"It Can't Happen Here"

[markie]

Sinclair Lewis- (audio free if you have Spotify Premium)

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[Martin68]

1. I grew up on this mantra - and warnings that it would happen here if we were were not vigilant.

[markie]

2. unfortunate

that more of us weren't.... too many of us don't understand how politics affects all factions of our lives

I worked for years on education studies, and the research includes questions on how many books are in the student's house.... it was always shocking to see how many young kids had no or few books in their home.... and obviously schools have not done a great job in imprinting the importance of civil engagement

it can, and it is, happening here

[elocs]

3. And Democrats have not been vigilant for many years, but complacent & overconfident.

An example is Roe. For decades, Democrats assured themselves that the Roe decision was rock solid, that it was all but a constitutional woman's reproductive right.
But Republicans and right-to-lifers fought for 49 years to get Roe reversed and they're not done yet.

Likewise with Trump who most Democrats likely looked upon him from the start as a joke and all Magas were just a bunch of dimwits. But after Trump lost in 2020 they were content to allow the Left to keep thinking that way while they spent years planning what Trump has been doing to democracy in America for the last 5 months.

Had we remained vigilant, things would have never gotten this far.

[Martin68]

4. I don't entirely agree. Democrats sounded the alarm during the first Trump administration and ever since.

In fact, we raised the alarm during Nixon's administration and Reagan's. And during the W years. The people who voted for Trump either want authoritarian rule, or are unaware of what it is and what it means.

[Initech]

5. I'll add the late, great Frank Zappa to the list!