Who Do You Trust?

The rulers are lauded in the press as being far-sighted and tireless in their effort making the country better. The image building of the rulers by a supportive press and social media enhance their public persona and aids in their suppression of dissidents. Those who disagree are not allowed to speak in public forums and are quietly removed from everyday living. Employers find ways to fire them. If they are entrepreneurs, their business is boycotted and those that do shop there are identified and added to the ostracized. Friends and family are frightened into associating with them knowing they could be caught up in the net. In the worst cases, the person who opposes the collective thinking is removed from society. Bail is denied and charges are expanded to assure there is no doubt of their subversion and insurrection.

Questioning the rulers is made a crime. They are labeled differently (ex. hate speech, fomenting violence) but they have the same impact; propagating fear in the population. These laws are enacted by a monolithic ruling party that secures their hold on power by bastardizing the tools formerly used by the populace to choose their rulers. Selection of leaders is now in the control of those who already hold power.

Segregation of the populace is required in order to maintain the hold. Subversive groups are identified and “dealt with”. Continued propaganda vilifying them turns those loyal to the rulers against the identified group. Loyalists are subtly encouraged to ostracize the identified “insurrectionists/terrorists” who are considered dangerous to society. They are marked for “re-education”.

In order to placate the loyalists, perquisites are doled out based on the group’s attributes. Those “perks” are the result of the confiscation from those not in favor of the rulers. Taxes are aimed directly at them. Rules of engagement in commerce are geared toward loyalists and inhibit those who question anything coming from those in power. In return, the loyalists, dependent on the largesse of the rulers, do nothing to upset the gravy train and instead, encourage more “equity” through confiscatory actions including appropriating property.

Is this the story of China or the United States? Do you trust either of the rulers of these countries?