WITH the advent of a leader like Donald Trump, we have been watching for the last few decades that the United States is slowly becoming a fascist state. There is a quotation circulating since the last century and it goes like this: ‘When Fascism Comes to America, It Will Be Wrapped in the Flag.’ Although it is more important than who said it, another cliché that has become popular in the 21st century is attributed to lexicographer Samuel Johnson, who coined the adage ‘Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.’
On February 28, the Associated Press reported that former president Donald Trump faced four criminal indictments in four cities as he vied to reclaim the White House. The cases, totalling 91 felony counts, were winding through the courts at various speeds. Some might not reach trial this year while one was set to begin in a matter of weeks.
This would have ended a political leader’s career in a civilised society. On May 30, only a month ago, Donald Trump (ex-POTUS) was awarded guilty verdicts by 12 jurors on all 34 felony counts for falsifying business records in connection with a hush money payment to adult film actor Stormy Daniels near the end of the 2016 presidential campaign. This ominous event not only increased his popularity among the US voters, but contributions to his campaign funds have seen a surge of donations by millions of dollars.
Notwithstanding Trump’s criminality, immorality, deception, and stupendous illiteracy, US voters like him and want to see him in the White House again. As we approach the election date of November 5, it looks like a possibility unless ‘we, the people’ of this country, wake up to the reality. This refers to the United States constitution, which begins with the Preamble — We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
Trump’s return to the White House as the leader of the western world would bring unprecedented potential devastation to humanity. His proposed policies, if implemented, could lead to catastrophic outcomes, surpassing even the horrors of Hitler’s regime. Here are a few things we know he wanted to do during his four years in the office. I am not a fortuneteller, but these are the probable scenarios that Trump himself expressed on various occasions.
First, Trump would like to establish a decisive, close relationship with Russia and Putin and, by implication, introduce some of Putin’s favorite policy decisions — Ukraine will be conquered because NATO and US support for Ukraine will be withdrawn. This may also lead Putin to push ahead towards western Europe, if not further. This would be the most visible and immediate impact on the global scale.
We cannot imagine the economic impact of the US-Russia-China hegemony on the rest of the world’s population. For the highly populated countries of Asia, two options would open up: join the hegemony as a colonial state or fight for your existence as an independent state, including India. Other states like Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar and the Philippines may eventually become the first countries to experience severe economic downturns and famines.
Second, Trump’s policies could plunge the world into a post-apocalyptic nightmare akin to the Middle Ages. His withdrawal from all ecological global treaties to reverse the greenhouse effect would be a death knell for the environment. As we teeter on the edge of an environmental collapse, the impact of this policy reversal would not only lead to the destruction of millions through famine, pandemic, and war but also render the earth’s surface scorched beyond recognition, with no hope of restoration. This would happen without a nuclear war, but nuclear war may also occur concurrently. That brings us to the question of Israel.
Third, in the Middle East, the political turmoil that began in April 2024, will most likely bring Israel and Muslim states (Afghanistan, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Turkey) into an open war with the possibility of a nuclear confrontation. Given the wishy-washy policies towards Israel, the use of nuclear options becomes more plausible than not.
Fourth, the ecological disaster would hit agriculture and mainly food production, creating a global food shortage for the overpopulated Asian and African countries. This would be a definitive outcome. At first, the whole sequence of events would start as unsuspecting ‘inflation.’ Rather than looking at the cause of the inflation, governments in these countries would focus on controlling the inflation rather than the downturn of the food supply.
Fifth, the immigration policies in the United States will shift to complete restrictions like Trump did in 2016, focusing on the Muslim ban. The oppressors become more violent in the second term, and Trump’s followers are waiting to bring back pre-Lincoln and pre-civil war days back to the United States. The idea is to go back to the days of slavery, literally. In the day-to-day social domain, this would manifest as an extreme form of prejudice, racism, xenophobia, and violence towards any citizen who looks or talks differently. And for the trigger-happy Yankees, that would be the dream come true.
Democracy is dead.
Ask not why they find Trump attractive, but ask why the Germans liked Hitler. And be ready for the impending decline and fall of human civilisation.