Was America Wired for Authoritarianism from the Start?
Be Bold America!
September 4, 2026 @ 5:00pm (PT)
Since Donald Trump ascended to the presidency, Americans are increasingly concerned about authoritarianism and creeping fascism. Their fears are justified, but according to eminent sociologist and prolific author, Dr. Charles Derber, argues that America was wired for authoritarianism long before the emergence of Trump. In his book, Wired for Authoritarianism: American Oligarchies and How to Re-Wired America for the People, he shows how American institutions have been rigged to serve the elite at the expense of the people.
Elites have long wired US institutions to benefit them at the expense of everyone else. Dr. Derber traces their influence over the Constitution, the courts, and even the culture from the beginning. The rich white men who drafted the Constitution wired it with multiple checks on democracy.
Dr. Derber argues that US history is best understood as a series of corporate regimes. The first occurred after the Civil War when the Robber Barons ushered in the Gilded Age; the second emerged with the rise of global neo-liberal American capitalism beginning with the 1980s Reagan revolution; and the third and current one is driven by Silicon Valley oligarchs and their behemoth companies, such as Nvidia, Microsoft, Apple, Meta, Alphabet, and Tesla. The latest regime has given us the world’s first trillionaire in Elon Musk.
For American democracy to flourish we must build three new systems: a public goods economy and a democratic workplace, a social democracy that builds community and democratic values in schools, families and civil society, and a politics wired for constitutional democracy and the common good.