RE: He Doth Bestride the Narrow World Like a Colossus: LMAC #235
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I love your explanation of how you came to make this. So much goes into these collages. I think you nailed your intent with this one.
I see that a pattern emerges: in cases where an autocrat rose to power, that power was often seized in stages.
Here in the US, I believe the stages span a number of administrations, each gathering more power than the last, adding adding, eroding our freedoms considerably, until today we have the climate (this is the real climate change) where an actual tyrant will be tolerated by nearly everyone, both sides of the political stage. And I mean "stage," as in entertainment for the masses. The outcry will be feeble, because the tyrannical actions will have already been tolerated by us once, or more often, before. Trump (if you're alluding to him) hasn't done a dang thing presidents before him haven't already done before now.
Hello @owasco,
Yes, a lot goes into the collages, at least the way I make them. Most of the people in the community are artists and they may not have a message that is so literal. I come from the world of storytelling and exposition, so I tell a story. Thanks for saying I hit my target :)
As for the rise of autocracy in stages...absolutely. The development of the imperial presidency has been constant, and growing for a long time. The loss of freedom for citizens has also been growing, and validated by Congress and the courts. All those national security regulations that I can't even keep track of... I'm afraid to use the phone!
However, I think the current administration is determined to reap the benefits accrued from those tendencies of earlier years. It's true that presidents have sent the military into cities in the past, to 'keep order'. However, no president has threatened to do this as a matter of policy, across the country.
It is true that presidents have fired leaders of our military in the past, but no president has fired virtually the top layer of military leadership. This president has fired more than a dozen. It is concerning when the military loses its independence so dramatically and so quickly. We do like our military to be separate from civilian rule. That has been a hallmark of our democracy. Having the military conspicuously subservient to one leader--that is concerning.
I looked for precedents where presidents have sued law firms. If you find any, please let me know. But the practice of suing law firms that oppose you or represent those that oppose you is chilling. People can no longer go to the courts to sue for address of grievances, if there is no law firm willing to represent them. The independence of law firms is a significant tool in protecting individual rights.
There is so much more.
I'm trying to be positive. Every time I sit down to write a political blog my dinner turns sour, so then I write a blog about nature, or past memories. That is my way to good mental health.
I'm sure I could find other grievances, perhaps not exactly those of the current doofus in chief, but related and just as bad. I don't want to though!!! It's depressing, tiring and a waste of time. Presidents have all been very bad for at least 70 years now. It is good to know many of us can now put some of the pieces together and see the big puzzle picture of our being reduced to, essentially, slaves to the deeply corrupt government, which is a collection of mobs. We are taxed on our money both coming in and going out. If we fix up our own homes using our own money, our real estate taxes go up forever. In this administration, we could lose everything, or be deported, just for speaking out about genocide in certain areas of the world. During the last administration, I was also afraid to use my phone, lest I be tracked, traced and forced into quarantine. For a while there, I was afraid of much worse, and from my former good friends. We were not allowed to speak out about the dangers of preposterously experimental medical procedures that had not gone through any safety studies. I hope folks remember how easily it was to turn them hateful. I am not sure they do.