Reichstag Fire
In 27 February 1933, a mysterious fire broke out in the Reichstag building (the equivalent of the German Parliament back then). That was 4 weeks after Hitler was sworn in as Chancellor of Germany. At that time, Hitler had not yet seized absolute power.
The political consequences of that fateful fire were swift.
The Nazi Party accused a Dutch Communist of setting the fire and claimed that the Communists were plotting to take over the German government. Subsequently, that served as a pretext for the Nazi Party to seize absolute power. As this Wikipedia article wrote,
The day after the fire, at Hitler’s request, President Hindenburg signed the Reichstag Fire Decree into law by using Article 48 of the Weimar Constitution. The Reichstag Fire Decree suspended most civil liberties in Germany, including habeas corpus, freedom of expression, freedom of the press, the right of free association and public assembly, and the secrecy of the post and telephone. These rights were not reinstated during Nazi reign. The decree was used by the Nazis to ban publications not considered “friendly” to the Nazi cause.
Until today, historians still cannot agree on who started the fire and whether it was a false flag operation by the Nazis.
Capitol Hill riot/insurrection
Fast forward to today. Rioters stormed the Capitol Hill, entering the innermost sanctum of US political power.
Some of the rioters were clowns. The infamous photo of the ‘Buffalo man’ (Jake Angeli) standing on the dais of the US Senate is akin to the imaginary image of Attila the Hun standing on the Roman Emperor’s throne, desecrating the might of the Roman Empire. If not for the tragic loss of lives, it would have been very funny.
But some of the rioters had more serious, if not, deadly, intent. They were insurrectionists. They were fully kitted out in paramilitary gear, worked with military precision and carried zip-ties. The function of zip-ties is to restrain and hand-cuffed people. At least one of the insurrectionists were armed and had 11 Molotov-cocktails, as this journalist reported:
There were reports that the rioters/insurrectionists were looking for Mike Pence to hang. Whether they really intended to do that or not, is another matter.
The fact remained that both politicians on both sides of the left-right divide were fearing for their lives that day. There could be hostages, murders, bloodshed and destruction of property that day.
Humiliation
The United States was humiliated on that fateful day. From now on, it will have no credibility lecturing other countries about democracy and elections. It will now be seen as weak and divided. Allies and friendly nations that rely on the United States for leadership, collaboration and assistance will be thinking twice. If it cannot keep its own democratic house in order, it cannot be the leading light of democracy for the world.
Vengeance
The fury and vengeance of the US government against those who are associated with this sacrilege is coming. It will be like an all-consuming raging fire. Right now, during the waning moments of the Trump administration, we are in the eye of the storm. Nothing much may seem to be happening. But get this: the incoming US government will be a leftist government and it will be lusting for revenge. The rioters and insurrectionists will be prosecuted and punished to the maximum extent permitted by the law.
But one problem remains.
With 74 million Americans voted for Trump, the MAGA movement is very broad-based and vast. These rioters and insurrectionists belong to the fringe end of this vast movement, from white supremacists to cultish conspiracy-theory believers. There are lots of them, no doubt.
Also, with 74 million of them voting for Trump, you can be sure that even though they may not agree with (and even condemn) the rioters and insurrectionists, they will not be friendly and cooperative with the incoming leftist government.
So, how can be incoming leftist government deal with the fringe part of the MAGA movement without alienating the entire movement as well?
How will further radicalisation happen?
Several years ago, ISIS was conducting suicide bombings against Shite Muslims in Iraq. This seemingly counter-productive strategy actually had a ‘brilliant’ logic behind it. By doing that, they provoked the Shite Iraqi government to crack down hard on the Sunni population. This act of repression terrified the Sunnis and drove them straight into the arms of ISIS because they are the only viable force who can protect them. The end result is the further radicalisation of Sunnis and deeper polarisation of society.
