[aibrahem]

As someone who spent most of his life in a dictatorship, I don’t think you appreciate how easily a society can slide into a totalitarian state and how apathetic most of the population can become.

It’s also interesting that you served in the U.S. military and didn’t recognize how self-serving and institutionally corrupt it is. I come from a country with an oversized military relative to its government, and the parallels I can draw between its behavior and that of the U.S. Army are uncanny.

[ramoz]

I appreciate what you’ve been through.

However, comparing American society with one of the Middle East does not resonate with me. That goes hand in hand with comparing a military of a dictatorship with one of a democracy.

[aibrahem]

There is nothing inherently special about Americans that makes them more democratic. I agree we shouldn't compare the U.S. with Middle Eastern countries; they were never democratic in the first place. A more appropriate comparison would be with the German Weimar Republic, where a charismatic leader managed to overthrow democracy.

Many people raised in democratic societies don't fully understand the intricacies of the relationship between the military and dictatorships; they see the military as a tool in the dictator's hand to wield at will. This couldn't be further from the truth. A (strong) military in a dictatorship is its own institution, largely isolated from the rest of society and granted its own perks and benefits. The dictator can wield the military only to the extent that it aligns with the institution's goals. Competent ones try to align the military's goals with their own; incompetent ones get overthrown.

Because of this isolation from broader society, the officers and soldiers believe that what is good for the institution is good for the country. They're not suppressing their citizens; they believe they are protecting the republic.

The U.S. Army is already operating as an isolated entity from broader U.S. society. Monetary corruption is quite substantial—consider the medium- to high-ranking officers and their relationships and revolving doors with defense contractors.

I'm not saying the U.S. is going to become -insert non-democratic country here-, but if we ignore the usual Western caricature of Stalinist-style dictatorships and realize that there are multiple forms of eroding democracy, you'll start to understand why it's not such a far-fetched idea.

[mlnj]

Trump has already floated

- Imprisoning criticizers

- Removing the broadcast licenses of news network that questions him. He's been calling them fake news for years.

- More power to the rich buddies. Not just more money, now they get more control over government affairs. Musk and Thiel are frothing over this.

- Control over women and minorities.

- More power to the theists.

Looks like "comparing American society with one of the Middle East does not resonate with me." will soon become apparent as the parallels start to be clearer.

[dalmo3]

> I don’t think you appreciate how easily a society can slide into a totalitarian state and how apathetic most of the population can become.

We all lived through 2020-22, yes.

[misiti3780]

Im not even a trump supporter but last night he said he was leaving the white house after this term on live TV, so i think the whole trump-wanna-be-dictator thing goes out the window - no ?

[joshlemer]

"Don't worry, man who famously lies every single time he opens his mouth about even basic objective facts before everyone's eyes, says he won't abuse his powers, so there's nothing to fear!"

Also even going by his own words, what about his "dictator on day one" comments?

[LeafItAlone]

Not picking a side here, but didn’t he say if he lost 2020 we’d never hear from him again?

[okdood64]

I think the concerns about him trying to stay on a third term are way overblown, but outside of that: you can't trust what he says versus to what he will do later.

[maksimur]

He’s not the first leader of a democratic country to claim it will be his last term, only to have another term thereafter.

[dudefeliciano]

he has proven to be a man of his word

[rcpt]

tbf he looks nothing like the guy he was in 2016 and it's not like he signed up to a relaxing job