Ask HN: Is America Going to Become an Autocracy?

Cant speak for anyone else but personally, i got many other things to worry about in my life, such as my kids, family, my health, my parents health, building wealth/finances, and i simply dont have the time or bandwidth to worry about this country.

I'm Australian, so your news and politics are covered quite extensively over here. I also have people I care about there in the US. There's no doubt that things are getting a lot worse. The rhetoric against Immigrants and Transgender people is following a worrying trend towards more violence and persecution. It's most definitely not your finest hour right now.

I wouldn't say it's ONLY tech that is talked about here, I do see a lot of cross-over with Tech and the political climate in the United States as both are very much intertwined. I have seen people recognise that things are becoming a lot more autocratic.

Though for your sanity, I recommend trying to pull away from the news and social media much as possible. These places greatly amplify the issues and no doubt make people more anxious and nervous, because they want your attention on their platform all the time to advertise and make revenue.

It's important to stay aware of events, but you gotta make sure you take care of yourself too. Take a break if it's becoming too much.

As for what to do about the US... I can only hope your constitution and those who truly uphold its values will continue to fight the attack against it.

Turn off the news for a while. We have congress, we have the courts, we have term limits.

Part of living in a democracy is not always liking the current administration. The administrations, good or bad, are temporary.

George W Bush once said: “We're here in the Oval Office, and by the way, the office is bigger than the person. And so when you work for democracy and freedom in your country, make sure you put institutions in place that are bigger than the individuals.” [0]

The office is bigger than one man. And if you think Trump is ruling as if it’s not, then you should be happy, because any rule he makes that way can be undone just as easily if it doesn’t make sense.

[0] https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/results/leadersh...

No. It's just hyperbole. It's true that Trump has some worrying authoritarian tendencies. He's shoving his agenda through with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer and has created multiple constitutional crises. He's determined to fulfill his campaign promises and carry out his vision as fast as possible before fully considering the consequences and demands absolute loyalty from everyone in his party and kicks out anyone who speaks out against him. Just the other day i read how Obama criticised him and thought for a moment unironically "wow that's brave of him".

Where was i again? Oh yeah. I think it's just a transient phenomena. America needs a lot of fixing and Trump doesn't have a lot of time. He certainly doesn't want to waste it clarifying the legal limits of his authority. But no. The US is fundamentally too strong to fall like that.

Earlier today [1] in response to a comment of mine and in all seriousness someone bemoaned the fact that America was so terribly authoritarian that Trump has the House, Judiciary and most of the voters on his side! Yeah democracy can be inconvenient like that sometimes.

My opinion is that Trump is the hero america needs not the one it deserves. I'm not coming to trivialise anyones concerns but i don't think he's the antichrist people make him out to be. He's been doing a truly absurd amount of winning from his perspective at least and if anything is a great example of how much a truly powerful Western leader can achieve. The only question that remains is if his policies are correct or not which is a matter of rigorous debate, not all of which is conducted in good faith.

[1]I'll post the relevant part here for convenience >>What's interesting is that the gaps in our political system that allow him to do so many illegal and distasteful things have always been there. The framers of the constitution never anticipated all three branches of government colluding together in alignment and bad faith, with the vociferous support of roughly half the voting population.

It is what the majority of voters voted for. We need better Democratic candidates to beat the Republicans. Harris had too many word salads to understand what her campaign was all about. We need better speakers and new blood in the Democratic Party.

No, the US is not becoming autocratic. The media coverage is different because they are anti-Trump, but every administration has done "autocratic" things. Trump isn't unique, merely more bombastic and open about them. Obama, Biden, Clinton, both Bushs, etc. have all done things that we'd view as autocratic if we had been aware of them at the time. Quit worrying and enjoy life. The AI bubble should concern you more than Trump.

Nah it's not. There are always a lot of factions infighting, in any modern countries. A president may say or do a lot of things, but he/she relies on a whole army of people to actually implement them.

Yes.

I deleted twitter following advice here, but now it's on HN again https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45340814#45341158

The point of no return was likely electing someone that attempted a coup (fake electors plot) back into office. If they didn't want to leave peacefully or legally the first time what made anyone think they would the second.

PS this site is filled with people who downvote and flag any post that makes Trump look bad so good luck with yours.

Germans were 'simply' worried about their jobs and dealing with the 'violent left', homeless, and rounding up people that they viewed as invaders poisoning their way of life.

They were even largely quite happy with Hitler. He didn't take Germany against its will (technically he did, but the people fell in line and reported liking him after it happened, except for those "communists and antifa"), he was the manifest will of those who felt scorned by how society had changed around them. It wasn't until the fallout of the aftermath of their desires and evidence of the evils that they were perpetrating did they start to realize they were played and even then the sunk cost fallacy was too strong and many Germans went to their graves believing Hitler was right.

The rise of autocrats and tyrants is often bulwarked by people saying everyone else is engaging in hyperbole and that it won't be that bad and that there's always been people like this through history so it's no big deal now. Plan accordingly @baby.

The US has been through worse, you'll probably be fine.

Best thing to do is not watch the news as much, it's designed to make you worry about things that are out of your control.

Maybe. As long as elections are still held, should be fine. Assuming they aren't, you can either decide to leave (valid, lower risk exposure, no shame in self preservation) or ensure elections continue to be held (higher risk exposure). The higher your risk tolerance, the more you should consider this an opportunity (once in a lifetime) to flex constitution and grit development.

~2M voters (the margin of victory for the last presidential election) 55+ age out every year, ~5k per day. Rural America is rapidly evaporating with farmers (75-80% of whom voted for this) in extreme financial distress from the self inflicted trade war (China is zeroing out US ag imports as a show of counterforce, and they can outlast this admin). Rural hospitals are similarly at a breaking point with ~700 hospitals expected to close soon (~300 imminently) due to Medicaid cuts from the OBBB. And of course, he is beyond male life expectancy while having symptoms of late stage congestive heart disease and failure. "Hold fast." Embrace the suck while progress occurs one funeral at a time (Planck's principle).

I think the internet may have driven some people hysterical or something, or they are making extreme comments on purpose to instigate, or create FUD.

The U.S. is a huge country, so experience varies by region. But in populous regions, shopping centers and restaurants and clubs are filled with folks doing their normal thing. Businesses are doing their normal thing 9-5 every week, and local and state governments are running their ship as best as they can while navigating a different type of presidency. Property prices are up, and unemployment is relatively low.

There are concerns, but that’s normal for every country. It’s better for concerned citizens to reach out to their representatives to talk about specific issues than to let possible nation state actors rile you up into extremism. Democracy is alive and well in America, but yeah it’s tougher for liberals and globalists to push anything that’s not America First.