You’re right on point. Where the similarity to the US and 1930s Germany comes into play is with perception. In real terms the United States is miles ahead of Germany at that time, but not so much in perception.

If you worked in mid twentieth century America when US manufacturing was king of the world and any high school graduate could get a good paying job, Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan makes sense.

Moreover, 30 years of right-wing media relentlessly saying how terrible is Washington and the Federal Government has taken its toll on truth and politics. And in politics, as I’m sure you well know, perception is everything.

So the skids were greased for a demagog like Trump to successfully make his move pretty much using Hitler’s playbook. Now add to that the ever-increasing speed of social and technological change and an ever-growing world population that global warming and war is causing peoples of one culture to massively spill into peoples of another, firing up deep-seated tribal impulses, I fear you will see the decline of democracy arround the world. Perhaps we will see the rise of the corporate state lead by Trump and Putin.