The government uses its power to help large businesses consolidate their power and insulate themselves from accountability. At the same time, the government mounts a massive propaganda operation to convince the people they are threatened by people and things they don't understand, usually dark conspiracies by religious or ethnic minorities. It's also a nice touch to promote the idea that a popular movement can bring back lost morality and patriotism from a former time. If you know anything of the German and Italian fascist movements, this sounds familiar to you. And you can see parallels with what's happening right here in the US.