Dictatorship. Authoritarianism. And Stuff.

Chat with a Friend on Facebook.

FB Friend: <>Were you there (Philippines) through the rise of the dictatorship, or born into it?

The dictatorship technically started in 1965, but the real hardships/evil commenced in the 1970s. I started my professional journalism work at age 14 (1974) and then I worked/was junior staff for an indie newspaper that almost single-handedly battled the dictatorship (which was deposed in 1986). I was also a member of several arts/writer's groups and NGOs with similar cause/s. Post-1986, I worked for a DOGE-alike commission under the President, and I sat with a think-tank for a presidential bet before I finally flew to New York in late 1990s.)

FB Friend: <>No one is saying America IS a dictatorship. We are saying the country is slipping towards authoritarianism.

No one?!? LOL! Have you seen the memes? Anyhow, there’s only a thin, grey line that separates dictatorship and authoritarianism, per my experience. And as I reiterate, I haven’t seen/experienced any in America. 

FB Friend: <>What else do you call consolidating power under one branch, when the whole idea of three co-equal branches is to serve as a check on each of their powers? Which is clearly happening. 

That is a matter of opinion though. But I know how other dictatorships elsewhere “dissolved” Congress. Nope, I don’t parallel those moves in America at all. In the Philippines, the opposition (multi-party system) was still alive during the dictatorship though. Long discussion… 

FB Friend: <>Or at least there’s an effort to do that.

Again, a matter of opinion or perception.

FB Friend: <>What I’m saying is what you experienced living in a dictatorship for 20 years should not be the comparison. Once we can compare, it’s too late.

I wasn’t born and bred in America, who came from a country that was colonized and now a zealot ally of Washington, so I MUST compare. There are clear basis of comparison/s. The dictatorship back home was so coddled by America that even the regime-change was a U.S. handiwork (and they rescued the dictator, of course). If I don’t compare current America with other countries (especially those that are “dictated” by the U.S.), then I am pretending. Pretending that what I am seeing/experiencing in the U.S. is the first time ever that these are happening in my life? LOL! How can I “un-experience” my life? And my life here is far from being “in a dictatorship.” 

FB Friend: <>How anyone doesn’t see this administration as testing the limits baffles me frankly. That’s not an excuse for rioting or violence but I sure understand why people are upset. 

That we agree. This administration, and actually America per se, is being challenged from the inside. I saw that in coups that I covered (apart from the Philippines) in Asia. But the question is: What moved them to challenge their government? Extremes. Or aptly, what brought about the Arab Spring of 2011? That the Occupy “movement” bit as though what happened in Egypt or Tunisia is anything near what was happening in the U.S. or happening now.

FB Friend: <>I’m well versed in the USA. I’ve lived in multiple states as a journalist, have lived most of my life in the South, but also spent 4 years in New Jersey.

I bet every American is well-versed with their own country. This is your country. My (American) housemates are also well-versed with the U.S., although many of your insights, they’d argue those. Fact is, many Americans know America but very little or limited knowledge of life beyond, including in countries that are designated as U.S. allies, and worse, the “rogues.” 

FB Friend: <>The Constitution is quite clear on things like freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of the press, and the right to due process for all people. Those are all being challenged. 

The question is, which side of America’s continually widening divide challenges those constitutional sublimities? Clearly, what you are saying is (the Constitution) is being challenged by this side of the divide. Reason why I don’t see any point producing or organizing community events or publishing newsprints anymore. The crack is so wide, and I feel engulfed by the crazy tide. Meanwhile, what made Filipinos come out as one against a 20-year dictatorship, when the fact was, we are historically fragmented? This: Tactical alliance by unlike-minded groups but one versus the dictatorship. When that happens in America, yes–I’d believe there’s authoritarianism or whatever evil in leadership. Otherwise, these are (simply) cracks, a-howling.

       So, I share again what I heard/read from Howard Zinn before he died in 2010 (note, 2010): America is seeing a divide that’d rival the Civil War years… Nice chat. Thanks. ☮️🗽☮️