“To move forward, we debate, not demonize. We discuss, not destroy. But in this moment—this moment, this morning—our sacred rule of law is under attack.” — Scott Pelley, Wake Forest University commencement speech
Authoritarianism follows a well-worn script: dismantle the rule of law, curtail freedoms under the guise of protecting others’, and bend society into submission by any means necessary. It succeeds only if enough people can be persuaded that their losses are worth the price of a promised new order — and if “enemies of the state” can be neutralised quickly enough to forestall rebellion.
But America is not Weimar Germany. When Hitler and Goebbels dismantled the Weimar Republic, they faced a fragile democracy barely a decade and a half old. America, by contrast, has lived with republican institutions since the late 1700s. That long historical memory matters: you cannot snatch away rights without colliding with a deeply ingrained civic ethos and sense of collective identity rooted in the Constitution and Bill of Rights. The upcoming 250th anniversary of the nation’s birth will only sharpen that awareness, reawakening pride in freedoms hard-won and long defended.
“Give me liberty, or give me death!” — Patrick Henry
James Madison foresaw the danger. He worried that listing only some liberties in the Bill of Rights would tempt future tyrants to claim those were the only liberties people possessed. His safeguard was the Ninth Amendment: “The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.” In other words, the people’s rights exceed what was written down on parchment. Madison, in turn, was channelling Cicero, who two millennia earlier insisted that law is rooted not in statutes but in natural rights accessible to reason. To deny that was to invite rebellion.
The MAGA overlords did succeed in radicalising a committed minority by promising a transformed order. But a growing number now feel betrayed—they were told the system would be unlocked for them, only to watch the powers-that-be slam the door and throw away the key. And when you start tearing away liberties most assumed were permanent, you do more than make enemies. You turn people from all walks of life — judges and generals, chefs and comedians, actors and priests, students and veterans — into engaged, if not enraged, resisters.
Psychology explains why. Robert Cialdini’s scarcity principle shows we place a higher value on things when they become scarce or are about to be taken away. Scarcity intensifies desire and mobilises action. It is why limited-edition products vanish from shelves, why panic-buying spreads during shortages, and why rights long taken for granted suddenly feel priceless when threatened.
If you try to reteach the American people what it means to be free by doing the exact opposite, don’t be surprised when they show up with torches and pitchforks.
