When Dictators, Oligarchs, and Lying Bullies Rule: A Survival Guide

Asalmost everyone knows by now, truly unprecedented and terrifying events are unfolding — rapidly — across the United States.

Today, as we’re inundated with nonstop awful political news, it’s easy to feel ‘buried’ or paralyzed and want to tune it all out. Overwhelmed by the endless onrush of disastrous events, mis- or disinformation, and divisive party politics — what some term the constant ‘firehose to the face’ — it’s easy to be misled, confused, ‘radicalized’… or just turn away in disgust.

But in increasingly threatening times like these it’s unwise — to say the least — to just give up or give in to the latest group-think or viral online bullshit. Somehow, we need to find a pragmatic way to sift through the constant ‘noise’ and get to the deeper, essential aspects of what’s happening in our world.

As tyrants, oligarchs, liars, and bullies gain power, all around the world, we need to figure out exactly what is going on within human beings and our societies (and how to respond to it). And the simplest, most direct ‘explanation’ that I’ve found is tied to the ‘inclusion-exclusion’ spectrum. That is, we can effectively evaluate a given society by grasping where it is, or intends to be, along that ‘inclusion-exclusion’ axis.

Most fundamentally, we need to ask: is a given society encouraging more and more equality, opportunity, cooperation, and social freedom, OR is it aiming to boost the power of some humans over others? Is a given society trying to expand ‘love-in-action,’ or is it promoting hate and fear of despised ‘others’ to provoke social unrest and empower its bullying ‘haters-in-chief’?

Is a given society focused on increasing love and cooperation among its citizens, OR is it focused on ‘power over,’ oppression, and brutal, never-ending competition with others?

Why diversity, equity, and inclusion are such hot-button issues

Today these questions are crucial, as more and more societies and nations around the world succumb to the forces of division, fear, racial and ethnic hatreds, and even outright tyranny. In the U.S., the paramount importance of the ‘inclusion-exclusion’ spectrum is starkly shown by Trump’s and the far right’s escalating, vicious attacks on DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) policies and programs.

To the White-centric far right, all talk of and support for ‘diversity,’ ‘equity,’ and/or ‘inclusion’ are totally intolerable. Thus, rather than seeking equality, fairness, equitable distribution of wealth and resources, and a cooperative, inclusive society, the right seeks — and demands — the exact opposite.

Without any exaggeration, the far right prefers inequality over equality, endless competition over cooperation, power over instead of shared power, increasing wealth for the top 5%, and continued sociopolitical ‘superiority’ for Whites over Blacks, Hispanics, and other minorities. Hell, they even support the ‘superiority’ of White males over all women!

Clearly, the issue of ‘inclusion vs. exclusion’ is no minor or peripheral issue. It may be THE defining issue of our time, or perhaps any period in human history. And the far right fully knows this — which is exactly why DEI programs are increasingly being targeted, attacked, and overturned.

The far right truly hates the ideas of diversity, equity, and inclusion, and will stop at nothing to undermine and then scuttle them entirely.

What makes a society ‘civilized’?

Here’s what I’m getting at. To survive these intense and frightening times with our sanity intact, we must be able to see ‘behind’ or beyond the day-to-day headlines and grasp the underlying patterns and long-term social trends. The opponents of DEI always mask their true intentions with loud, deceptive gibberish about ‘fairness,’ ‘reverse discrimination,’ and ‘merit-based’ hiring, for instance, but (of course) never reveal their true beliefs and aims — namely, to reinstate White superiority and dominance and ensure decreasing equity and inclusion for minorities.

This brings us to another major societal feature revealed by the ‘inclusion-exclusion’ spectrum — one that right-leaning folks are sure to dispute. I’m referring to the evident social truth that inclusive and cooperative societies actually deserve the moniker ‘civilization’ while exclusive, ‘power-over,’ and White-centric societies do NOT. A nation or society isn’t truly ‘civilized’ if it only provides huge benefits for a small minority, while many (most) others are oppressed, victimized, and left to struggle in the dust.

