You hear people saying that we need to get Trump out of office to avoid the US becoming like The Handmaid's Tale. They think that 1984 cannot happen. What these people fail to understand or realize is that it already is that!
Trump has allowed and encouraged racism, sexism, and general prejudicial behavior. He has approved of violence enacted against anyone who does not agree with him. He has encouraged limiting the free press and the advent of a virtual government-run press.
None of this seems really all that bad. Not really. But what people fail to understand is that he has gone much, much further. He hasn't done much as president but he has appointed over 200 ultra-conservative, religion-based judges to long-term and permanent positions throughout the country. This is so that the country will continue to sway more conservative for the next 20-30 years. He has rounded up and caged a large number of people in concentration camps. Within those camps, he is allowing the forced sterilization of people he has deemed "undesirable." People of Color (PoC) are already being killed and subjugated at alarming rates. They have privatized prisons and detainment such that those who own these companies are making deals with police and prosecutors to keep detainment artificially high so they can maximize their profits (and give plenty of kick-backs to those in power who need it).
Trump is using newspeak and lies to make those who do not want to put in the effort to find the actual truth believe that what the Republicans are currently doing is what the Democrats want to do if they get into office. He ignores the rule of law and does whatever he can to stretch it, bend it, and break it. These redefinitions of what is "right" and lawful further eases the willingness of his adherents to push further.
What gets me the most, however, is the number of women he has hoodwinked into thinking they matter to him and his cronies, like Moscow Mitch McConnell. Just like in The Handmaid's Tale, they have enough white women believing they will be important and have a voice in their regime that they throw in with the white men. However, just like in The Handmaid's Tale, they will then be divested of their voice and power immediately after the PoC are removed or encaged.
Trump has all but authorized militias to kill PoC and threaten anyone who doesn't agree with his skewed politics. They storm capital buildings with impunity, they kill PoC without remorse or repercussions, and the police and Department of Justice (DOJ) do nothing to stop them. Actually, to the contrary, the police and DOJ do not bring charges against those who commit these crimes and criminalize being of a dark skin color at the same time.
Trump has approved of China and Russia, two of the US's most deadly, subtle, and consistent enemies, to do what they please. He has encouraged China and Russia to meddle in the US's affairs, he has not villified them for their human rights abuses, and he hasn't encouraged the US's allies to work together to overcome these failings.
Trump loves authoritarian governments. He loves "strong leaders" -- dictators. He constantly buddies up with them and approves of them even as they round up opposition and kill or cage them. He wants to follow in their footsteps. He can't see these leaders laughing at him... he's too stupid to understand he's being used to legitimize their rule.
What do you get in the stories of The Handmaid's Tale and 1984? Authoritarian governments who use some form of newspeak to confuse and control the populace. Undesirables are done away with. Power is wielded from a position of domination and control, the rights of the many are enforced upon the few, and religion is used as a basis for their control and authority. That's exactly what is occurring in Trump's America. It is happening NOW.
