Authoritarian Creep - The Boiling Frog Strategy

Dear Society,

We need to talk.

You ever hear that story about the frog in boiling water?

• You drop a frog into scalding hot water, it jumps the hell out.
• You put it in lukewarm water and slowly turn up the heat, it gets cooked alive without even noticing.

Welcome to the United States, where you are the frog.

For decades, they've been slowly turning up the heat-testing how much bullshit they can get away with before people notice they're being boiled alive.

And spoiler alert? We're already simmering.

It didn't start with Trump.  It didn't start with DeSantis. It didn't start with some unhinged conspiracy theorist screaming about "the woke mind virus."

Authoritarianism has been creeping in for years. The only difference now? They've stopped pretending.

So, let's break this shit down: How do you kill democracy without the people noticing?

STEP ONE: RIG THE SYSTEM SO THEY NEVER LOSE

Authoritarians don't win elections. They rig them.

• Gerrymandering the hell out of districts so they win no matter what. (You thought your vote mattered? Adorable.)
• Purging voter rolls and making sure the "wrong" people (Black, Latino, poor, young) magically can't vote.
• Passing Voter ID laws so hard to get paperwork keeps certain voters locked out.
• If all else fails? Just claim the election was stolen. (Worked for Trump. January 6th was just a warm up.)

The message? Voting only counts when they win.

STEP TWO: CONTROL YOUR BODY, YOUR BRAIN, AND YOUR BANK ACCOUNT

• Forced Birth Laws - First, it was abortion bans. Now, they're coming for contraception, IVF, and even tracking pregnancies. Next? Criminalizing miscarriages. (No, seriously, they're already trying.)
• Book Bans & Thought Policing - If kids learn actual history, they might recognize fascism when it happens. Can't have that.
• Public Schools? Underfunded. Religious Charter Schools? Bankrolled by your tax dollars.
• Worker's Rights? Crushed. Unions? Demonized. Minimum Wage? Still laughably low.

The goal? Make you too poor, too tired, and too afraid to fight back.

STEP THREE: FIND A SCAPEGOAT TO BLAME FOR EVERYTHING

Every authoritarian needs a villain. Someone to blame while they steal everything not nailed down.

• LGBTQ+ People? "Groomers". "Pedophiles". "Threats to kids". (Bullshit, but effective bullshit.)
• Immigrants? "Invader". "Stealing your jobs". "Bringing Crime". (Despite mountains of evidence proving otherwise.)
• Teachers? Librarians? Science? Dangerous radicals! Get rid of them.
• Anyone who fights back? "Terrorists". "Communists". "Threats to democracy".

The message? You need THEM to "protect you. (From the very crises they manufactured.)

STEP FOUR: FLOOD THE MEDIA WITH PROPAGANDA & LIES

• Drown out real journalism with conspiracy bullshit, fake scandals, and political theatre.
• Repeat lies until they feel true. ("The election was rigged". "LGBTQ+ people are coming for your kids". "Immigrants are destroying America".)
• Punish the press. Call them "fake news." Threaten journalists. Censor anything that makes them look bad.

You know who else systematically discredited the media before grabbing power? Every. Single. Fascist. Regine. In. History.

STEP FIVE: NORMALIZE POLITICAL VIOLENCE

Once people are scared enough, once they've been fed enough lies, once they're convinced that "the enemy" is their neighbor, you take it to the next level:

• January 6th was the test.  They failed, but they learned.
• Election officials are getting death threats. (Nothing says "free and fair elections" like needing armed security to count votes.)
• Armed extremists are showing up at protests, polling places, and pride events.
• Politicians are openly talking about civil war.

We are one bad election away from full-scale political violence being not just encouraged-but, expected.

STEP SIX: ELIMINATE CHECKS AND BALANCES (BECAUSE RULES ARE FOR LOSERS)

• The Supreme Court? Packed with right-wing ideologs. (Lifetime appointments, baby!)
• Congress? Gridlocked into oblivion. (Unless it's tax cuts for billionaires-then they work at lightning speed!)
• Presidents? Either "above the law" or "a dictator", depending on who's in office.
• The Constitution? Interpreted however they want.

Why follow rules and laws when you can just rewrite them to stay in power forever?

THE "IT CANT HAPPEN HERE" LIE

You hear it all the time: "America is different! This isn't a dictatorship!"

Sure. And frogs don't boil if you turn up the heat slow enough.

Let me make this crystal fucking clear:

• The U.S. is already in democratic decline.
• They are already testing the waters.
• They are already seeing what they can get away with.
• And by the time you realize it's happening, it's already done.

It CAN happen here. It IS happening here.

WHAT CAN WE DO?

• Stop pretending this is normal. This is not politics as usual.
• Fight voter suppression. If they make it harder to vote, vote harder. Show up anyway.
• Call out every single lie. Letting disinformation spread unchecked is how they win.
• Support real journalism. Propaganda thrives when people stop seeking the truth.
• Refuse to shut up. Because silence is compliance.

FINAL THOUGHTS: WAKE THE FUCK UP

• They want you exhausted.
• They want you overwhelmed.
• They want you to think this is inevitable.

Because if you believe that, you won't fight back.

Here's the good news: It's not too late. Not yet.

But the heat is turning up.

And if we don't fight like hell right now?

We're all getting boiled alive.

I'm Prudence Quibble, and this has been Uncivil Correspondence.

Because someone needs to fucking say it.