From this point of view, very few nations or societies are actually ‘civilized,’ even today — and the current (awful) trend is for even less to stay that way. Right now, there’s a vast, horrifying groundswell of enthusiasm for non-inclusion, hate, and increased oppression of minorities and even women in general.

Witness the vicious and hateful new laws oppressing and punishing women who seek abortions (and those who help them) in the U.S. Witness the vicious and hateful new laws oppressing and punishing transgender kids and their families, and seeking to criminalize gay marriage and force LGBTQ+ people back into the closet.

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It’s getting seriously c-r-a-z-y and dangerous out there, folks, and not only is there no end in sight, but the craziness is still intensifying. And the bulk of this craziness consists of racist, misogynist, and violence-prone attitudes and behaviors that undermine the true values of modern civilization as well as ‘liberal democracy.’

I hate to say it, but it seems to be mainly true: most rightwing folks, especially the far right, are dedicated enemies of democracy, freedom, and equality for all (though they will never admit this). They do NOT have the best interests of our nation or many of our citizens at heart; rather, they are committed to supremacy and advantages for their own White race… and to hell with everyone else.

Why right-wing supporters always lie and deceive

Of course, in a supposed ‘democracy’ like ours you can’t come right out and openly promote such racist, sexist, and anti-democratic ideas. You have to conceal them, to a large extent, and hide them behind racist or sexist ‘dog whistles,’ legal obfuscations, partisan ploys, and clever ‘double-speak’ and deceptions.

This means that much of what the rightwing says, does, and promotes is built around lies and ongoing deception. As Al Franken expressed it in the title of his 2003 expose, the right relies completely on “Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them.” The political agendas of the right and far right demand lying, deceptive manipulation, and maintaining a pretense of democracy.

At this ‘exclusion’ end of the spectrum, it’s clear that selfishness, anger, and greedy racism reign, and these folks are often OK with anything that furthers their ‘righteous cause’ — including constant lying, disinformation, and both overt and covert manipulation of the public. Nothing is off limits. While folks on the left can certainly lie or manipulate, as well, I’d say most of this behavior is concentrated among the ‘exclusionists.’

And that’s not surprising — since they fundamentally don’t believe in the goals and aspirations of modern civilization OR liberal democracy. Nor do they believe (though they pretend to) in the crucial importance of honesty, fairness, and equality in a ‘decent’ society. They want these benefits for and among White men — but refuse to provide or support the same crucial social goods for many, many others, including minorities and women.

This is UNcivilized, selfish, anti-democratic behavior, pure and simple — and needs to be recognized and called out as such.

Persistent non-violent resistance is our only ‘way out’

Here’s the bottom line, I think, for surviving these times with our sanity and dignity intact: we can’t give in to or keep enabling all the racists, tyrants, bullies, and uber-wealthy oligarchs. These folks operate on one ‘principle’ only, and that’s power (for them) and social domination.

Bullies, dictators, and racists always feed off their successes and get even stronger — and more audacious. The more we let them get away with, the more they’ll try to get away with.

If we want the essential building blocks of modern civilization to even survive, we have to challenge and beat back the racists, liars, and bullies on every front: morally, legally, and politically. We can NOT knuckle under, appease, or enable them. Nor can we reason with them — for they are intentionally not reasonable. It’s simply not possible to be ‘nice’ with these devious traitors to civilized behavior.

Those of us on the ‘inclusive’ end of the spectrum need to recognize a very uncomfortable truth: we are embroiled in a fierce battle for the future of civilization, humanity, and our entire planet. If we want any semblance of peace, equality, and democracy going forward, we must be willing to push back, hard, against the predations, lies, and hateful manipulations of the ‘exclusionists.’ And keep pushing back, hard and consistently.

If we want any semblance of a sane, inclusive society and real civilization, we simply have to fight back with every verbal, legal, political, and non-violent means at our disposal. The racists, greed-heads, and lying bullies have already won many definitive social battles — so at this point, there is no ‘way out’ left but to actively resist and work to dethrone them.

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This post was previously published on medium.com.

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