What do you know about autocratic governance systems? Do you know what their main characteristics are and how they operate? Do you think they are good or bad for a society in contributing to a quality of life for the population participating in an autocratically governed society?
This month the book selected for discussion is Surviving Autocracy by Masha Gessen.
The United States in 2025 has been turned into an autocratic state with a chief executive, the President, who according to the US Supreme Court, functions outside the law as long as he is engaged in his official duties. The current President has functioned in increasingly autocratic and lawless ways. Today, October 1, 2025, the Federal government as we have enjoyed for 250 years has been shut down at the President’s urging and with his party enables cooperation.
What, at this point in history, is likely to happen in the governance of the United States? Where are we likely to be 6 months and 1 year from now? Will the United States ever return to a democratic form of government and if so, how?
Many Americans favor autocratic form of government because they don't have to take responsibility for their own circumstances due to reliance on a savior who will take care of them. Democracy is too hard and demands too much of their time, energy, and thought. Self reliance is not valued but rather reliance on a god like figure who tells them "I alone can fix it!"
ReplyDelete