Donald Trump is not Hitler. He is not Stalin. His vision of America is neither pre-war Germany nor the post-war Soviet Union. The United States is not at risk of falling into totalitarianism.
The United States has its own history and culture. It has a unique way of manifesting its politics. That does not mean, however, that we cannot learn from other places and other times. As Mark Twain, the most American of American writers, wrote: “History doesn't repeat itself, but it often rhymes.”
So, let’s start with what we know. Trump is a deeply unserious man. In a different era, he would have been a carnival barker. If not born to privilege and wealth he would be running a low level scheme or selling supplements on a sketchy website. Instead, he is the president-elect who, in addition to hawking schlocky items on the internet, will soon command the highest, most powerful office on earth.
We know that he admires modern day dictators and strongmen. He seeks their favor and rejoices in their flattery.
He rejects liberalism — things like the rule of law, impartial government and fundamental rights. He has contempt for democratic norms and institutions. Elections are only fair when he wins and rigged when he loses.
For Trump, the presidency exists to exact the spoils of electoral victory rather than a public trust.
Like many of you, I have spent the last few days trying to make sense of things — asking how this happened and what comes next. As for the second question, I have been doing a lot of reading.
It is something that preoccupied the Founders, who were afraid of the reemergence of a king. Decades after the founding, John Adams was still concerned. In 1814 he wrote to a colleague that “democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.”
As part of my processing, I went back and reread several of Hannah Arendt’s works. She is best known for her account of the trial of Adolf Eichmann in which she coined the phrase “banality of evil.” In her telling, the Nazi SS leader was a mediocre joiner. In her words a “clown.”
But, in my opinion, her most important book was The Origins of Totalitarianism, in which she attempts to explain the mechanics of how totalitarian movements come to power. One observation of hers strikes me as most relevant today.
