Power in the Time of Political Panic
Taking Preventative Action in the Era of Authoritarianism (Vol. 5; Issue 43)
Shortly after the Cold War began, the Red Scare disrupted American society. Some leaders of our capitalist system, led by Senator Joseph McCarthy, irrationally feared communist infiltration. The resulting blacklisting, investigations, and suppression of civil liberties proved disastrous. It was a remarkably damaging part of American history, particularly affecting intellectuals and artists. Some people lost their jobs; others lost their lives.
McCarthy’s downfall began on June 9, 1954 when, during a congressional hearing, US Army attorney Joseph Welch angrily asked Senator McCarthy:
Have you no sense of decency, sir?
By the end of 1954, President Eisenhower and Congress effectively brought that politically tortuous period, also known as McCarthyism, to an end.
Looking back at that period of time in our nation’s political history, it seems like a minor mishap compared to the threat to America’s democracy today. It is now up to we the people to angrily ask Donald Trump the same question.
Last week, the editorial board of The New York Times identified 12 characteristics of authoritarian regimes. They graphically portrayed how far the country is moving toward a dictatorship, noting that autocrats have tendencies to:
Stifle dissent and speech.
Persecute political opponents.
Bypass legislative bodies.
Apply military force for domestic control.
Defy the courts.
Declare national emergencies on false pretenses.
Vilify marginalized groups.
Control the news media.
Influence universities.
Create cults of personality.
Use personal power for profit.
Manipulate the law to remain in power.
On each of these scales, they found moderate to marked movement towards autocracy. We have all seen the signs, and the alarming trend appears to be intensifying. Most disturbingly, Trump’s deployment of the National Guard—allegedly to reduce crime—seems to be a deliberate step towards disrupting next year’s mid-term elections.
It is easy to imagine a scenario in which Trump declares a national emergency if and when too many Republicans begin to lose seats in the House and the Senate. Even though the National Guard “technically” cannot interfere with election processes, Trump routinely ignores norms. He could easily find a way. He could deploy ICE to detain “immigrants,” and then use the National Guard to protect ICE agents. If these proved insufficient, he could order ICE agents to seize “suspicious” voting machines.
Trump essentially predicted this scenario when, in a rally last summer in West Palm Beach, Florida, he told supporters:
Christians, get out and vote, just this time. You won’t have to do it anymore. Four more years, you know what, it’ll be fixed, it’ll be fine. You won’t have to vote anymore, my beautiful Christians. We’ll have it fixed for good.
What might “fixed for good” mean? And what about the (absurd) promise not to have to vote anymore?
While we await the likelihood of an unprecedented election-disruption one year from now, Trump’s dictator-like behaviors continue: extra-judicial killings of alleged drug smugglers on boats in the Caribbean, constructing a “grand ballroom” on the east wing of the White House, filling his cabinet with sycophants executing his every whim, accepting a $300 million jet from Qatar, hiring his personal attorneys to act as prosecutors (without experience or qualifications), cozying up to other dictators around the world, enabling the record-setting government shutdown, and so much more.
Some support Trump because of specific issues, like his aggressive actions on immigration or his support of Israel. But the ominous symptoms noted above, and myriad other ones, point to real, actual threats to American democracy. This is not a hysterical overreaction. The perilous trend leads one to wonder:
Why is there persistent complacency among the populace, and what can be done about it?
Denial is an unbelievably powerful force. It is easy to ignore the severity of the situation when most of us enjoy access to wifi, streaming on our televisions, and reasonably priced gasoline. Uber Eats, Netflix, and the World Series are our era’s equivalent of bread and circuses. Unless you are poor, you face no obvious, day-to-day hardships.
Some might argue that all American presidents have been corrupt or that voting or otherwise participating in democracy makes no real difference. These sentiments illustrate the power of denial. Some presidents have been corrupt; democracy is anything but an easy form of government.
But none of these phenomena justify ignoring the flashing yellow lights unfolding day by day in the leadership of our country. We will not feel the pain of losing the right to free speech, watching the government take control of the media and universities, or witnessing further illegal detentions, until it is too late.
How might these issues relate to the theme of this Journeys Into the Unconscious Mind?
They are relevant because psychoanalytic psychotherapy involves at least two features:
Reducing suffering and increasing personal autonomy.
The growing anxiety, even terror, felt by those who understand what’s happening in this country constitutes the suffering. Given the magnitude of this existing and pending pain, action is urgently required. Empowerment is made possible through doing something.
Most Americans do not participate actively in the political process. For decades, such an attitude arguably deserves a pass because nothing this urgent has yet occurred. Civil rights violations, unnecessary wars, and rampant corruption have been a painful part of our history. However, never before have we been faced with the literal risk of losing democracy.
Lest the denial remain steadfast, consider what Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform after yesterdays’ election results showed strong support for redistricting in California:
The Unconstitutional Redistricting Vote in California is a GIANT SCAM in that the entire process, in particular the Voting itself, is RIGGED.
Sounds like a promise of much more to come. I urge readers to consider various ways to take preventive action, from contacting their Congressional Representatives to participating in upcoming No Kings rallies. (For information and upcoming dates, visit nokings.org.) The likely victories by democratic governors in New Jersey and Virginia might signal that Americans are turning against autocracy and corruption. But, then again, it could just as easily trigger Trump to take more drastic actions to suppress dissent and stay in power, e.g., further claims of rigged elections, literal election interference, or worse.
To prevent our falling into an autocratic state, we Americans must break out from our complacency, take action, and deliver to Trump a modern-day version of that earlier era-ending question:
Have you no sense of decency, sir?
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And check out my book, Lover, Exorcist, Critic: Understanding Depth Psychotherapy, available on Amazon.
References
Editorial Board. (October 31, 2025). Are we losing our democracy? New York Times.