In the same way, while the rioters and insurrectionists of Capitol Hill are extremists within the MAGA movement, if their act of sacrilege provokes a disproportionate response from a leftist government that is lusting for revenge, then there will be collateral damage to the non-radical part of the MAGA movement. As the war in Iraq and Afghanistan showed, collateral damage further radicalises the population. If Christians and Conservatives become collateral damage, then you can bet that there will be further radicalisation.
Will the government’s response be too heavy-handed?
I am not too optimistic about that.
Given the way how leftists think, they will pigeon-hole everyone into two black and white camps. You will either be for the Leftist agenda or against. The middle-ground does not exist in their mind. So, which camp will leftists place the majority of Christians and Conservatives in?
The answer is obvious.
Too many influential people in the political left think this way:
Jane Caro does not belong to the fringe extreme left. She is an award-winning author and part of the mainstream left-leaning elite influencers. If the mainstream leftist elites (who will be forming the incoming US government) thinks evangelical Christians are the cause of the ills of society and feels afraid of them, then you can sure that they will believe that the only appropriate response is further repression.
Back in June last year, the Palmer Report issued these (now deleted) tweets:
Conservatism means you don’t believe in equality. It means you want it all for yourself, and you’re willing to destroy other groups of people to take it all for yourself. That’s not a crime against the law. But it’s a crime against humanity – and we must acknowledge as much.
https://twitter.com/PalmerReport/status/1272640959663276040
Conservatives CANNOT be teachers, police officers, doctors, lawyers, coaches, or bosses. It’s constitutionally unfair to others who are subjected to the conservative’s deranged judgment. Conservatives can do menial work, until they’re ready to join the human race.
https://twitter.com/PalmerReport/status/1272641577878458377
So, while most Christians and Conservatives abhor the fringe and cultish part of the MAGA movement, they will not be keen to be friendly and cooperative with the incoming leftist government either. But given the black and white thinking of far too many important people in the Big Tech, media and political elites, if the Christians and Conservatives are not for the leftist agenda, then they are against.
Meanwhile, the cultish fringe parts of the MAGA movement also have the same black and white thinking too. For example, when Jeremiah Johnson apologised for getting his prophecy (about Trump getting re-elected) wrong, he received death threats.
The net outcome is that Christians and Conservatives will be targeted by the leftists. When that happens, depending on how heavy-handed the crackdown is, a lot of them will have to choose to veer closer towards the extremes of the MAGA movement. This will provoke the leftist government crackdown further, causing more collateral damage among the Christians and Conservatives, which in turn will drive more of them into the hands of the radicals.
List-making
And make no mistake, a list-making project will be in the cards again. As I wrote before,
This is very disturbing because drawing up a “list” has sinister echos of what the Nazis and Communists did back then. As a civil society, we need to call out such sinister behaviour because if not stopped, such a “list” will eventually become a monster that consumes everyone.
The list will grow like an out-of-control malignant tumour. Conservatives and Christians will be both targets and collateral damage.
Very unfortunately, this time, Leftists will have vastly more power. They now own a double-trinity of power:
- White House, House of Representative and Senate
- Government, Mainstream Media and Big Tech
A leftist government will be in bed with Big Tech. You can argue that Big Tech will help a leftist government because it is afraid of more regulations and want to appease them. You can also argue that Big Tech is ideologically sympathetic to the leftist views. Regardless of which argument you follow, it is likely that they will lend their expertise in artificial intelligence (AI), algorithms, and Big Data to the government. As I wrote before, algorithms will net a lot of people quickly and even cancellation of people will be done by algorithms.
Big Tech’s algorithms will censor speech in real-time, in the name of public safety. Meanwhile, Mainstream Media will churn out propaganda and the Government will set the rules to define who are the bad guys.
It doesn’t have to be that way
Of course, what I have just painted is a very bleak scenario. But it does not have to end up that way. If the incoming Biden administration can rise above the winds of hatred and lust for revenge, control the hotheads and hardliners within his party, then further repression and radicalisation need not happen.
But I am not betting on it to happen. In fact, I think it is unlikely.
Therefore,
Be prepared. In the days to come, I will write more about what it means to be prepared.
