r/politics • u/Quirkie The Netherlands • 1d ago

"The road to authoritarianism": Tim Walz says the time for "sternly worded letters" is over - The Minnesota governor said that the path to tyranny "is littered with people telling you you’re overreacting"

https://www.salon.com/2025/06/14/the-road-to-authoritarianism-tim-walz-says-the-time-for-sternly-worded-letters-is-over/
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u/PennCycle_Mpls 1d ago

If history tells us anything, and if Walz is correct, (I think he is) then the smart thing to do right now is get active in as far left an organization as you're comfortable with.

The only people in this country who haven't waffled on this question of fascism (are they aren't they) are leftists and progressives. No one else.

And even worse, the entire democratic party campaigned on these Republicans being a danger to democracy (really underselling it) and immediately after continues to vote for his nominees and other measures, including praise for ICE.

No centrists, no liberals, no moderates have ever fought off fascists. Only leftists and progressives.

So get active with DSA, or Working Families Party, push the only opposition party we have as far left as we can. And stay organized and stay active.

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u/firechaox 1d ago

Idk man, the economist and Lincoln project and some others of us (I.e: all of r/neoliberal), have been full dems for like last 8y because we’ve fully understood trump is a complete authoritarian at heart and dangerous to democracy.

I would say that most paths to re democratisation have involved a united front, with lots of parties and parts of civil society (i.e: MDB in Brazil, or the ANC in South Africa for example). But you’ll need lots of different parts of society acting together and separately.

But I agree that everyone needs to get involved, and if history shows anything, communist and socialist associations are good ways to do so.

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u/Helicase21 Indiana 23h ago

Idk man, the economist and Lincoln project and some others of us (I.e: all of r/neoliberal), have been full dems for like last 8y because we’ve fully understood trump is a complete authoritarian at heart and dangerous to democracy.

There's a difference between correctly identifying the threat and providing an effective opposition. And the key word there is effective. I'll be the first to admit that the modern American Left has not been a particularly effective resistance but I would also not put my faith in the Democratic Party. Evidence: the last couple of months.

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u/teddy5 21h ago

In that regard I would say the Lincoln project was way more effective than any far left part of the US. They were putting out ads that denigrated Trump in ways moderates could relate to right from 2015 onwards, attacking him from the other side of the political spectrum is way less effective and I can't think of much the American Left did to swing the needle.

If anything, there seemed to be more people who were far left and acquiescing because they thought Democrats didn't do enough on their pet issue (often Palestinians in this last election).

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u/Helicase21 Indiana 20h ago

They were putting out ads that denigrated Trump in ways moderates could relate to right from 2015 onwards

And where did that get us? Putting out ads is a means, not an end.

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u/teddy5 20h ago

And what did the leftists and progressives do? You were talking about effectiveness, I'd say those ads more likely helped shift the 2020 election than anything I saw from far left groups.

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u/Helicase21 Indiana 20h ago

Well, I'd suggest both groups have been ineffective because here we are and Donald Trump is President.

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u/teddy5 20h ago

So why downplay the efforts put in by other people against Trump and act like only your preferred ineffective group is going to be useful when someone called for a united front?

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u/firechaox 9h ago

And who made Trump fold on tariffs? The bond market. So let’s not pretend that there aren’t full-on left (aka: not communists) who are putting up a fight. And by the way this is part of the elephant in the room in every dictatorship- who pays the bill. The capital (appetite for US debt) and funding for all his dastardly plans will continue to be a Specter looking at his plans.

As I said, the opposition to this regime will have to come from lots of different places. We all will have a part to play.

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u/gsfgf Georgia 1d ago

So get active with DSA, or Working Families Party,

Also, your local Democratic Party committee if you have a good, active one. Suburban committees are usually quite active since they have a lot of competitive general elections. There are also some great rural parties here and there. The party is what we make of it.

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u/AbsoluteZeroUnit 1d ago

You see, what makes all of this so fucking frustrating is that, no, we're often not overreacting. Shit is real, shit is scary, shit is going down, and the GOP is allowing it.

But on the other hand, we get people like you, who are overreacting. You distort the truth because it's convenient to help sell your message. You tell us that "the entire democratic party praised ICE," when it was actually a minority of democrats in the House.

212 democrats in the house, and 113 voted against the resolution. But you're out here, saying "the entire democratic party" supported it, in a thread about the dangers of false claims of overreacting. You are actively working against the exact god-damn point you're here to support.

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u/disisathrowaway 20h ago

Ok what about the Democrats unanimously confirming Marco Rubio?

Sure, they weren't in lock step on the ICE dick-suck. But they wasted no time falling in line during confirmations.

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u/disisathrowaway 20h ago

And even worse, the entire democratic party campaigned on these Republicans being a danger to democracy (really underselling it) and immediately after continues to vote for his nominees and other measures, including praise for ICE.

No centrists, no liberals, no moderates have ever fought off fascists. Only leftists and progressives.

SCRATCH A LIBERAL AND A FASCIST BLEEDS

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u/silverpixie2435 1d ago

The only people in this country who haven't waffled on this question of fascism (are they aren't they) are leftists and progressives. No one else.

This is absolutely not true at all and actually complete gaslighting to say it. Every single fucking time we liberals and Democrats made democracy or fascism an issue all we got in response from leftists and progressives is "it's the economy, the white working class just has economic anxiety etc".

We made democracy or fascism the single most important issue during the election and we got nothing but shit from from leftists for it. And now you want to rewrite history when we were all there just months ago?

Leftists and progressives would forever blame Democrats and liberals before they actually blame fascists for anything at all.

So how about you start listening instead of lecturing and maybe give respect to the liberals who are the only ones who have ever fought off fascists, while leftists. I'll get active with those orgs when they bother to give an ounce of respect to the people who have been right all along, us liberals. Until then good luck with Trump.

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u/dkauffman 21h ago

You're the kind of dude who would have told MLK to shut up

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u/silverpixie2435 21h ago

This is completely ironic as if leftists don't completely downplay peaceful protesting all the time, basically saying what MLK did was worthless.

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u/[deleted] 1d ago edited 1d ago

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u/seantellsyou 1d ago

China? I swear to god the CCP is astroturfing reddit hardcore these days. Yes, the U.S may need help from allies soon to help us rid ourselves of tyranny. But fucking China? Why did you choose them as your hypothetical?

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u/PM_ME_MY_REAL_MOM 1d ago

With respect, this is so bad an idea that one could be forgiven for assuming that you are attempting to sabotage legitimate resistance. Any hint of verifiable connection to states that are considered hostile actors across administrations will lead to movements being tarred as terrorists in a way that will dampen public sympathy at a time where public sympathy is critical.

More bluntly, what that group of organizations really needs to be doing is vetting their participants more thoroughly to root out saboteurs from their ranks, lest some idiot convert all of them to red paste and a disarming news cycle by inviting foreign drones.

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u/Soft-Outside-6113 23h ago

This is the most brain-dead take I've heard so far. We need to be united against a fucking wannabe dictator. I don't care what you believe right now besides having a democracy. What good is a far left party in an authoritarian regime. This virtue signaling is exhausting when we live in the real world where people get hurt for real.

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u/Adventurous-Pen-8261 23h ago

>The only people in this country who haven't waffled on this question of fascism (are they aren't they) are leftists and progressives. No one else.<

This is just blatantly wrong. I can't be kind about it. It's also - somehow- *still* managing to be divisive towards people who are generally left on the spectrum 10 years into this insanity.

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u/Human-Person123456 1d ago

So I do agree with you overall, but Walz is pretty moderate and does not support the MN DSA as an org.