The US isn’t Nazi Germany, but it doesn’t have to be. Nazi Germany does not have to serve as the benchmark; there are other, less extreme but nevertheless relevant examples of authoritarian regimes which can illustrate the parallels we’re observing now. We’re entering an age of irrevocable authoritarianism which, if it comes to pass, would permanently alter the character of American politics and society. We’re not quite past the Rubicon, but we’re getting closer all the time.
You made reference to the German economy - well what about the American economy the last 10, 20, 40 years, which has seen the fruits of economic expansion go to the wealthy and the costs of contraction paid for by the middle and lower classes. Wealth and income inequality is at its highest point since the late 1920s. The American economy, despite what you see, has largely sucked for the majority of people over the last decade or more. The financial crisis of 2008 wiped out trillions in wealth. The economic growth since 2009 has largely been economic growth without wage growth; it’s unprecedented to have a recovery so “strong” without wage growth. Even now, when we finally have wage growth, it’s eaten up by inflation. But the impact of the recession was more than just economic; it caused Americans to lose faith in their government and other institutions. It caused Americans to believe that the institutions that support democracy essentially don’t work.
I would also submit that American democracy is increasingly behaving and looking less like a democracy that any of our democratic allies would recognize. Consider the fact that, through gerrymandering, a minority of voters achieved a majority of legislative representation in congress. A minority of voters have achieved control of the executive branch, not once but twice over the past 4 elections. In turn, they have, and will continue to have, a major impact on the judiciary as well. Thus we have a situation in which political minorities are nevertheless able to win control over the government. That is not a true democracy, so in a sense, we’re already experiencing a creeping form of authoritarianism.
What checks? What balances?
We have Republicans in Congress who are complicit in trying to help the President escape accountability for high crimes and misdemeanors. It’s clear that no matter what Mueller’s investigation finds, the president’s Republican allies are going to protect him as long as he is politically popular enough to protect. We have a sitting president who has made it clear, who has articulated, that he feels the law does not apply to him, and the Republican “majority” (again, not really a majority) has given no indication that it intends to serve as a check on his power. I don’t think you understand how these things work. You’re using a very cursory knowledge of one of history’s extreme examples of authoritarianism, but authoritarianism is more complex and can appear in different forms.
Let me be blunt: the military is never, ever the steward of democracy. And the great problem this country has is in naively believing that it is and ever could be. The military is a top, down chain-of-command institution whose chief responsibilities are preserving national security. They operate at the behest of the commander-in-chief of the military, which happens to be the president, who happens to be democratically elected (well, kinda). The moment you have a military that acts against a democratically elected president and congress, you no longer have a democracy; you have a military junta. It doesn’t matter how benevolent it appears. The spirit of democracy falls into the hands of an institution that is among the most authoritarian of any you will find in a government.
Let me be clear: I respect the members of the military. That’s not the point. The point is, only a nation of fools who are begging for authoritarianism would place more trust in the military to protect a democracy than they would the institutions that were created for that purpose.
And yet, lo and behold, it appears that’s exactly what is happening in this country:
Two of the three institutions people trust the most? The military and the police.
The two they trust the least? The media and the people they vote for.
Of course there are reasons for this. The military is a non-partisan government agency that has a structure that both political parties have respected enough not to inject political influence over the years.
But consider what is happening now, with the current commander in chief, who repeatedly rejects his own non-partisan intelligence agencies’ findings of Russian involvement in our political process and who displays vindictiveness against former members of the intelligence community, threatening to revoke their security clearances for the ‘crime’ of contradicting his claims. It’s already clear that this president is willing to politicize any institution that falls under his control: the military, the national police, the federal prosecutors who staff his Department of Justice.
In short, this country is in deep, deep trouble. We probably have only one or two more election cycles left, one or two more chances, before American democracy is damaged irreversibly.