The “largest democracy in the world” surrenders to the dictatorship announced, by Laure Murat – Libération

For the historian, the re-election of Donald Trump is “a tragedy for the world”. Professor at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), Laure Murat planned her departure from the United States, “which had become an old country tense in its macho and authoritarian values”, during the presidential campaign.

When you think about it, historically, it is astonishing that the United States, built on the violence of Native American genocide, slavery and segregation, this country which still today breaks records for mass killings, has never experienced dictatorship in two hundred and fifty years of existence. Well there you go, it’s done. Here we are. The “largest democracy in the world” has surrendered to the announced dictatorship. Officially. Regularly. By the ballot box.

History would always repeat itself twice, “the first time a tragedy, the second a farce”, said Marx. Except that with Trump, the formula seems more appropriate the other way around. The first time seemed like a really bad prank. What we are experiencing today is a tragedy for the world, for Ukraine, for Gaza, for Europe, for the climate, for the future, for young people.

This tipping point into the void and the unknown is a backward swing. On November 5, the United States suddenly became an old country, fallen into the worst faults that Europe has known. Uptight in his most hackneyed macho and authoritarian values, embodied by a sinister clown who would find qualities in the Führer. “For nearly half of Trump voters, showing appreciation for Hitler is acceptable,” headlined the November 5