I definitely want to know more regarding the trends you are seeing and so carefully documenting. I also want to know if you think I may be correct in selecting one idea that has caused a lot of drama among my acquaintance, who like me are retired and depend on Social Security benefits, after paying into the system for decades. That idea is the billionaire Elon Musk’s power and position in our government, when, to quote a Trump voter, “Elon wasn’t on anybody’s ballot!” It’s an idea that finds support across the political spectrum and cultural divides. I’m making sure that anybody who agrees with the idea has phone numbers for the offices of senators and congressional reps, and a script in their own words (important) to read to whoever answers the phone. It’s a small start but the shared outrage and shared ideas have a very good effect on morale.
I bet Musk never planned on being such a consensus builder.
Yes, please let's go into what can be done to resist these actions. I am particularly motivated by what can be done to re-activate Congress to fight back against this via a wave election in 2026.
What strikes me most is how predictable this pattern has become. What's troubling isn’t just the actions themselves — it's how easily they gain traction in environments that should be designed to prevent them.
We often assume democratic backsliding occurs because authoritarian leaders overpower the system. But in reality, it thrives on psychological inertia and structural blind spots.
Authoritarians don’t just exploit institutions — they exploit our tendency to seek leadership from above rather than embrace leadership as an activity we take on ourselves.
In his seminal work, “The True Believer,” Eric Hoffer describes how mass movements — including authoritarian ones — don’t succeed because people are coerced or ignorant, but because they offer something psychologically seductive: relief from uncertainty.
>“Faith in a leader or a movement enables people to escape individual responsibility,” Hoffer warns. The stronger the chaos, the more appealing this becomes.
This instinct — to trade agency for certainty — explains why authoritarian tactics succeed even when the warning signs are obvious. When overwhelmed by disruption, people become willing to:
Surrender Judgment: Bannon’s “flood the zone with shit” strategy isn’t just about confusion — it’s about creating so much noise that people stop trying to make sense of it. In that void, people reach for narratives that simplify the complexity — even if those narratives are false.
Outsource Moral Courage: As Hoffer observed, mass movements thrive when individuals convince themselves that their actions — or inaction — have no meaningful impact. Enron’s collapse revealed the same mindset: countless professionals saw the warning signs but rationalized silence by believing someone else was responsible.
Embrace Certainty Over Complexity: The hardest kind of leadership — what Heifetz calls adaptive leadership — requires people to sit with ambiguity, discomfort, and unresolved tension. Authoritarians understand that this is hard for most people — and instead offer false clarity, wrapped in bravado and confidence.
The real danger isn’t just authoritarian tactics — it’s the vacuum of personal agency that makes those tactics effective.
In times of uncertainty, our instinct is to wait — to look upward for stability or reassurance. But that instinct is precisely what authoritarianism exploits. It thrives when we trade responsibility for the comfort of being led.
As Hoffer warns, mass movements flourish when people become more focused on belonging than thinking — and when identity feels safer than inquiry.
The antidote isn’t stronger institutions alone — it’s cultivating the courage to act without certainty, to take responsibility without permission, and to reject the illusion that someone else will fix what’s broken.
Leadership isn’t something we find in others — it’s something we must choose to practice ourselves. That’s the leadership gap authoritarianism exploits most — and the one we must close ourselves.
How do you distinguish between normal policy shifts that occur in every administration and actions that uniquely undermine democracy? If all regulatory cuts, foreign policy changes, and media realignments are framed as authoritarian, how do you avoid weakening your case when actual democratic backsliding happens?
If we're looking for a European nation that hasn't fully colluded with the US worldwide suppression of democracies for the last fifty years, to now stand for freedom and democracy, the UK would have the least claim to lead, even were it not the case that we have lately been materially aiding foreign governments to commit genocide and ethnic cleansing, and most likely still are. We are very much on a train on the same rails, the Americans are going to be swimming in oil for a while, and few of our politicians have any principles that aren't for sale.
Prof. Patel, thank you for your in depth account of the authoritarian actions taken by the current administration in order to dismantle our government. Please also consider being a guest on MidasTouch and the Jim Acosta Podcasts to further spread the truth. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
This is a superb analysis. Please, please, keep it updated through your Venn diagrams, spreadsheets of links to articles that describe events, and of course your analyses. This matters a great deal here in North Carolina where people still feel overwhelmed by the onslaught of shit you document -- govt closures, Muskgang invasions, breach of data privacy, funding freeze, presidential edicts, et ad nauseum. Your Substack here and its sequel on the nodes of resistance will help many of us become less disoriented, get an overall understanding of what's happening without panic, and figure out how to target our resistance. Power on!
