Gleichschaltung

The German language has a way of boiling complex concepts down to a single word. For example, the word: Gleichschaltung. The definition is:

... the act, process, or policy of achieving rigid and total coordination and uniformity (as in politics, culture, communication) by forcibly repressing or eliminating independence and freedom of thought, action, or expression : forced reduction to a common level : forced standardization or assimilation

For the past decade, the hard Left, followed by the many progressives who are social justice warriors, and a majority of Democrats have encouraged (occasionally with violence: think Antifa) gleichschaltung.

It really makes little difference whether an independent thinker questions the necessity of big intrusive government solutions, or the compelling need to redistribute income, or the growing demand for government controlled healthcare, or the shouts that socialism is preferable to capitalism, or the moral imperative of open borders and unrestricted immigration, or the notion that minorities are "victims" of "white privilege" and therefore absolved of responsibility for their own lives, or the dictates of identity politics, or the contention that all men are misogynists, or ... you know the rest.

Those who have adopted those views demand gleichschaltung. So much so, in fact, that people who suggest alternative views are often shouted down or demonized. Free speech? Nah, if you question the catechism of the Left, you're a neo-nazi, white supremacism, anti-immigrant, racist, misogynist, bigoted DEPLORABLE!

The big question for our country as we move forward is whether the Left's adoption of gleichschaltung will achieve "rigid and total coordination and uniformity" or whether we remain a vibrant democracy with opposing views, yet an overall set of goals that lead to better lives for all of us.