Stephanie Joyce
How Does a Dictator Rise to Power?
He typically has cult leader-level charisma. But more than that, he knows how to play the game. It starts with severing a society’s ability to see itself clearly — and each other compassionately. This leader fosters distrust not just vertically between citizens and leaders, but horizontally — neighbor against neighbor.
This tactic, called horizontal violence, has been the primary lever of authoritarian regimes for decades, if not centuries. The dictator doesn’t always start with brute force — he starts with division. He knows that when people blame one another, they’ll never think to challenge him.
What makes this especially dangerous in America is the ego trap: if we’ve committed to a leader, especially loudly, it becomes psychologically difficult to let go — even when all evidence shows it’s necessary to let our love for an idol go.
And while generations before us fell under propaganda due to information scarcity, we now suffer from the opposite: an overwhelming sea of information that we emotionally filter based on identity instead of truth.
We aren’t catching on to the “boiling point” because we’re still clinging to the fire that created it. The spectacle has long lost any fun factor and we hardly know what to make of all the chaos.
Do know:
You’re not crazy to feel isolated.
You’re not “intense” for thinking the worst.
You’re witnessing mass psychological capture.
We’re all witnessing the slow loss of ability for groups of people to think critically for themselves. Every single one of us can feel this way on a bad day.
For some, they’re losing the ability to think critically or act independently because of emotional, social, or ideological conditioning. For others, their identity is fused with belief, so the person begins to believe that loyalty to a leader or cause is loyalty to themselves. And for most, our fear overrides logic, causing a dangerous dissent that threatens a perceived sense of belonging or safety.
And if you’ve ever had that gut feeling something, or many things right now are “off” — but people around you shrug it off — you’re not alone.
The Cult Checklist (and Trump Checks the Boxes)
In an episode of In Other Words, hosted by a PhD specialist in language, expertly outlined the statistically consistent traits of cult leaders – their mannerisms and speech patterns. The top two characteristics?
- They talk more than anyone else in the room — even if it’s nonsense.
- They weaponize gender and racial dominance — especially white male cultural authority.
Trump’s behavior mirrors these traits precisely. His rallies are long, winding streams of self-praise, grievances, and contradiction. This isn’t a bug — it’s a feature. Disorientation is a control tactic.
According to The Authority Gap by Mary Ann Sieghart, societies often conflate confidence with competence — especially when the speaker is a white man. Cult leaders exploit this dynamic, drowning out reasoned voices and presenting certainty as truth.
“It’s not just political — it’s psychological. It’s spiritual. That’s why it feels so hard to pull away.”
The result is identity fusion — when followers believe they and the leader are one. Threatening him threatens them. And that’s why detaching doesn’t feel like clarity — it feels like death.
The Boiling Frog Effect
The metaphor is simple: throw a frog into boiling water, and it jumps out. Heat it slowly, and it cooks alive. That’s how political erosion works. Not through instant collapse, but through incremental normalization. The shift from democracy to authoritarianism doesn’t arrive with tanks — it comes with distractions, denial, and justifications.
Consider these three stories — not as isolated incidents, but as Boiling Frog Parables for our time:
1. The Veteran Who Voted for Trump Three Times — Then Lost His Wife
David Prine supported Trump with money, votes, and belief. When immigration parole ended under Trump, his Colombian wife — legally in the U.S. and a primary source of support for Prine, a disabled veteran — was detained and denied deportation. She remains separated from her family. Yet Prine cannot admit betrayal.
Boiling Frog Parable 1: “This is the boiling point, but I'm not going to blame my ‘abusive friend’.”
He’s in the pot. And the loyalty he once gave out of love for his country is now weaponized against his own family.
2. Laid Off by the Very Cuts You Voted For
Jennifer Piggott, a Treasury worker, lost her job to “Efficiency Cuts” initiated by Trump and Elon Musk. She voted for him, trusting his promises to protect workers. Now she regrets it.
Boiling Frog Parable 2: “They didn’t think they would lose their job as they were on the ‘right side’.”
It was supposed to be about shrinking government — not shrinking their livelihood. But the illusion doesn’t care who it consumes.
3. Miscarriages Treated Like Crimes
Since Roe was overturned, over 210 women have been prosecuted for pregnancy-related outcomes. Mallori Patrice Strait was jailed five months for “corpse abuse” after miscarrying in a public bathroom. She was innocent — but punished.
