Stairway to Tyranny

Sound Bite

When did this creeping tilt toward fascism, totalitarianism, come from? More and more Americans recognize a corporate stranglehold on the economy; collusion between Washington and the bankers/businesses; laws that take private property away from hard-working families and individuals for the benefit of those at the top...

But it's nothing new! This defeat of the individual and the spirit of enterprise began prior to 1862; it was accelerated under Lincoln, a corporate agent. Wilson allowed the creation of the Federal Reserve Bank, Reagan further empowered the corporations, and Bush gave us the Patriot Act.

About the Book

Stairway to Tyranny reviews the historical precedents that show how we are being set up for an authoritarian take-over, and it calls for all citizens to work together to stop it in its tracks. Today, it’s clear that the increasing influence of corporations and their prioritization of profit over public interest has undermined regulations protecting workers, the environment, and public health. This unchecked power has shifted governance from democratic institutions to corporate elites. But when did all this begin?

The school system and corporate media have distorted our image of US history, so that we misread the signs that indicate the danger. Every major issue has been condensed into an emotional distraction for the purpose of concealing the facts. We have a corporate stranglehold on the economy; collusion between Washington and the bankers/businesses; laws that take private property away from hard-working families and individuals for the benefit of those at the top...Are we walking right into the trap?

Dowless examines the rise of corporate power, authoritarianism, and economic inequality, offering insights into their impact on global governance and individual liberties. Trade agreements like NAFTA and TPP have eroded national sovereignty, empowering multinational corporations and limiting governments’ ability to protect citizens. Authority is being concentrated, our liberties are chipped away, and what little wealth we manage to scrape together is confiscated on more and more flimsy pretexts. The privately-held resource base that was supposed to be the bedrock of this country is being taken away, and the average citizen is turned into a feudal serf, a debt-slave, subservient to a central bank and the corporations it finances.

Stairway to Tyranny traces the defeat of individual enterprise back to the de facto central bank of New York, and the corporations that have grown up around it. Lincoln started the War against the South to support that bank and the corporations. Forty years after World War II, the checks and balances on the corporations were removed in Reagan's plan of deregulation.

Twenty years after that, 9/11 provided the excuse for passing the Patriot Act, which removed the checks and balances preventing the president from placing himself in the position of absolute authority. By Trump’s second term, 25 years later, we actually have a president who thinks he’s Emperor of the World. Here we stand on the threshold of the unthinkable, and it has materialized right before our eyes.