Could the changes President Trump is making in America lead to the establishment of tyranny? Do Americans have reason to be concerned? Is it really the case that he has removed some of the institutions that have protected democracy, civil liberties, etc.?
These are not questions that I am asking, but when they come from the opposite camp, they should be taken seriously. What is it then? We must admit that the Trump administration is much more a government of the individual than previous administrations. But would an eventual personal dictatorship be more brutal, dangerous, or otherwise harmful than a dictatorship of an unfettered liberal oligarchy?
For the answer to this question, it is completely irrelevant how the war between the monarchical (Trump) party and the oligarchical (liberal) party plays out. It is indifferent how vigorously either party advances, and it is indifferent which party follows which rules. Let the gentry sort that out among themselves.
What matters are the effects on ordinary normal people. Can they continue to live their ordinary lives in peace, or will they be subject to tyrannical practices?
- Are people being punished for publicly expressing their disagreement with the government more like “dictator” or “oligarchy”? Are they punished more in liberal regimes for criticizing migration, or are they punished more in Trumpian or Orbanist regimes for expressing the view that mass migration is beneficial?
- Are banks, companies, social network operators and other non-state actors encouraged to censor and punish wrong views in liberal regimes or more so in Trumpian and Orbanist regimes? Are people fired from their jobs for criticizing LGBT people or for criticizing the traditional family? Are bank accounts being blocked for nationalists or multiculturalists?
- Under which regime does the state fund and otherwise encourage violent gangs targeting political opponents? Is it more the case that the liberal oligarchy supports Antifa and BLM groups or is it more the case that Trump regimes support the Ku Klux Klan?
These are rhetorical questions, of course. Note that Trump isn’t even being accused of anything that might concern ordinary people. Everything he is accused of is about his war on the liberal oligarchy.
Why should that matter to us?