I often joke that my hobbies are shared with “really old people” or “conspiracy theorists.” This is because my top three hobbies are: Politics, Planespotting, and watching documentaries on a variety of subjects – namely sociopolitical and World War II/The Holocaust.
I say “We’ve seen this before” because it only took the Nazi party 53 days to take over Germany. Right now, we are seeing the beginning of a fascist regime in the US. I am not being hyperbolic either. I have watched easily over 100 documentaries about how Nazi Germany became Nazi Germany – and read twice as many books, articles, and textbooks about the same subject.
Reforming the Federal Hiring Process and Restoring Merit to Government Service
Take “Reforming the Federal Hiring Process and Restoring Merit to Government Service” Executive Order signed 20 Jan 2025. Face value: It stressed the need to revamp the recruitment and hiring processes, sets forth a “Federal Hiring Plan” which will improve the process and reduce time-to-hire and increase communication with candidates while utilizing modern tech, and then calls for accountability with metrics and agency evaluations to asses the reforms. Sounds good right?
Well, let’s look at how it can be used against the US citizens applying for these positions in the Fed.
How This Hurts the US Citizens
The policy may emphasize merit and constitutional commitment but the prohibition on considering race, sex, or religion could lead to a lack of diversity – which is what the people in power want. White. Christian. Men. This means the exclusion of qualified individuals from minority groups (women, BIPOC, any religion not Chrisitan) and could reduce the representation of the population – which the government is supposed to serve.
There is the potential for political bias – meaning while on its face, “upholding American ideals and values” sounds good, it is dependent on the interpretation of “American ideals.” In many of the Republicans that are currently in power (MTG, Lauren Boebert, Mike Johnson, JD Vance) their ideals are not like the ideals that America is supposed to support (big ol’ melting pots of culture and ethnicities). It means that if you are like myself, and you see America as a melting pot and it is a better nation because of that, you may not get the job… even if you are a White Christian Male.
The exclusion of gender identity (which is not the same as biological sex), the policy fails to recognize the complexity of identities, especially with those who do not fall into the “traditional” categories of gender/sexuality. Meaning: LGBT+ people can and will be discriminated against… even if they are the most qualified for the job.
We learned in our schools about segregation and how the POC in the past were discriminated against (i.e. Jim Crow laws). Now, this executive order (EO) has an emphasis on eliminating “impermissible” factors, like race and gender identity, and focusing on these things that people cannot help as “ignoring systematic inequalities” these groups may face more barriers to entry into federal employment – just reverting us back to the 50s-60s.
Now, discussing “accountability,” the plan included elements aimed at improving communication and accountability – the implementation of policies could be poorly managed or opaque. This could lead to inefficiencies or potential abuse in the hiring process. If performance metrics are not clear or are selectively applied, the hiring decisions may not align with the needs of the public.
What does this mean for public trust? The public can perceive the hiring process of being manipulated to favor certain political ideologies (like the Nick Feuentes flavored “America First” ideas) or exclude certain groups (anyone not white, male or Christian) further eroding what little trust in the Federal Government the people may have. And as it is in the past, a government without representing all its citizens has gone so well.
Yeah, But This Totally Isn’t Similar to Nazi Germany
Isn’t is? I cannot express how many policies and decrees were signed by Adolf Hitler and the Nazi regime that targeted various groups of people on the basis of religion, race, and political ideology, which are conceptually similar to some aspects of the EO mentioned above.
The Nuremberg Laws of 1935 (and similar) systematically marginalized Jews, Romani, disabled people, and other minorities from various public and professional sectors – including those in the government – but declared them “undesirable” based on their backgrounds. These laws specifically barred Jews from holding public office or working in certain professions under the notion of “purity” and loyalty to the Nazi state.
Looking at a specific law, the “Law for Restoration of the Professional Civil Service” of 1933 excluded Jews, political opponents, and anyone considered to have “un-German” qualities from working in government positions… oh.. wait a second. That has a similar title to this particular EO. “Reforming the Federal Hiring Process and Restoring Merit to Government Service” and “Law of Restoration of Professional Civil Service” sound awfully lot alike.
