First, a few precursors \u2013 because these elements are foundational and need to be understood, at least in an abstract manner, to take the next step in understanding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI am the only way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How does a cult leader cement his\/her leadership status? This is a topic covered by far better sources than myself, and I will defer to them without hesitation \u2013 as a recommendation, look up the works of Hannah Arendt (\u201cThe Origins of Totalitarianism<\/em>\u201d).<\/p>\n\n\n\n From a high level view, one of the means by which a cult cements its control over individuals is through inducing guilt and shame in them, and offering conditional acceptance to the individual. Psychologically this traps the person \u2013 if they leave the cult, what they\u2019ve done that induces the guilt and shame comes due, they lose the refuge from it that the cult offered. The cult may also make it clear that those who leave become enemies, and not only lose the refuge but earn a cause for fear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Take for example, Nazi criminals who worked in concentration camps. They participated in the industrialized murder of millions, an unforgivable source of guilt and shame \u2013 but so long as they remained loyal to the Party, that became a quality of value within the cult. And of course, any who departed became enemies, and were to be destroyed as such. To depart was a twofold isolation: their own sense of guilt over what they knew to be wrong would come to roost, and the recrimination of their former colleagues would leave them with no one to help comfort them with it. Furthermore, they knew the physical harm which would befall them, which made departure from the cult unthinkable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI know nothing, and even if it does happen, they deserve it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Recall as well, that the concentration camps did not bear labels declaring them to be centers of mass execution. They were entitled \u201cwork camps\u201d, with the slogan \u201cWork Earns Freedom\u201d on their gates. These were the sanitized exterior, what made them palatable to the local residents. As the knowledge of what actually went on within them made its way slowly out into the society, the combination of willful ignorance and the prior demonization of those condemned to the camps made it a simple matter for residents to simply ignore what went on behind those walls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Nazi party spent a great deal of time prior to coming to power spreading hate against the Jewish people, and others they considered \u2018subhuman\u2019 \u2013 gays, the mentally ill, Romany gypsies. They laid the groundwork of hatred in the common people by constant repetition and absolutely flagrant lies. This had the effect of demonizing the targets to the point where any normal person might consider \u2018I know they aren\u2019t as bad as that, but they aren\u2019t good.\u2019 This conditioning enabled uninvolved persons the psychological escape of looking the other way while unthinkable horror was visited upon their neighbors within a short walk of their homes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How does this all bear pertinence to anything now?<\/p>\n\n\n\n For comparison, the United States prison system has 1.5 million inmates across the country. The Republican round-up of deportees dwarfs that by 20x. There are no facilities to contain that many persons, never mind no legal ground for imprisoning them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Where does this go?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thirty million people that the Republicans wish to remove from society. They have no place to send them. No money to pick them up, store them, and eventually move them. They already have been conditioned to think of them as \u201cmurderers\u201d, \u201crapists\u201d, \u201cvermin\u201d, who \u201cpoison the blood of our country\u201d (which, by the way, Trump has said numerous times on tape and camera, and is a direct quote from Nazi propaganda of the 1930s<\/strong><\/em>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Of course, being Republican, they have no capacity for original thought \u2013 and they will go back to the old plan that they\u2019ve been carrying around for decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They will construct \u201cstaging areas\u201d and \u201cdeportation centers\u201d around the country. Unlike our borders, Donald Trump\u2019s surrogates will ensure these are built with high walls to prevent casual observers from watching what transpires inside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n His rich enablers will buy up all media outlets and ensure that no news story discussing these centers which is not approved by the Administration leaks out. Trump will shut down any remaining news outlets to seal the information leaks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They will gather the people they consider \u201cundesirable\u201d in these deportation centers and staging areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And they will kill them there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is the end result that a Donald Trump dictatorship will arrive at.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We have seen this story before. We know its outcome. And we have no excuse to allow it to be repeated.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" First, a few precursors \u2013 because these elements are foundational and need to be understood, at least in an abstract manner, to take the next step in understanding. \u201cI am the only way.\u201d How does a cult leader cement his\/her … Continue reading \n
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