep. While we were sleeping others where wide awake and plotted their vengeful backlash.
More than 50 years ago, a Russian born, American Immigrant named Ayn Rand penned a series of futuristic novels. Among her most acclaimed were Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead. She used her literary works to self-promote her philosophy of Objectivism; (There is no knowledge other than that of pure logic and priori reasoning, and that the individual is the highest apex of humanity, owing “nothing to no one” save themselves.) Among her most noted subscribers list are: Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, President Ronald Regan, and the infamous Tea Party, the latter being most responsible for the backlash against President Obama, and the selection of Trump. While the collective Black leadership are often prone to speculation, emotionalism and assumption, the white political and social action reflects their subscription to a particular philosophy and reason. It is this philosophy that is leading them to their first experimentation with dictatorship.
Amazingly, Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party “never received more than 38% of the vote in a free election”1.Trump lost the popular vote by approximately 3 million votes. However, he was able to capture the electoral votes. “The conservative politicians in the new Cabinet didn’t like or trust Hitler, but they liked democracy even less, and they saw the leftist parties as a bigger threat. They reached out to the Nazis to help build a majority in Parliament. They were confident they could control Hitler… Exploiting widespread fears of a communist uprising… they declared emergency rule. President Hindenburg signed a decree that suspended all basic civil rights and constitutional protections, providing the basis for arbitrary police actions.”2 Trump is using propaganda to portray immigrants, and people of color in general as the enemy. His immigration bans, racists policies, and suspension of the rule of law belies his intentions to rule by dictatorial authority, not commanding loyalty to the United States Constitution, but to himself as the highest order.
Trump began his campaign with attacks on Mexicans and Muslims. After his election he continued a constant Twitter barrage on immigrants and people from black and brown countries describing them as “Shit Holes.” A people who are to be taken down must first be properly set up. “The goal of Nazi propaganda was to demonize Jews and encourage Germans to see Jews as dangerous outsiders in their midst. After 1935, everyday anti-Semitism was a regular part of carnival parades and floats. Public displays of anti-semitism reinforced a climate of hostility toward Jews in Germany, or at the least, indifference to their treatment.”3
One of Trump’s most significant transgressions against the rule of law and international morality was his arrest and separation of immigrant families leading to mass incarceration without due process. They face indefinite detention without seeing a judge unless they agree to self deport. “German police filled the concentration camps with thousands of Jewish inmates. The SS released them only if they agreed to emigrate. But Jews faced increasingly restrictive immigration quotas in most countries and bureaucratic hurdles in Germany. A new law issued in October 1938 required Jews to surrender their old passports, which would be valid only after the letter “J” was stamped on them. Two months later, another law prevented the flight of capital owned by Jews, when the Economics Ministry froze all Jewish property and assets. Many who had the means and somewhere to go, tried to leave Germany. Some families sent their children alone to other, safer countries.”4
Some might question; where is the media? Where are our politicians? How can this be happening? What isn’t he impeached? To date Ayn Rand’s books have sold 30 million copies. More people than we imagine, are reading and subscribing to Rand’s Objectivism and Trumps brand of racist fascism. As long as he is achieving the wishes of capitalism, cutting taxes on the rich, and deregulation, many of his supporters will turn a blind eye. They have gathered in public and in secret places and declared let us make a dictator and saw that it was good – and in reality they have unleashed an American nightmare.
Reference:
1-4 The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
