An American dictatorship? Yes, it could happen [View all]

[KamaAina]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/commentary/ct-donald-trump-dictatorship-power-perspec-0922-20160921-story.html

One thing that all Americans want to believe is that it can't happen here. But it can happen anywhere. It may be happening right now.

"It" is the rise to power of an unprincipled, populist and racist candidate who captures the White House and turns this country into a dictatorship. In a country so blessed by history and good luck, such an American outcome has always seemed preposterous....

Over the years I have lived and worked in several countries — beautiful, cultured, civilized places — where it did indeed happen. These countries included Germany, Austria and Italy. Others come to mind — Argentina, Spain, Greece, Chile. No banana republics in this lineup, just countries with long histories, rich cultural traditions, great universities. Two of them, Greece and Italy, can claim to have invented Western civilization. All succumbed to a demagogue's siren call, and paid a fearful price.

But all these countries are different from the United States, right? Sure, and they're all different from each other, too. What they share is a moment in history when economic hardship or social change left masses of people — not everybody but enough — feeling cheated and abandoned, vulnerable to the lies and promises of a political snake-oil salesman who, in saner times, would have been laughed out of town.