THE AMERICAN people have not only elected a misogynist and convicted criminal as their 47th president, but a traitor. There can be no other conclusion. This is a man who incited violent insurrection by persistent repetition of gross lies about democratic process, but failed by cynical acts of omission and commission to curb vicious attacks in pursuit of his cause. Now, just over four years later and back in office, he has pardoned hardline fascist leaders and people convicted of life-threatening attacks on police. The message could not be clearer; the potential damage to the nation is colossal. The head of state has endorsed violence in pursuit of his personal political objectives and a particular ideology. Regardless of the philosophy, here lies a germ of civic collapse into anarchy or civil war.

We went through something similar in the dying decade of apartheid before sanity prevailed. But consider this parallel. In 1170, Henry II of England described Thomas a Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, as a ‘low-born cleric’ and reputedly asked ‘will no one rid me of this turbulent priest’, although his words were probably less direct. Four of Henry’s knights (that is, thugs) travelled to Canterbury and murdered Becket in the cathedral. Trump is notorious for coarse and vile comments about his opponents, broadcast far and wide day after day. And he has just pardoned and released onto the streets scores of violent people supportive of and beholden to him. The possible consequences are clear.

In a global socio-political climate increasingly dependent on emotion rather than reason, fiction not fact, what appears above will be denounced by many as boring establishment sentiment. People’s preference is for entertainment not reason, so someone like serial liar Donald Trump consistently breaking things is value for money. It feeds into anger, a desire to build walls rather than bridges. The consequence of Trump’s predictable rampage on the domestic front is something Americans themselves will have to resolve. On the Statue of Liberty are etched the words ‘Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.’ It is extraordinary that a country of persecuted immigrants is now in the process of diminishing human and civil rights, but an awful warning for liberal democracies. 

The key to saving this situation ‒ preservation of the rule of law, civil rights, rational debate, respect for institutions and sheer decency ‒ will sadly not be found on the Left. It has long been shooting itself in the ideological foot through contradiction and inconsistency. Some of the greatest patriots today are true, principled conservatives, the rump of the Republican party (and the same is true of the British Conservatives). Their emphasis on conservation could not be more relevant in a world increasingly in thrall to fascists, phoneys and opportunists out to smash things to reassure through entertainment a mass of seemingly infantile people. There is an element of circus – clowns and custard pies – about all this. What America does is America’s business, of course; except that it ultimately has a profound effect on the rest of us.

The global impact of Trump.2 is more obvious in the realm of foreign policy; although Trump seems to work according to whim rather than measured action. So far, he has threatened Panama and Greenland (a part of Nato), made snide references to Canada (another Nato ally) and threatened Russia in an ineffectual way. With the permission of the Greenlanders and Denmark there would be a case for looking at Greenland’s strategic position, but Trump’s ugly-American approach is entirely inappropriate and probably counter-productive. Angela Merkel recently confirmed that Trump.1 expressed to her an admiration for Vladimir Putin and other strongmen. But if he behaves like them, he brings liberal democracy into disrepute: in principle there would be no difference between invasion of Panama and Russia’s war in Ukraine. But maybe that’s the point: Trump and his Christian nationalist backers despise democracy, except the version that privileges them and affirms their self-assumed superiority.

Another set of backers, not necessarily always in tune with the Maga crowd, are the high-tech barons. Some of them subscribe to a philosophy that would see abolition of the nation state and global governance, and domination, through technological control. Take a bow, George Orwell as one of the most prescient thinkers of the last century. We read his books avidly and much of what he predicted has come, or is coming, true. Exactly where the clown of the moment Elon Musk fits into any long-term plotting is obscure and he looks like an immensely wealthy opportunist at present. But it’s worth remembering his background. He was born and bred in apartheid South Africa and his school education took place in Pretoria. In the 1980s this was a bizarre world of white paranoia and bitterness not unlike that being exhibited by many Trump supporters. At school he was beaten up for being a loudmouth, a character trait he has failed to control. And in a defamation case many years later he explained his use of insulting language by reference to upbringing. What else about his erratic behaviour might be due to his late-apartheid South African background? Several other of the Silicon Valley tech moguls have similar origins.

Then there is Musk’s recent behaviour after the presidential inauguration. The only important point about the repeated salute was that it looked remarkably like a Nazi gesture. Musk should know that a person with his power and influence has a responsibility to think about how his public actions might be interpreted. But here lies the crux of the matter: the world is increasingly afflicted by narcissists who regard responsibility and conscience as a matter for sissies – Trump, Johnson, Farage, Musk and Zuma are some of the more obvious examples. They lie through their teeth and never ever apologise. They are the creators of new reality. Millions of people clearly regard this as acceptable judging by the way they use their votes. The world in short is facing a profound crisis of morality.

We have rarely lacked old-fashioned dictators, but Trump and his tech allies bring an entirely new dimension. The combination of wealth and political power is not new either as various press barons culminating in Rupert Murdoch demonstrated throughout the twentieth century. The difference lies in the reach and speed of modern technology; and in the fact that democracies harbour numerous traitors – people who seek to undermine their own national institutions that validate democracy for all.

How to deal with this and restore sanity and morality to public life? We’ve been here before in the 1930s with the rise of the Nazis and other fascists. Of course, the circumstances are very different nearly a century later, but there are valuable lessons to be learned. Some people now advocate a persuasive, non-confrontational approach; but look where appeasement got Europe and ultimately the world in the second half of the 1930s. Another tactic is to shrug off pervasive fear – we have nothing to fear but fear itself, as an admirable American president, Franklin Roosevelt, said in his 1933 inauguration address – and spell out the truth avoiding the ambiguity, prevarication and relativism that weaken just causes and strengthen the evil.

We can start with facts: Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, quaintly named Tommy Robinson, is a hard-core fascist thug; and Alternativ für Deutschland is a Nazi party. Musk has been loud in his praise of both and denigrates their critics; which makes him a fascist too, confirmed by the salutes and his intervention in German politics. Extremism and nationalism are incompatible with religious belief. So, for another loudmouth, the new American Secretary of Defence, Pete Hegseth, to describe himself as a white Christian nationalist is erroneous; he’s simply another fascist. There will be plenty more occasions in the next four years not to prevaricate.

And it might be worth remembering that other blights of the twentieth century such as communism and apartheid were brought down with the assistance of humour and mockery.