One of the topics that’s been bandied about on the forum is Trump becoming an actual dictator, not just someone who has installed loyalists to do his bidding, thereby allowing him to have a bit of an authoritarian streak within the rules of law (more or less), but an actual dictator. This would require an entire dismantling of the American federal government, and not just a replacing of government officials by loyalists. But the same forum members who make this argument then say, “Oh, he’d have to remove these parts of the Constitution.” There is an inherent problem with this argument. To clarify, I’m interpreting “Trump will be an absolute dictator” in a literal sense, and not a metaphorical sense — which is what Project 2025 arguably will establish for at least 4 years.
Well … let’s look at the ramifications of what the argument “Trump will be a dictator” actually implies. The first element that Trump would need to take advantage of is acquiescence. That would mean the the country is willing to sit back and let it happen and put up little to no show of resistance. Right now, Trump doesn’t have that. He has, at most, maybe 51% of Americans who would acquiesce. So right away, we have 49% of adult Americans across various governmental and state organizations, healthcare and financial organizations, and more who would not be agreeable with Trump being a dictator.
Some say that Trump is like Hitler. Well, even assuming Trump is using Hitler’s playbook (evil man though he may have been), he does not have the elements in society needed to have full submission. America has not lost a war, its economy is not in shambles, and its people are (writ large) not impoverished.
But let’s say he thinks he can get past that. Let’s say he thinks that if he uses a combination of the Gestapo and martial law that he’d be able to keep the people quiet. Well, that leads to step two: suspending the Constitution in its entirety.
For Trump to be an absolute dictator, the Constitution simply does not apply. Whether there is a mechanism for the suspension of the Constitution or not, it doesn’t matter. Trump will just ignore it. This means that the Constitution need not apply. That means that there are no longer three major Articles of the Constitution, which set up the separation of powers, no separation of church and state, and no limits imposed on him by the Constitution. The Constitution simply does not exist, or I guess you could say the piece of paper exists, but it is simply ignored.
What that means is that Project 2025, which operates within the Constitution (for better or for worse) doesn’t is meaningless because the Constitution is meaningless. The Heritage Foundation essentially becomes meaningless, as does any political advocacy group. The RNC and DNC would effectively cease to exist. The Senate and House are disbanded, and the Supreme Court loses its immense power and simply rubber stamps what Trump does.
That means that the cherished 2nd Amendment rights go away, too. If you have a weapon, you’re part of a smaller part of the 51% that elected him. And you’re probably part of Trump’s private militia that protects the dictator from … the actual military, since it swears allegiance to the Constitution. Also, Trump has to essentially fire every last soldier and hire his own loyalists — who may not be able to shoot straight to save their lives. And he can’t recruit any more troops through the usual recruiting procedures, because he would have no guarantee that the people he hired were loyalists. So the military, rather than sustaining its numbers, would have a finite number of troops that dwindles every time there’s an armed conflict.
And the First Amendment rights are gone, too. Citizens would be unable to look at the websites they want, go to the adult sites they wanted, or read anything they want. Books that don’t align with Trump’s views are taken off the shelves, and libraries are almost empty except for Trump’s own books. Only government-approved entertainment and propaganda is allowed.
The last point, the one which is probably why Trump wouldn’t want absolute dictatorial powers, is that the dollar crashes. Currency is built on certainty. Uproot the government’s system, the currency crashes.
The list goes on, but these are the main highlights of why Trump would not or could not become an absolute dictator.
So I ask for the sense of the forum on this: What do you mean by “Trump will be a dictator?” Do you mean it in a literal sense, a metaphorical sense, or something else entirely? Help me understand how my understanding of "Trump will be a dictator" is (or isn't) what you mean.
Well … let’s look at the ramifications of what the argument “Trump will be a dictator” actually implies. The first element that Trump would need to take advantage of is acquiescence. That would mean the the country is willing to sit back and let it happen and put up little to no show of resistance. Right now, Trump doesn’t have that. He has, at most, maybe 51% of Americans who would acquiesce. So right away, we have 49% of adult Americans across various governmental and state organizations, healthcare and financial organizations, and more who would not be agreeable with Trump being a dictator.
Some say that Trump is like Hitler. Well, even assuming Trump is using Hitler’s playbook (evil man though he may have been), he does not have the elements in society needed to have full submission. America has not lost a war, its economy is not in shambles, and its people are (writ large) not impoverished.
But let’s say he thinks he can get past that. Let’s say he thinks that if he uses a combination of the Gestapo and martial law that he’d be able to keep the people quiet. Well, that leads to step two: suspending the Constitution in its entirety.
For Trump to be an absolute dictator, the Constitution simply does not apply. Whether there is a mechanism for the suspension of the Constitution or not, it doesn’t matter. Trump will just ignore it. This means that the Constitution need not apply. That means that there are no longer three major Articles of the Constitution, which set up the separation of powers, no separation of church and state, and no limits imposed on him by the Constitution. The Constitution simply does not exist, or I guess you could say the piece of paper exists, but it is simply ignored.
What that means is that Project 2025, which operates within the Constitution (for better or for worse) doesn’t is meaningless because the Constitution is meaningless. The Heritage Foundation essentially becomes meaningless, as does any political advocacy group. The RNC and DNC would effectively cease to exist. The Senate and House are disbanded, and the Supreme Court loses its immense power and simply rubber stamps what Trump does.
That means that the cherished 2nd Amendment rights go away, too. If you have a weapon, you’re part of a smaller part of the 51% that elected him. And you’re probably part of Trump’s private militia that protects the dictator from … the actual military, since it swears allegiance to the Constitution. Also, Trump has to essentially fire every last soldier and hire his own loyalists — who may not be able to shoot straight to save their lives. And he can’t recruit any more troops through the usual recruiting procedures, because he would have no guarantee that the people he hired were loyalists. So the military, rather than sustaining its numbers, would have a finite number of troops that dwindles every time there’s an armed conflict.
And the First Amendment rights are gone, too. Citizens would be unable to look at the websites they want, go to the adult sites they wanted, or read anything they want. Books that don’t align with Trump’s views are taken off the shelves, and libraries are almost empty except for Trump’s own books. Only government-approved entertainment and propaganda is allowed.
The last point, the one which is probably why Trump wouldn’t want absolute dictatorial powers, is that the dollar crashes. Currency is built on certainty. Uproot the government’s system, the currency crashes.
The list goes on, but these are the main highlights of why Trump would not or could not become an absolute dictator.
So I ask for the sense of the forum on this: What do you mean by “Trump will be a dictator?” Do you mean it in a literal sense, a metaphorical sense, or something else entirely? Help me understand how my understanding of "Trump will be a dictator" is (or isn't) what you mean.
).
