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As we approach the end of the first month of the second Trump administration, we are closer than ever to the death of American democracy. 

Upon receiving enough votes to become our next Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. laid out a plan for those with both mental and physical chronic illnesses. 

Claiming that, “This poses a dire threat to the American people and our way of life,” Kennedy has taken inspiration from wellness farms that were utilized in 1970s Italy. A place where children can “detox” from antidepressants, stimulant medications for ADHD, and weight loss drugs, among other drugs that keep Americans healthy and alive. 

You may be wondering, why haven’t we seen any plans of this sort in the recent past if he is claiming that they will completely solve America’s mental health epidemic? The answer is simple: this is eugenics. 

By scapegoating chronically ill Americans who rely on medications for their mental and physical well-being, RFK Jr. and the Trump administration are blatantly echoing the ideals of the Nazi Party. 

A common misconception when invoking the Nazi’s rise to power is that Adolf Hitler seized power illegally. This could not be further from the truth. Hitler was elected by the German people who believed that he would “save” Germany and build it back up to the superpower status it held prior to the First World War. 

Once elected, Hitler began to implement more and more radical policies, until Jews, members of the LGBTQ+ community, non-whites and the mentally ill were rounded up and sent away to be exterminated. 

Today, President Trump rose to power in a similar way. 

He scapegoated undocumented immigrants for all the problems the U.S. is facing, an issue of high saliency among his voter base, and once in power, he widened his sights. Now, we are seeing innocent men, women and children being sent to Guantanamo Bay, a prison housing only the most dangerous criminals that have attacked the United States. A place where U.S. law does not apply. 

Guantanamo is notorious for its inhumane treatment of prisoners, ranging from neglect, starvation, beatings and torture. The perfect place where Trump can exterminate those who he believes are the root of all issues plaguing the country. 

Furthermore, the rhetoric for these drastic measures has been justified through religion, specifically Christianity. Not only is this abhorrent due to the fact that the U.S. does not have an official religion, nor has it ever, despite claims made by the conservative right. However, the teachings of the Bible have never once defended any of the Trump administration’s policies. 

As a non-practicing, however still confirmed Catholic, I find it to be nothing short of blasphemy for Trump to invoke the name of Jesus Christ in order to justify eugenics and Christian nationalism. 

The Bible commands us to love our neighbors despite our differences, not send them away to concentration camps. It commands us to feed the hungry, house the unhoused, love the unloved, not only if they practice the same religion as you, and not only if their skin color is the same as yours, but unconditionally. 

Our differences are not what drive us apart, they are what bring us together and they are exactly what this country was built on. 

The founders of this country are rolling over in their graves with every pen stroke of the Trump administration. If they could see what this country has become, they would be astonished at how far we have strewn from the ideals on which this nation was founded. 

The grossly unimportant swath of executive orders Trump began his second term with can be boiled down to nothing more than a distraction from his real motives. While the media and the general public were in a frenzy following the renaming of the Gulf of Mexico and the sudden imperialist turn that the administration took, the plans for “wellness farms” and prison camps for migrants were drawn up. 

These facts once again, mirror the silent moves that the Nazi Party made while keeping the populous distracted from their grand plan to “save the country.” 

With all of the atrocities that have occurred in the last month, we can only assume that they are just getting started. We must stand united as a people in order to save our democracy from the vice grip of Trump’s hands. The fight is no longer side to side, but up and down. 

Despite what Trump claimed on the campaign trail, he is not looking out for the middle class whatsoever, especially in terms of his tax plan. 

Trump claimed he would cut taxes for the middle class and remove taxes on overtime and tips, however, in his actual tax plan, none of this was anywhere to be found. In their place were tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, allowing them to hoard even more wealth, stolen right out of your pockets. 

The tax plan proposed by Trump and congressional Republicans increases the debt ceiling by $4 trillion, partnered with $4.5 trillion of tax cuts. These are not, however, tax cuts for you and me, but for the wealthy. 

Included in this package is $300 billion for immigration and military efforts, meaning this is funded by the middle and lower class because god forbid those at the top contribute anything meaningful to society. 

Due to the capitalist nature of our country, we have long been unaware of our place as a middle class and the power that a united people holds. We must come together to stop the billionaire class from seizing the power of our government. Our lack of class consciousness has been holding us down for far too long, allowing the rich to swoop in and seize power. 

The current oligarchical government we are witnessing form in real-time is quickly becoming a plutocracy, with the government being made up of the wealthiest members of society. If not stopped, they will wear down our government, in the name of making it more “efficient,” until we are left with a true fascist theocracy. 

As Americans, we are by default anti-fascist, whether you like it or not. This country was founded by Antifa and has continued to be upheld by Antifa for its entire existence. 

If the Trump administration is anti-anti-fascist, then what does that make them? 

Jackson Small is a columnist. Contact him at [email protected].