Excellent. What's concerning is that the charts don't even cover everything that's happened THIS week since I didn't see Trump's EO about the Executive Branch interrupting law for federal agencies, dismantling the CFPB (which is in Congress' jurisdiction alone), declaring Zelenskyy a dictator, etc. That list is even longer and gets longer by the week. 😩
I am still wondering if anyone has heard anything from anyone about what the plan is when 72.5 million people don't receive their SS checks. I know personally, for my family, we'll be evicted, have our car repossessed, owe bank fees for more than we receive and be unable to buy food or medicine. I understand It's illegal and someone will sue to reverse it and at some point the money might make it back into our accounts, but more will be owed in overdraft fees than will be deposited (poor people have to sign auto payment contracts for service)then there will be late fees and when everything is sorted - project 2025 has end SSA as a goal they have already started by firing too many staff and closing too many offices for the department to remain functional so it will just happen again. I, and everyone else, really need to know how to prepare for this because we don't have savings. We are not allowed to have savings. I'm terrified and I am only hearing it can't happen. He's not touching Medicaid/Medicare (oh it's going, going, gone) HUD, SNAP , VA and SSA. Goodbye parasite class. This isn't a democracy anymore and he isn't listening to the courts. So if anyone knows who to contact to get some information please let me know! Thanks so much!
If people believe that Guantanamo is being resurrected for ICE detainees I have a different take. First Fire the Generals who might object to rounding up civilian protesters. Second, use the military to suppress our citizens. Third, send deserters to Guantanamo. A coup just like the other dictators do!
Thank you, Cristina, for your hard work and effort to make sense of the "chaos" and criminal actions of the Convicted Felon now occupying the White House! Big question, is there a way for AI to assist you in YOUR WORK, and is there a way for you to disseminate this info in real time to the news networks, to every elected official at the national and local level, and to every major buisness, university, medical center, and religious institutions for their distribution, all in the name of fast-tracking PUBLIC AWARENESS of and ACTIONABLE RESISTANCE to Trump and his backer's INTENT TO CRUSH DEMOCRACY??
I definitely want to know more regarding the trends you are seeing and so carefully documenting. I also want to know if you think I may be correct in selecting one idea that has caused a lot of drama among my acquaintance, who like me are retired and depend on Social Security benefits, after paying into the system for decades. That idea is the billionaire Elon Musk’s power and position in our government, when, to quote a Trump voter, “Elon wasn’t on anybody’s ballot!” It’s an idea that finds support across the political spectrum and cultural divides. I’m making sure that anybody who agrees with the idea has phone numbers for the offices of senators and congressional reps, and a script in their own words (important) to read to whoever answers the phone. It’s a small start but the shared outrage and shared ideas have a very good effect on morale.
I bet Musk never planned on being such a consensus builder.
Yes, please let's go into what can be done to resist these actions. I am particularly motivated by what can be done to re-activate Congress to fight back against this via a wave election in 2026.
An amazingly concise and compelling précis of the MAGA zone of shit. The beautiful Venn diagram unfortunately dimmed by the chilling conclusion.
What strikes me most is how predictable this pattern has become. What's troubling isn’t just the actions themselves — it's how easily they gain traction in environments that should be designed to prevent them.
We often assume democratic backsliding occurs because authoritarian leaders overpower the system. But in reality, it thrives on psychological inertia and structural blind spots.
Authoritarians don’t just exploit institutions — they exploit our tendency to seek leadership from above rather than embrace leadership as an activity we take on ourselves.
In his seminal work, “The True Believer,” Eric Hoffer describes how mass movements — including authoritarian ones — don’t succeed because people are coerced or ignorant, but because they offer something psychologically seductive: relief from uncertainty.
>“Faith in a leader or a movement enables people to escape individual responsibility,” Hoffer warns. The stronger the chaos, the more appealing this becomes.
This instinct — to trade agency for certainty — explains why authoritarian tactics succeed even when the warning signs are obvious. When overwhelmed by disruption, people become willing to:
Surrender Judgment: Bannon’s “flood the zone with shit” strategy isn’t just about confusion — it’s about creating so much noise that people stop trying to make sense of it. In that void, people reach for narratives that simplify the complexity — even if those narratives are false.
Outsource Moral Courage: As Hoffer observed, mass movements thrive when individuals convince themselves that their actions — or inaction — have no meaningful impact. Enron’s collapse revealed the same mindset: countless professionals saw the warning signs but rationalized silence by believing someone else was responsible.
Embrace Certainty Over Complexity: The hardest kind of leadership — what Heifetz calls adaptive leadership — requires people to sit with ambiguity, discomfort, and unresolved tension. Authoritarians understand that this is hard for most people — and instead offer false clarity, wrapped in bravado and confidence.
