EDITOR

LETTER TO THE

Subverting Democracy

To the editor: Trump has not invented anything new. He is following an old script of authoritarianism. His methods are reminiscent of Viktor Orban of Hungary; Hugo Chavez of Venezuela; Fidel Castro of Cuba; Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey; and of course, Vladimir Putin of Russia. What do these authoritarian leaders have in common? It is not ideology. It is a map for subverting a democracy. Would-be-dictators start by denigrating the government of their countries. They place the blame for all they say is wrong on what they describe as an evil cabal of government workers who must be removed to cleanse the bureaucracy. The method is, “purge and pack.”

In 1863, President Chester A. Arthur, signed the Pendleton Civil Service Act, which guaranteed the rights of all citizens to compete for federal jobs without preferential treatment on the basis of politics, race, religion, or origin. That act of Congress was necessary because of the rampant corruption of the patronage system. Each newly elected president would bring in their supporters to run the government, unqualified, and/or, corrupt as they might be. After the Pendleton Act, civil service workers had to qualify for their positions through taking the civil service exam. The idea that these people are linked in a vast conspiracy is beyond comprehension. They come from varied backgrounds, economically, socially, and politically. The Pendleton Act created a civil service system that became the envy of the world.

What civil servants have in common is their role in making the government of the United States work according to the laws passed by Congress and signed by a President. According to the Hatch Act of 1939, civil servants are not allowed to take an active part in political campaigns. A civil servant may not engage in political activities while on government property, use government resources or the authority of their position to favor a political candidate, ask for or engage in fundraising for a political campaign or political action committee, or run for an office in a partisan election. The Pendleton and Hatch Acts have created a very stable governmental system.

So why do we have a South African billionaire, and his group of young computer whizzes attempting to fire so many of our civil servants? If one looks closely, they are concentrating on firing civil servants who are regulators. In other words, the officials who keep an eye on large corporations, large banks, and billionaires in their financial schemes and environmental malfeasance. Unregulated Capitalism is what led to the great Depression. I am old enough to have heard my parents talk of surviving that awful time. Unrestrained, some CEOs, will try almost any stunt to make money for themselves and their shareholders. Without seasoned regulators, corrupt politicians are also free to skim off billions of dollars. That is the lesson of the modern authoritarians. Purge the regulators and pack government with greedy individuals eager to take their piece of the pie.

Democracy depends on a citizenry that sees the basic good in humanity. We trust that our fellow citizens will perform their duties with the minimum of corruption. There are always bad actors in a mass system, therefore, having a number of highly qualified regulators, who are non-partisan, is so important. Without basic democratic institutions guiding the governmental system, would-be-dictators can take over key areas of government, intimidate the media, and scare off opponents with threats of litigation. They try to appear as the possessors of morality in a sea of human evil. Only they can save us. That is the blueprint provided by Putin, Orban, Castro, and other authoritarians. They appeal to nationalism, religion, race, whatever populist rhetoric works, to distract the populace while they concentrate power and wealth in fewer and fewer hands.

Elon Musk and his DOGE government raiders are part of the process. Musk is attacking the government in an indiscriminate way, not bothering to find out how valuable each of the officials are. His minions are computer savvy, but too young and inexperienced to know what they are doing. One thinks of Mao Zedong’s young and malleable Red Guards that terrorized and destroyed Chinese society (1966 to 1976). Cuts do not add up to savings. If the cuts open political departments to massive corruption, inefficiencies, disorganization, and chaos, then the costs will far outreach any savings. That is the real lesson we learn from history. Unrestrained, and concentrated political power corrupts, and worse, makes average citizens distrust and hate each other. That is the open door where a dictator can step in, “Only I am good, only I can save you.”

Rick Lohr Wausau, WI