This particular Nazi law was done under the guise of promoting the “loyalty” of civil servants to the Nazi state and ensuring those who adhered to the ideology were employed.
Now, again, at face value, the US President’s EO does not call for the call of exclusions or harm of specific groups in the same manner that Nazis did – it is still calling for idealogical loyalty to justify discrimination. The Nazi regime was also accompanied by brutal repression (though it could be argued that transgender and LGBT+ rights and women’s rights being stripped away is a form of this), violence (ICE raids can be considered violent in many cases), and genocide (RFK has called for those “dependent” on medication to be put in “wellness camps”).
Where Are We
As of writing this, we are about 1 week into the Trump presidency. SO far, he’s signed about 20 EOs and all of them have taken power and safety away from anyone who is not a white, Christian, heterosexual male person.
On top of that, he has authorized the ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) to go into schools and churches, places where anyone should be safe to be. In my state of Oklahoma, the Superintendent of School, Ryan Walters, has signed that you must show your documents to make sure a student is a citizen or has undocumented parents.
He has determined that Guantanamo Bay (Gitmo) is to have an additional 30 thousand beds for the migrants he plans on rounding up. We’ve seen this before. The documentation of “undesirable” people and moving them to camps.
Criminals will no longer be able to hide in America’s schools and churches to avoid arrest. The Trump Administration will not tie the hands of our brave law enforcement, and instead trusts them to use common sense. – Department of Homeland Security
Knowing your rights is going to be very important in this matter as if ICE does not have a judicial warrant, they cannot senter church building or faith community buildings – all houses of worship.
ICE has already started with raids and US citizens have been caught up in them. In New Jersey, citizens were rounded up, fingerprinted, and taken pictures of them and their IDs – all without a warrant. The Mayor, Ras Baraka, was “appalled, upset, angry that this would happen here in this state, in this country, that this would be allowed.”
ICE are not supposed to go into nonpublic areas of a business without the express permission of the owner or a valid warrant – they did not do that here. They entered through a backdoor with no warrant. That’s illegal. But when you work for a fascist, I guess it isn’t.
What’s even more disgusting is that one of the US citizens was a Puerto Rican military veteran. In case you may be unaware like the ICE officials and our… President, Puerto Rico is a territory of the United States. It is not a state, but it is an annexed territory, and it has been so since 18 October 1898, with the end of the Spanish-American War. In 1952, Congress approved its constitution and formally recognized The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. So this veteran, who served in our military, is a US citizen.
We’ve seen this before. Hundreds of people were rounded up in raids, and taken from schools, churches, homes… all so these people feel fear. Soon, neighbor begins to report neighbor or any indiscretion.
I am not trying to fearmonger here. These agents of ICE, according to employees, were “heavily armed” and entered with no prior announcement, blocked off entrances, exits, and delivery ramps.
The countries that the administration is shipping these people to are fighting back. They want their people to be treated humanely. The Colombian government is sending its military planes and telling our government not to shackle the people at their hands and feet. Guatemalan Migration Institute, a government office in Guatemala, wrote in a news release that 80 Guatemalans returned: 79 were adults, 31 were women, 48 were men, and 1 unaccompanied minor. That means a minor was rounded up and their parents were not present. Minor meaning child. Under the age of 18.
Why Am I Bringing Attention to This?
Simple. I am scared for the people who live in this country. In the next week, I will be discussing the DC Plane Crash, Women’s Rights, and how we are on a crash course to fascism in a way that America has never seen before. All of this was shown in Project 2025 – the mandate that Trump said he was unaware of nor had any part of.
As an LGBT+ woman, I am scared. For my friends. My family. Myself. MY only saving grace is the fact that my partner wants me to be an individual.
If this is only the beginning, we’re in for a hell of a ride.