THE END OF AMERICA: The Police State Is Right Here, Right Now

A review of Naomi Wolf's "End Of America" and commentary on current repression of American society

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From THE END OF AMERICA: The Police State is Right Here, Right Now

In the "10 easy steps" outlined by Wolf, countries move from open to closed and repressive societies by devolving past certain markers, and Wolf makes a powerful case for the way in which the United States is following a similar pattern without any significant deviation. In each instance she compares and contrasts how America's adherence to the pattern compares or contrasts with the pattern in pre-World War II Germany. The 10 steps are:

• Invoking an external and internal threat
  
• Establishing secret prisons
  
• Developing a paramilitary force
  
• Surveiling ordinary citizens
  
• Infiltrating citizens' groups
  
• Arbitrarily detaining and releasing citizens
  
• Targeting key individuals
  
• Restricting the press
  
• Casting criticism as "espionage" and dissent as "treason"
  
• Subverting the rule of law