How to Live a Normal Live Under Dictatorship

How will dictatorship effect the average American? Thom Hartmann explains the frightening reason most Americans won't even notice dictatorship in their daily lives.... as long as they don't speak out against it.

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TRANSCRIPT
I really think that we are already living in a dictatorship, and I'm trying to wrap my head around what that means in terms of day-to-day life. Will there be electricity? Will there be groceries? Are we going to be allowed to own our property? Are we going to be allowed to keep our monetary investments?

And if somewhere along the way we had angered or had a disagreement in the past with someone who is now a part of the MAGA movement, does that make us more vulnerable to being reported on?

And finally, I'd like to get an idea of when you think these budget cuts that they just preliminarily approved are going to trickle down. I have a father on Medicaid in a nursing home, and you know—do I need to start working on that spare bedroom?

I'll listen offline, and thank you for what you do.

Yeah, thanks, Lori.

Yeah, I would get the spare bedroom ready because they seem pretty committed to gutting Medicaid. Now, Mike Johnson just came out and said there will be no cuts to Medicaid. Actually, he didn’t say there will be no cuts—he said there are no cuts to Medicaid in our bill. Well, no, there’s not. What the bill says is that Congress must find, or the administration must find, $1.5 trillion in savings at the federal level.

Now, everybody knows they’ve already identified that they want to do $800 billion in Medicaid cuts, and they want to do about $500 billion to the farm bill—which is food stamps. I mean, there’s just no surprise there. So yeah, get ready for Grandpa to move back in with you, or Dad.

Number one: when will this happen? It will happen after October, because that’s when the new fiscal year starts. We’ll learn a lot more about it over the next few months. They basically have to have a budget together and in place by June because we’re already running outside the budget. We're already spending money outside our budget. We are technically—not quite in default, that’s not quite the right word—but you know, we’re already there. We’ve passed this, and they’re just holding things together with bubble gum and bailing wire.

Number two: to address your question of whether we are already in a dictatorship, and what that means—can we have property and things like that?

I’ve lived and worked in countries that are essentially dictatorships—from Russia to African countries, to South American and Southeast Asian countries. And the one thing that always surprised me—or at least at first surprised me—was how normal life seems. As long as you don’t speak out, as long as you don’t have the job that I have, and you keep your head down, you’re probably pretty safe. Just don’t speak out at work, don’t speak out in public, don’t speak out in private—just keep your head down.

However, all that said, the biggest downside of living in a dictatorship—the biggest problem, the biggest crisis that dictatorships produce—is that the dictators always steal from everybody else.

I mentioned this yesterday or the day before. In fact, Louise did a song—The Putinization of America. In Hungary, the best estimate—this was Anne Applebaum’s—is that about 20% of the entire economy is being skimmed off the top and going into the pockets of oligarchs and Viktor Orbán. In Russia, it’s estimated to be 25%—about a quarter of the economy.

The result is that those countries—Hungary has become the poorest country in Europe, when they used to be one of the richest countries in Europe. They were certainly the richest country in Eastern Europe.

[ohkay]

There's no happiness when you're not free and if it is it's a fool's Paradise

[BeckyMcDonald-ms]

None of us are free until all of us are free

[stevehood]

"It is no sign of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society" -- Indian philosopher, Jiddu Krishnamurti. Keep fighting, people.

[jerene]

No thanks. I’ll keep boycottin, protesting and speaking up to my reps. If it doesn’t work I’ll move.

[PE]

Imagine being black in Jim Crow south, or living in North Korea... Now ask yourself that same question

[tomservo]

That Trump cabinet meeting was pure horror; each person opened by glorifying the leader. How far we (the US) have fallen!

[HollowayIP]

People don't smile when living under dictatorship. When I first heard that people in Russia don't smile, I was puzzled. Now I understand. You can't open up to people, even your neighbor, in fear of being reported for saying the wrong things. So, it's best to be simply cold when out in the public.

[divyapari]

I find it deeply disturbing that we are even contemplating this. This cannot and should not be the end of a country as great as the US. All is not lost. Not yet anyway. It is important to step up right now while keeping calm and staying focused. Two sides can play the same game. I am nobody of consequence but I hope those who are in the right place find their courage and competence to salvage the situation.

[blaiseutube]

I lived in Spain under Franco. The big difference between democracy and fascism in terms of everyday life is that in democracy it's possible to change and improve things.
In a dictatorship, nothing changes or improves. So organizations are run by inept people and there's nothing anyone can do about it.

[Gerryjournal]

Having lived under two dicatorships, three actually, one was considered 'benevolent.' If there is such a thing. I can promise you, nothing is 'normal'. Yes, you have electricity, gas, your shops etc, but you choose your every word carefully. You choose your friends carefully. You learn to have eyes in the back of your head, and you see a uniform, even on a street sweeper, you give complete and utter deference.

[Powermaster]

Only a trump fan will be happy like a giggling child in stupidland

[KarlSturmgewher]

I'll never shop Amazon again, I'm not gonna get Baskin Robbins or Dairy Queen, I might wanna get Hungry Howie's instead of Papa John's, I'm not gonna shop at Walmart. Any business who's sided with Trump I'll boycott.

I'll speak out until and unless we get a female POTUS in our Oval Office.

[VivaCatatumbo]

Either you enable or you fight it. There is no 'comfortable' in between

[paulmaccarone]

Resist WE THE PEOPLE, THERE IS MORE OF US THAN THEM

[QuinnOsgood-cv]

If you are a marginalized person, there in no way to put your head down and pretend things are normal. That is a privilege we don't have

[BillOptional]

I had this exact line of reasoning last year. My way of thinking about it was the transition from "can America become a fascist nation?" to " what will it be like when I am living in a fascist nation?".

[flicks]

Ive lived in alot of dictatorships in various countries over 30 years. Thom is 100% right that in general, people are fine by keeping their head down, etc. Plus as he says, with them stealing, Americans need to get ready for a much lower standard of living. Hes right that dictatorships will drive a country into poverty. He used Hungary and others, but another perfect example is the Philippines. The Philippines was one of the richest countries in Asia through the early 70s until Marcos Sr declare marital law. For the next 14 years he drove the country into the ground and to this day, the Philippines is still one of the poorest countries in Asia. It's very likely, that the US, will experience the same thing. Also, public services tend to be bad. Poor hospitals, roads, very little in public services etc.

[chrismahon]

So what you seem to be saying is that if you keep your head down and IGNORE or overlook all the atrocities and human rights abuses then life can seem “quite normal .” Oh and you have to be okay living an impoverished life while the elites are living very well off your labor. Where does that leave a person who doesn’t want to betray their values just to get by? Sounds horrible to me.

[CarrieLovesLife.]

If you have Alexa or similar devices in your home, get rid of them. Turn off Siri on your phone.

[ronlugbill]

In a sense, life goes on as normal. However, it is like a black and white movie. No fun. No magic. Joyless. No beauty. Austere. No dancing. No humor. No music except within certain boundaries. No soul.
You still have your house and go to work and eat and sleep. But it is joyless and lifeless.
You just survive it, kind of like a bad job or a bad marriage.