A GLOSSARY FOR THE TRUMP ERA AUTOCRACY: The opposite of democracy: Rule not by the people... but by one person with absolute power. OLIGARCHY: Rule by the elites and for the elites. REGRESSIVE TAX: A tax that favors the wealthy over the working class. It is generally based on consumption rather than income, such as a sales tax. If everyone, rich and poor, pays the same rate, the less you make, the more it hurts because you’re contributing a larger percentage of your income. Paying for something with a usage fee (like a toll road or bridge) is more regressive than paying for it with an income tax. PROGRESSIVE TAX: A tax, such as an income tax or estate tax, with a rate that increases with income, so the wealthy (people who enjoy “disposable income”) pay a greater share. (Naturally, oligarchs try to replace progressive taxes with regressive ones.) TARIFFS: Tariffs function as a regressive consumption tax that sneaks by most consumers. While oligarchs might dangle the “most beautiful word in the dictionary” as an enticing way to fund the federal government (replacing income taxes), everyday consumers end up paying more via higher retail prices on imported goods (and on domestic goods manufactured from imported materials). INSTITUTIONS: Systems and organizations (such as courts, schools, the press, and the military) that hold a society together, provide checks and balances, and represent community-wide answers to problems that are most effectively tackled by society as a whole. Anyone hoping to derail a democracy finds institutions annoying. Trust in institutions is something well-governed and content democracies have in common — and a lack of trust in institutions is a symptom of a failing state. DEEP STATE: Another way to describe a society’s institutions and the people who run them. Popularized by right-wing think tanks, it’s a great example of clever framing that encourages voters to oppose something just because it sounds ominous. GOVERNMENT RESTRICTIONS: Rules and laws to referee capitalists in the rough-and-tumble arena of the free market. Environmental protections, worker rights, and consumer safeguards are oligarch pet peeves — and very annoying to aggressive capitalists who prefer to protect profits over people. LEGACY MEDIA: A term adopted by MAGA to dismissively describe traditional media outlets that foster quality journalism, such as The New York Times, CBS News, The Associated Press, and PBS. Once legacy media is out of the way, social media, podcasts, and other nontraditional media — all owned and easily manipulated by the powerful — can fill the void. FOURTH PILLAR OF DEMOCRACY: The free press, which acts as a watchdog, holds the government accountable and helps create a savvy and educated electorate. It’s a value that was recognized by the Founding Fathers as vital for a healthy democracy and an early target of wannabe autocrats. CHAOS STRATEGY: A rope-a-dope tactic that uses a steady stream of disruptive headlines to deliberately overwhelm and demoralize a society, confusing attempts to respond effectively. Like a magician’s “sleight of hand,” it makes you look over here (trans women in the girls’ room!) while the real action happens over there (like massive tax breaks for corporations and dismantling social security or national health care). SOLIDARITY: When various strands of society recognize that, while their government can pick them off one at a time if they remain disunited, joining together to create a resistance will give them a critical mass to survive against a political force hellbent on creating a totalitarian society. “All for one and one for all” and “United we stand, divided we fall” are apt slogans for groups employing solidarity as a survival tactic. RIGHT-WING THINK TANKS: Professional thinkers funded by special interest groups (often moralists, captains of industry, or the wealthy) to shape public opinion. FRAMING ISSUES: The art of presenting an issue with clever language that sways public opinion. Often a product of think tanks, framing is used to market ideas to voters. Examples include “pro-life” (aka anti-abortion), “right-to-work” (aka anti-union), and “legacy media” (see above). And now that climate change has become impossible to deny, environmentalists are called “climate extremists.” (Please share your favorite framings.) APPARATCHIKS: A term first used in the USSR to describe the legions of lackeys who abandoned their morals to stay close to power. Rather than “speaking truth to power,” apparatchiks become “spineless” and speak lies to the powerless. (And they often even dress like the leader whose ring they kiss.) HARD POWER: Employing military force or economic pressure to control other nations and make your own country great and safe. (The US invests about $900 billion a year in its military — that’s hard power.) SOFT POWER: A goodwill-building alternative to hard power that can be a better investment for the Department of Defense (producing more security per dollar). For example, for the cost of deploying one active-duty soldier abroad (about $1 million/year), the US government could dig wells to bring water to around 200 thirsty communities. Making people both healthier and big fans of the USA at the same time, that’s textbook soft power. Sending USAID into Elon’s “woodchipper” is essentially dismantling America’s ability to produce soft power. CHRISTIAN NATIONALISM: An ideological movement that mixes religion and patriotism to confuse a populace into thinking God favors a political agenda and society is in a kind of holy war. “Love thy neighbor” is trumped by fear, racism, greed, and the pursuit of power. There is also Muslim Nationalism, Hindu Nationalism, and so on. THE BRAND OF AMERICA: The image of our nation in the eyes of ordinary people in other nations shapes our brand. When people around the world like America, they embrace our values and purchase our products. It’s an intangible thing that has a big — if hard to measure — impact on our economy. Obama was good for the brand of America, and Putin is bad for the brand of Russia. When a society becomes a pariah within the family of nations and is seen as a bully, its brand tanks, and other nations look elsewhere for friends, inspiration, vacation destinations, and trade partners. FASCISM: A far-right ideology with an emphasis on extreme nationalism, authoritarian control, and crushing the opposition. It’s best illustrated by the infamous leaders of Europe a century ago (Mussolini, Franco, Hitler, and others) and the wannabe autocrats of today (Orbán, Putin, Erdoğan, and others) — all of whom have used the same playbook in their efforts to gain power, consolidate their rule, and overturn their society’s democracy. THE FASCIST PLAYBOOK: If you want to derail a well-established democracy as a fascist, you need to become the cult-like leader of an angry and frustrated base by first understanding and then capitalizing on hopelessness. You provide simple answers to complex problems, make facts debatable, and tell big lies repeatedly and with confidence until they are believed. You turn institutions like the press and universities into enemies of society, scapegoat and demonize immigrants, stoke fear and latent racism, and seek retribution against your political enemies. To win and then consolidate power, you need to politicize institutions, such as the courts and military, that were designed to be nonpolitical checks on power and defenders of the rule of law. You rile the masses with big rallies and win the support of leaders of industry, eventually turning patriotism into a kind of religion and establishing a monolithic society that marches in lockstep.