At the Republican National Convention, Donald Trump complained how the country’s politics and economy was rigged. He said Americans were victimized by unfair trade deals, incompetent government officials, weak and purposeless politicians. Trump attacked the courts, the media, the federal bureaucracy, Congress, our electoral system, the intelligence community, even science, and truth.
Trump claimed, “Nobody knows the system better than me, which is why I alone can fix it.”
The L.A.Times pointed out in “Trump’s Authoritarian Vision” that “Trump sees himself as not merely a force for change, but as a wrecking ball.”
Robert Reich says Trump’s governing philosophy is Authoritarianism.
“Political scientists use this term to describe a way of governing that values order and control over personal freedom, and seeks to concentrate power in the hands of a single ‘strongman.’
“Viewed through the lens of authoritarianism, Trump’s approach to governing is logical and coherent.
“For example, an authoritarian wouldn’t follow the normal constitutional process for disputing a judicial decision he dislikes — which is to appeal it to a higher court.
“An authoritarian would instead assail judges who rule against him, as Trump has done repeatedly. He’d also threaten to hobble the offending courts, as Trump did last week in urging that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (where many of these decisions have originated) be broken up.”
Robert Reich’s piece continues with other examples of why Trump is an authoritarian.
By Robert Reich
