Ok, to further this fruitless debate i have asked Mistral to write a nice little essay for you:

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In recent years, there has been growing concern that the United States is moving towards authoritarianism. This concern is supported by various indicators and expert analyses.

One of the most alarming signs is the increasing willingness of the governing party to exploit constitutional and legal ambiguities for authoritarian ends. This trend has led to a significant backsliding in democratic standards, as evidenced by the downgrading of the United States in Freedom House’s annual global freedom index from 92 in 2014 to 83 in 2021, where it remains today (Foreign Affairs) . This decline is indicative of a broader global trend where democracy is in retreat and authoritarianism is on the rise (Atlantic Council) .

The shift towards authoritarianism is also reflected in the attitudes and actions of political leaders and their supporters. A survey of more than 500 political scientists found that the vast majority believe the United States is moving swiftly from liberal democracy toward some form of authoritarianism (NPR) . This is further supported by polls showing that nearly half of Republicans prefer “strong, unelected leaders” over “weak elected ones,” and a significant portion believe that defending the “traditional” way of life by force may soon become necessary (WIRED) .

The Republican Party, in particular, has become increasingly authoritarian and extreme, with many leaders flirting with using violence to achieve political goals and spreading lies about elections (WIRED) . This has led to a situation where the opposition that might have materialized in a less threatening environment is suppressed, with potential whistleblowers and citizens deciding not to speak out or engage in political activities (Foreign Affairs) .

The weaponization of state institutions against opponents is another hallmark of authoritarianism that is becoming more prevalent in the United States. This includes efforts to dictate what ideas can be taught and expressed, which is reminiscent of tactics used in authoritarian regimes (Harvard Gazette) . The Trump administration, for example, has been admiring of Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who has turned Hungary into a competitive authoritarian state by stocking state agencies with loyalists and attacking media business models (NPR) .

The global context also plays a role in the rise of authoritarianism. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Kremlin have been promoting an authoritarian development and governance model, exporting surveillance technology and autocratic governance practices (Atlantic Council) . This external influence, combined with internal political dynamics, contributes to the weakening of democratic institutions in the United States.

In conclusion, the evidence suggests that the United States is indeed on a path towards authoritarianism. The exploitation of constitutional ambiguities, the suppression of opposition, the weaponization of state institutions, and the influence of authoritarian models from abroad are all contributing factors. It is crucial for citizens and political leaders to recognize these trends and take action to protect and strengthen democratic institutions.

Mate, open a fucking newspaper and read it. For a nice, supersized big and fat example be on the lookout for news about a country south of Canada.

It has not really be for the current war, but as preparation for the next: If you start basic training at age 12 - 16 (or even younger) and perhaps keep it up until actual conscription starts your average recruit may be directly ready for specialised training after a short refresher.

I don’t think you know what authoritarianism actually is.

I have relatives in China and Vietnam and lived in both places for extended periods of time… well, let’s just say i have a rough estimate…

Yup, can not deny that

No, what i am dalking about is: We WILL see a rise of an authoritarian party in germany in the near future, as we see with many countries worldwide at the moment. And i say: IF we are already doomed to have an authoritarian / fascist regime, i prefer it to be on the ecofascist side. And if there will be an opportunity for such an regime, well, i WILL support it.

I am a bit fatalistic and perhaps a bit on the doomer side, but i am pretty sure we will get fascism one way or the other soon… and if this is ineviteable, i am very much in favour of installing ecofascism instead of other forms.

What else can you do when > 50% of the population is unwilling to help solving the single most dangerous problem in human history?

I am not the one you are asking, but personally, in my honest opinion: An “emergency government”, lets say with a 20 year term, removing far right parties, doing the necessary changes to massively reduce our climate impact and prepare for the ineviteable fallout from climate change and doing other reforms wouldn’t be THAT bad of an idea…

Well, to bring some darker thoughts to the topic: Most fascist movements are also very, very inclined on their interpretation of darwinism, so… “weak” people dying off may for them be more a feature than a bug

China is a decisive supporter of Russia in its war against Ukraine

Are they? As far as i know they are selling stuff to the russians, that is a bit different than being an active supporter. Yes, China is observing the conflict, but as far as i think only as a part of the whole self destruction of the west that is currently going on. Regarding the aggressive behavior i can only say that my relatives in Vietnam (some of them active in the military) are seemingly less worried about China than the current way of the US…

Yeah, why not? Let us shoot our self in the foot while we are still fucked by the US, just because some chinese dudes are working in Russia.

Aaand this is why the national governments in the EU should already have issued an official travel warning… or simply state on camera: “Don’t go to the fucking USA!”

Well, its a nice opportunity to get insight into a war with near peer adversaries, especially for a country like China who hasn’t fought in a bigger conflict in the last decades. And i bet its also nice for China having a good look into the russian tactics…

Ten years ago i would have agreed with your assesment of the situation, but today? I am pretty sure they were aware what they were doing.

Well… my apprentice and me, we are rolling the show! And how we manage this contraption? 90s style sneaker-admin!

Well, its not overly complicated:

On most of the clients we are now running OpenSUSE Leap, but for now we still need to run a few Windows boxes for our ERP system. Luckily, the next update of this system will make it browser based, so the clock for those system is ticking. Another thing that will keep two machines on Windows is the goddamn Datev…

For other tools we are now settled in on this solutions:

• Paperless-NGX as document management solution
• Seafile as cloud storage
• Libreoffice as office suite
• Thunderbird + Firefox as email / browser combo
• Etherpad-lite and Ethercalc for collaborative editing needs

Everything is locally hosted.

As a german, working in the IT sector for a bit over 25 years I say: The alternatives are there, but the pain isn’t hurting enough to finally force us out of the walled gardens.

It took me years to convince the company I work for to ditch big tech, and we are just a small (<50 employees) company.

At the moment i think China is the lesser of two evils. Yeah, its not a democracy and China does things that benefits China, but it has one thing that the OTHER evil has lost recently: Predictability.

In the beginning, even after the “Machtergreifung”, it was fairly ok to insult Hitler and make fun of the Nazis. They thought, its a form of venting for the population, preventing REAL resistance. Though, this changed later. There is a good ARTE documentary about this “Humor unterm Hakenkreuz”.

So, regarding the US… just wait a while…