This is what the death of the rule of law looks like
This is what the death of the rule of law looks like.
And this is exactly what so many of us had feared, for the longest time, with everything that is going on.
The rule of law officially no longer exists in the United States, arguably the world's most powerful empire until very recently.
People are being deported. Some, into prison camps, into foreign concentration camps — gulags — over baseless declarations of war and empty accusations. Hundreds of Venezuelans, including queer refugee claimants, have been sent into foreign prison camps (most notably Guantánamo prison camp and El Salvador's CECOT megaprison), denied due process, the right to a fair trial, and any semblance of human rights as provided for by both the U.S. constitution and international human rights instruments, notably the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. And when the courts said no, the Trump-Musk administration continued, in a blatant act of contempt of court.
Others, such as Dr. Rasha Alawieh and Mahmoud Khalil, have been respectively deported despite temporary restraining orders by the courts, or are facing forced disappearance, deportation and revocation of status over merely displaying an ounce of humanity towards Palestinians — a chilling attack on free speech. And, surprise or no, it shouldn't come as a coincidence that around the same time Trump starts sending Venezuelans to foreign gulags, Israel is restarting its genocidal war on Gaza, and has murdered more than 400 in the span of a few hours — in clear breach of a ceasefire it had previously agreed to right before Trump took power most recently.
Meanwhile, trans people are being denied ID, and being effectively banned from entering the U.S. over the very fact of them being trans. Legislation outright criminalizing transness — deeming my existence and our existence an outright fraud — is being considered for the first time ever — showing just how significantly the Overton window has been allowed to shift in the last few years. Civil rights are being explicitly repealed, for the first time in American history. And, to no one's surprise, the rule of law is also being pushed aside, for the sake of attacking trans people. Court orders ordering gender marker changes are being declared 'void' by executive fiat, and trans women prisoners are being transferred to men's prisons despite judicial orders to the contrary.
The same is happening worldwide. Turkiyë is banning any acts of support or compassion towards trans people, making it punishable by three years' jail time. Hungary is striking down against Budapest Pride, planning on banning it by legislative order. And back home, in Canada, our very own human rights instruments — notably the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms — are being pushed aside to make way for legislated hate against trans kids.
Where is all of this going to end?
Or are human rights, as we know them, gone? Are we going to have to live out the rest of our lives in pain and misery?
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The rule of law lies on a core principle: a government is beholden to its own laws. It is a theoretical equilibrium, sometimes summarized as: "no one is above the law", and "everyone is equal under the law". It is a flawed paradigm, one that fails to account for unjust laws, yet is the very paradigm which prevents governments from acting arbitrarily (irrationally).
The rule of law is the very principle that ensures that human rights instruments can be enforced. It is the very thing that allows citizens to make sure they are safe from being assassinated by political opponents. It's perhaps the very basis of contemporary democracies.
What happens when the rule of law is killed? The very civil rights you have been promised and guaranteed to have ends up being about as useful as toilet paper.
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Empathy is a foundational human value, part of the very thing that links us together. Yet, the very people who display empathy for others, notably by providing them necessary healthcare, are being criminally charged for their actions. The world's richest man and a Nazi, Elon Musk, is attacking the very idea of empathy for others — y'know, the very thing that has allowed us to make our way through countless humanitarian crises throughout history. The very thing that has allowed us to survive human-made climate change catastrophe up until now. And now... deportations — complete with immigrants, not accused of any crimes, in shackles — are now becoming material to ASMR at, according to the White House. How far have we fallen?
One of the most prominent texts on fascism — Ur-Fascism, by Umberto Eco — was a text that was first introduced to me, in its French version (Reconnaître le fascisme), by my constitutional law professor, Frédéric Bérard. One topic that was consistently brought up to me was just how recognizable it would be, when you recognize the warning signs. Let me now apply it to the United States...
The cult of tradition? Check. Just look at white supremacy.
The rejection of modernism? Check. Just look at tech bro culture.
The cult of action for action's sake? Check. Just look at all the attacks on trans people.
Disagreement as treason? Check. Just look at how the NIH is defunding any research going against so-called "U.S. national interests" — on topics as generic as the health outcomes of trans people.
Fear of difference? Check. Just look at all the attempts at deporting pro-Palestinian immigrants, or the attempts at criminalizing trans people altogether.
Appealing to a frustrated middle class? Check. Most U.S. exit polls show it pretty clearly.
Obsession with a plot? Check. The so-called "trans agenda" is exactly that.
The enemy as both strong and weak? Check. Trans people being somehow behind a "globalist agenda" yet being deemed mentally ill by authorities is but one example thereof.
Life as permanent warfare? Check. Just look at the techbro insurgency against basically every group it deems the 'other'.
Populist elitism? Check.
Heroism as norm? Check.
Machismo? Check.
Selective populism? Check.
Newspeak? Check.
I don't have any further words to say — just that things are not looking good for the future. The world is burning, yet we don't realize it. Yet, that's the whole point. We're being set on fire, yet being gaslit to pretend that that isn't the case. There's a reason they hate critical thinkers: "it's easier to run an authoritarian government if you don't have a population that knows."
Rule of law never goes away by decapitation or public execution. The State never announces that fascism is therefore state ideology. Instead, anti-fascists are deemed enemies of the state. And we're mere seconds removed from that becoming the truth.
The future looks bleak, and I have no other words to say.
May humanity prevail.
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P.S. Owing to the currently unenforceable nature of civil rights in the U.S. and the prospect of arbitrary detention, trans people should avoid all travel to the United States. A new travel advisory will be uploaded shortly.