That’s how they’ll eventually discover how they’re a minority, even in both Christian and in Conservative groups. They may have a significant amount of power right now, but that will fade quickly as they isolate themselves from the majority.
Expect them to go the way of the Puritans eventually.
The problem is that the vast majority of conservatives don’t disagree enough with the extremists, which means that the actually dangerous people get disproportionate amounts of power because the “moderate conservatives” will happily bow to their demands. They may not explicitly support fascism but they don’t really have a problem with it as long as the extremists aren’t hurting them personally
One would hope but it’s also terrifying just how small a number of people you need to go full fascist/theocracy. I think Hitler only had the support of 30% of the population at one point. With the way the U.S. electoral system is set up, you don’t need many people to believe a certain way to steer the ship in the wrong direction. That terrifies me.
Dictators often use democratic institutions in their rise to power, which highlights how important it is that sane people participate in their democracy and maintain it.
Whenever anyone tells you that voting and democratic participation is pointless, just remind yourself that fascists wouldn’t sieze the democratic apparatus if it wasn’t powerful and necessary for them to get access to power themselves.
Here in the US they wouldn’t be directing their followers to get on the city council, or position themselves to be election officials, attend school board meetings, become poll watchers etc. if none of that mattered. The right might hate democracy, but they know they need to go through democracy first before dismantling it.
That’s how they’ll eventually discover how they’re a minority, even in both Christian and in Conservative groups. They may have a significant amount of power right now, but that will fade quickly as they isolate themselves from the majority.
Expect them to go the way of the Puritans eventually.
The problem is that the vast majority of conservatives don’t disagree enough with the extremists, which means that the actually dangerous people get disproportionate amounts of power because the “moderate conservatives” will happily bow to their demands. They may not explicitly support fascism but they don’t really have a problem with it as long as the extremists aren’t hurting them personally
One would hope but it’s also terrifying just how small a number of people you need to go full fascist/theocracy. I think Hitler only had the support of 30% of the population at one point. With the way the U.S. electoral system is set up, you don’t need many people to believe a certain way to steer the ship in the wrong direction. That terrifies me.
Dictators often use democratic institutions in their rise to power, which highlights how important it is that sane people participate in their democracy and maintain it.
Whenever anyone tells you that voting and democratic participation is pointless, just remind yourself that fascists wouldn’t sieze the democratic apparatus if it wasn’t powerful and necessary for them to get access to power themselves.
Here in the US they wouldn’t be directing their followers to get on the city council, or position themselves to be election officials, attend school board meetings, become poll watchers etc. if none of that mattered. The right might hate democracy, but they know they need to go through democracy first before dismantling it.