On June 17, 1953, more than a million East Germans walked off the job and launched a massive strike in protest of unfair production demands imposed by the communist government. The playwright Bertolt Brecht, who was living in East Berlin, responded by composing a poem about the Soviet-installed government’s approach to the problem, “Die Lösung” (which translates into “The Solution”):
After the uprising of the 17th June
The Secretary of the Writers Union
Had leaflets distributed in the Stalinallee
Stating that the people
Had forfeited the confidence of the government
And could win it back only
By redoubled efforts. Would it not be easier
In that case for the government
To dissolve the people
And elect another?
Anyway, you know things are bad in America when East Germany seems like a relevant historical analog, but here we are. Perusing the press these days, you’d think Brecht’s satirical joke about the government voting out the people was a real possibility. In fact, I’d dare say attempts to impose our rulers’ wishes on the electorate are now a prominent feature of American discourse.
The morning of the Iowa caucuses, The New York Times published a typically oblivious op-ed headlined “The Responsibility of Republican Voters,” essentially commanding them not to vote for Donald Trump. In reality, such a sentiment coming from the Times is tantamount to encouraging Republicans to support Trump, both as a result of its own sins and as a synecdoche for America’s utterly reviled journalistic establishment. Naturally, a guy the Times insists is “distinguished from the rest of the Republican candidates primarily by his contempt for the rule of law” went on to romp to victory later that day.