Boiling Frog Parable 3: “If a fetus is a life that we choose and is unexpectedly lost, grief then becomes criminal evidence that male lawmakers then boil the women alive.”
This is modern witch-hunting in a different robe — cloaked in “justice,” but echoing centuries of patriarchal fear and control.
(Historically, over 90% of women executed as witches between 1600 and 1900 were widowed, land-owning, or politically independent — and men in power wanted what they had.)
But women — and many men — are no longer willing to play this game of controlled silence.
Those in power are betting that we turn on each other.
But what if we turned to each other instead — and built sustainable communities that outlast the illusion?
How to Know It’s Ego, Not Identity
There’s no shame in being misled. The shame lies in refusing to see, and mistaking ego for integrity. Cult leaders thrive when people confuse loyalty with self-worth.
Signs ego is running the show:
- You can’t stand being wrong
- You demand loyalty in return for belief
- You mistake discomfort as persecution
- You think others gaining rights means you’re losing yours
“Being free doesn’t mean getting your way — it means everyone gets a voice.”
Right now, it’s important to continually ask: Who benefits from my silence? From my loyalty? From my fear?
Why This Isn’t About Left vs. Right — It’s About Waking Up
This isn’t Democrat vs. Republican. This is about reclaiming our inner compass from psychological capture. It’s about waking up from a spell where morality is branded, not lived.
Some are too deep to admit regret. Others are quietly awakening. These people don’t need shame — they need permission to grow.
“Being wrong doesn’t make you a fool. Refusing to see makes you a prisoner.”
And experts are alarmed. According to The Washington Post, scholars who study authoritarianism — from the USSR to Nazi Germany — are leaving the U.S. due to what they describe as “eerily familiar patterns.” These aren’t paranoid people — they’re students of history trying to sound the alarm.
Conclusion: Time to Break the Spell
You can love your country and question your leaders.
You can want safety without hating strangers.
You can change your mind and still have integrity.
“We’re not fighting each other — we’re fighting illusions.”
The water is heating to a boiling point. And the good news?
There’s still time to leap.
How Does a Dictator Rise to Power?
He typically has cult leader-level charisma. But more than that, he knows how to play the game. It starts with severing a society’s ability to see itself clearly — and each other compassionately. This leader fosters distrust not just vertically between citizens and leaders, but horizontally — neighbor against neighbor.
This tactic, called horizontal violence, has been the primary lever of authoritarian regimes for decades, if not centuries. The dictator doesn’t always start with brute force — he starts with division. He knows that when people blame one another, they’ll never think to challenge him.
What makes this especially dangerous in America is the ego trap: if we’ve committed to a leader, especially loudly, it becomes psychologically difficult to let go — even when all evidence shows it’s necessary to let our love for an idol go.
And while generations before us fell under propaganda due to information scarcity, we now suffer from the opposite: an overwhelming sea of information that we emotionally filter based on identity instead of truth.
We aren’t catching on to the “boiling point” because we’re still clinging to the fire that created it. The spectacle has long lost any fun factor and we hardly know what to make of all the chaos.
Do know:
You’re not crazy to feel isolated.
You’re not “intense” for thinking the worst.
You’re witnessing mass psychological capture.
We’re all witnessing the slow loss of ability for groups of people to think critically for themselves. Every single one of us can feel this way on a bad day.
For some, they’re losing the ability to think critically or act independently because of emotional, social, or ideological conditioning. For others, their identity is fused with belief, so the person begins to believe that loyalty to a leader or cause is loyalty to themselves. And for most, our fear overrides logic, causing a dangerous dissent that threatens a perceived sense of belonging or safety.
And if you’ve ever had that gut feeling something, or many things right now are “off” — but people around you shrug it off — you’re not alone.
The Cult Checklist (and Trump Checks the Boxes)
In an episode of In Other Words, hosted by a PhD specialist in language, expertly outlined the statistically consistent traits of cult leaders – their mannerisms and speech patterns. The top two characteristics?
- They talk more than anyone else in the room — even if it’s nonsense.
- They weaponize gender and racial dominance — especially white male cultural authority.
Trump’s behavior mirrors these traits precisely. His rallies are long, winding streams of self-praise, grievances, and contradiction. This isn’t a bug — it’s a feature. Disorientation is a control tactic.
