How To Overthrow Democracy: Dictator’s Playbook
The MAGA playbook to overthrow democracy isn’t new. Carl Schmitt wrote the playbook for Hitler.
It goes like this: Stoke grievances. Get elected with the barest margin. Create a fake emergency. Suspend the constitution and the rule of law. Call out the military to suppress protests. Instal your cronies in the police, courts and press. Plunder the country’s wealth. Rule for life!
Recognize the blueprint that Carl Schmitt laid out for Hitler?
Politicians claiming to be above the law. Courts stacked with cronies. Billionaire owned media outlets spread disinformation. A bloody insurrection which could easily have led to an emergency being declared and the constitution suspended…
MAGA Republican playbook based on the plan by Carl Schmitt for Hitler
The threat of tyranny
“Putin, Erdoğan, Orban, Trump – from Moscow to Budapest, populist authoritarians are the new normal. In Hungary, Orban, the prime minister, aims to build an “illiberal democracy” while in Russia, Putin long ago crushed independent journalism and political opposition. Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdoğan presides over a brutal crackdown on media and civil society. And in the US, Trump’s run for the presidency prompted Republican commentator Andrew Sullivan to warn of the threat of tyranny.” – The Conversation
Stoke grievances
“Schmitt’s thoughts could be used in a variety of context, to criticize political correctness, to discredit weak, neither-here-nor-there, coalition governments, a globalization that effaces the personality of every nation by creating a “great everywhere” in which all cities and countries resemble each other, and a constant search for victims rather than heroes that encourages everyone to find and cash on any real or imagined grievance fomented by what Trump calls “fake news” – Aawsat
Understand their playbook
“Those who do not study history are doomed to repeat it.” – George Santayana. (Could that be why MAGA Republicans like DeSantis are busy whitewashing American history?)Carl Schmitt was a jurist and a passionate defender of Hitler’s regime. “The ruler decides whether there is an extreme emergency as well as what must be done to eliminate it. Although he stands outside the normally valid legal system, he nevertheless belongs to it, for it is he who must decide whether the constitution needs to be suspended.” Schmitt advice for dictators (Summarized from Resources listed below):
Don’t be shackled by constitutions, laws and treaties
The rule of law is an obstacle to be overcome – not a principle to be embraced
Uses xenophobia and hatred to mobilize your supporters
Decide who is a member of the country and who is not
Stoke nationalism and hatred against immigrants. (Trump bans Muslims from entering the U.S. to deny birthright to some immigrants)
Suspend the juridical order in the name of responding to a ‘crisis’ (like an insurrection) they may have created
Abuse emergency powers and other executive privileges to advance your private interests
The ‘Strongman’ playbook
This blog was inspired by a talk by Ruth Ben Ghiat about Strongmen and how they follow Carl Schmitt.“ Ours is the age of the strongman, of heads of state who damage or destroy democracy use masculinity as a tool of political legitimacy, and promise law and order rule – and then legitimize lawless behavior by financial, sexual, and other predators. Covering a century of tyranny, this book examines how authoritarians use propaganda, virility, corruption, and violence to stay in power, and how they can be opposed.” Read her book “Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present First Edition“
This interactive infographic was created with the Infogram app with material from the RESOURCES listed below. Click on any point for more details and links to more information. Share it freely with this link.
TakeAway: Understand Carl Schmitt’s guide to overthrowing democracy that MAGA Republicans are following.
Deepak
DemLabs
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Resources:
Carl Schmitt: Nazi-era philosopher who wrote blueprint for New Authoritarianism – The Conversation
Donald Trump And The Carl Schmitt Spectrum – Aawsat
Emergency Powers and Trump: Lessons from Carl Schmitt – Public Seminar
Carl Schmitt and the Concept of Sovereignty – Minerva Wisdom
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