The real danger isn’t just authoritarian tactics — it’s the vacuum of personal agency that makes those tactics effective.
In times of uncertainty, our instinct is to wait — to look upward for stability or reassurance. But that instinct is precisely what authoritarianism exploits. It thrives when we trade responsibility for the comfort of being led.
As Hoffer warns, mass movements flourish when people become more focused on belonging than thinking — and when identity feels safer than inquiry.
The antidote isn’t stronger institutions alone — it’s cultivating the courage to act without certainty, to take responsibility without permission, and to reject the illusion that someone else will fix what’s broken.
Leadership isn’t something we find in others — it’s something we must choose to practice ourselves. That’s the leadership gap authoritarianism exploits most — and the one we must close ourselves.
Great graphic & list.
I wonder if font can be enlarged for legibility.
Here is my attempt at a more restricted list of illegal actions:
https://slow-news.org/index.php/2025/02/11/trump-admin-lawbreaking-the-spreadsheet/
How do you distinguish between normal policy shifts that occur in every administration and actions that uniquely undermine democracy? If all regulatory cuts, foreign policy changes, and media realignments are framed as authoritarian, how do you avoid weakening your case when actual democratic backsliding happens?
If we're looking for a European nation that hasn't fully colluded with the US worldwide suppression of democracies for the last fifty years, to now stand for freedom and democracy, the UK would have the least claim to lead, even were it not the case that we have lately been materially aiding foreign governments to commit genocide and ethnic cleansing, and most likely still are. We are very much on a train on the same rails, the Americans are going to be swimming in oil for a while, and few of our politicians have any principles that aren't for sale.
Prof. Patel, thank you for your in depth account of the authoritarian actions taken by the current administration in order to dismantle our government. Please also consider being a guest on MidasTouch and the Jim Acosta Podcasts to further spread the truth. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
This is a superb analysis. Please, please, keep it updated through your Venn diagrams, spreadsheets of links to articles that describe events, and of course your analyses. This matters a great deal here in North Carolina where people still feel overwhelmed by the onslaught of shit you document -- govt closures, Muskgang invasions, breach of data privacy, funding freeze, presidential edicts, et ad nauseum. Your Substack here and its sequel on the nodes of resistance will help many of us become less disoriented, get an overall understanding of what's happening without panic, and figure out how to target our resistance. Power on!
Excellent. What's concerning is that the charts don't even cover everything that's happened THIS week since I didn't see Trump's EO about the Executive Branch interrupting law for federal agencies, dismantling the CFPB (which is in Congress' jurisdiction alone), declaring Zelenskyy a dictator, etc. That list is even longer and gets longer by the week. 😩
I am still wondering if anyone has heard anything from anyone about what the plan is when 72.5 million people don't receive their SS checks. I know personally, for my family, we'll be evicted, have our car repossessed, owe bank fees for more than we receive and be unable to buy food or medicine. I understand It's illegal and someone will sue to reverse it and at some point the money might make it back into our accounts, but more will be owed in overdraft fees than will be deposited (poor people have to sign auto payment contracts for service)then there will be late fees and when everything is sorted - project 2025 has end SSA as a goal they have already started by firing too many staff and closing too many offices for the department to remain functional so it will just happen again. I, and everyone else, really need to know how to prepare for this because we don't have savings. We are not allowed to have savings. I'm terrified and I am only hearing it can't happen. He's not touching Medicaid/Medicare (oh it's going, going, gone) HUD, SNAP , VA and SSA. Goodbye parasite class. This isn't a democracy anymore and he isn't listening to the courts. So if anyone knows who to contact to get some information please let me know! Thanks so much!
If people believe that Guantanamo is being resurrected for ICE detainees I have a different take. First Fire the Generals who might object to rounding up civilian protesters. Second, use the military to suppress our citizens. Third, send deserters to Guantanamo. A coup just like the other dictators do!
Your work is extraordinarily valuable...but it is impossible to keep up with Trump, what he has said/done this week regarding Ukraine is incredible!
Thank you, Cristina, for your hard work and effort to make sense of the "chaos" and criminal actions of the Convicted Felon now occupying the White House! Big question, is there a way for AI to assist you in YOUR WORK, and is there a way for you to disseminate this info in real time to the news networks, to every elected official at the national and local level, and to every major buisness, university, medical center, and religious institutions for their distribution, all in the name of fast-tracking PUBLIC AWARENESS of and ACTIONABLE RESISTANCE to Trump and his backer's INTENT TO CRUSH DEMOCRACY??
This is so incredible and thorough. As an American I thank you for keeping your finger on the pulse of all of these details and sounding the warning.
Yes, please, what can really be done while protecting ourselves from retribution?