According to The Authority Gap by Mary Ann Sieghart, societies often conflate confidence with competence — especially when the speaker is a white man. Cult leaders exploit this dynamic, drowning out reasoned voices and presenting certainty as truth.
“It’s not just political — it’s psychological. It’s spiritual. That’s why it feels so hard to pull away.”
The result is identity fusion — when followers believe they and the leader are one. Threatening him threatens them. And that’s why detaching doesn’t feel like clarity — it feels like death.
The Boiling Frog Effect
The metaphor is simple: throw a frog into boiling water, and it jumps out. Heat it slowly, and it cooks alive. That’s how political erosion works. Not through instant collapse, but through incremental normalization. The shift from democracy to authoritarianism doesn’t arrive with tanks — it comes with distractions, denial, and justifications.
Consider these three stories — not as isolated incidents, but as Boiling Frog Parables for our time:
1. The Veteran Who Voted for Trump Three Times — Then Lost His Wife
David Prine supported Trump with money, votes, and belief. When immigration parole ended under Trump, his Colombian wife — legally in the U.S. and a primary source of support for Prine, a disabled veteran — was detained and denied deportation. She remains separated from her family. Yet Prine cannot admit betrayal.
Boiling Frog Parable 1: “This is the boiling point, but I'm not going to blame my ‘abusive friend’.”
He’s in the pot. And the loyalty he once gave out of love for his country is now weaponized against his own family.
2. Laid Off by the Very Cuts You Voted For
Jennifer Piggott, a Treasury worker, lost her job to “Efficiency Cuts” initiated by Trump and Elon Musk. She voted for him, trusting his promises to protect workers. Now she regrets it.
Boiling Frog Parable 2: “They didn’t think they would lose their job as they were on the ‘right side’.”
It was supposed to be about shrinking government — not shrinking their livelihood. But the illusion doesn’t care who it consumes.
3. Miscarriages Treated Like Crimes
Since Roe was overturned, over 210 women have been prosecuted for pregnancy-related outcomes. Mallori Patrice Strait was jailed five months for “corpse abuse” after miscarrying in a public bathroom. She was innocent — but punished.
Boiling Frog Parable 3: “If a fetus is a life that we choose and is unexpectedly lost, grief then becomes criminal evidence that male lawmakers then boil the women alive.”
This is modern witch-hunting in a different robe — cloaked in “justice,” but echoing centuries of patriarchal fear and control.
(Historically, over 90% of women executed as witches between 1600 and 1900 were widowed, land-owning, or politically independent — and men in power wanted what they had.)
But women — and many men — are no longer willing to play this game of controlled silence.
Those in power are betting that we turn on each other.
But what if we turned to each other instead — and built sustainable communities that outlast the illusion?
How to Know It’s Ego, Not Identity
There’s no shame in being misled. The shame lies in refusing to see, and mistaking ego for integrity. Cult leaders thrive when people confuse loyalty with self-worth.
Signs ego is running the show:
- You can’t stand being wrong
- You demand loyalty in return for belief
- You mistake discomfort as persecution
- You think others gaining rights means you’re losing yours
“Being free doesn’t mean getting your way — it means everyone gets a voice.”
Right now, it’s important to continually ask: Who benefits from my silence? From my loyalty? From my fear?
Why This Isn’t About Left vs. Right — It’s About Waking Up
This isn’t Democrat vs. Republican. This is about reclaiming our inner compass from psychological capture. It’s about waking up from a spell where morality is branded, not lived.
Some are too deep to admit regret. Others are quietly awakening. These people don’t need shame — they need permission to grow.
“Being wrong doesn’t make you a fool. Refusing to see makes you a prisoner.”
And experts are alarmed. According to The Washington Post, scholars who study authoritarianism — from the USSR to Nazi Germany — are leaving the U.S. due to what they describe as “eerily familiar patterns.” These aren’t paranoid people — they’re students of history trying to sound the alarm.
Conclusion: Time to Break the Spell
You can love your country and question your leaders.
You can want safety without hating strangers.
You can change your mind and still have integrity.
“We’re not fighting each other — we’re fighting illusions.”
The water is heating to a boiling point. And the good news?
There’s still time to leap.
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings