When Fact Meets Fiction

Introduction

In today’s political landscape, the battle over historical memory and cultural identity is more than ideological—it’s strategic. The Trump administration’s efforts to erase Black history, restore Confederate monuments, and dismantle diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives have sparked intense debate. But when we examine these actions through two distinct lenses—one rooted in political science and the other in dystopian fiction—we uncover a deeper logic of power preservation and moral erosion. This post explores how The Dictator’s Handbook and The Obsolete Man illuminate the calculated nature of these cultural maneuvers.

The Dictator’s Handbook_: Power Over Principle

Bruce Bueno de Mesquita and Alastair Smith’s The Dictator’s Handbook reveals how authoritarian leaders maintain power by rewarding a small group of loyal supporters, suppressing dissent, and manipulating ideology to serve their interests. Public goods and moral governance are secondary to political survival. In this framework, historical revisionism and symbolic gestures—like restoring Confederate monuments—are not ideological anomalies but strategic moves to reinforce loyalty and control public perception.

The Obsolete Man_: Fictional Truths About Authoritarianism

Rod Serling’s The Obsolete Man, a classic episode of The Twilight Zone, presents a dystopian regime that declares individuals obsolete based on their ideological nonconformity. A librarian named Romney Wordsworth is sentenced to death for believing in God and preserving knowledge—acts deemed dangerous to the state. The episode dramatizes how authoritarian systems suppress truth, erase cultural memory, and punish moral resistance, all while cloaking their actions in the language of order and progress.

Strategic Erasure and Symbolic Control

The Trump administration’s efforts to erase Black history, restore Confederate symbolism, and dismantle DEI initiatives can be understood through two complementary lenses: the factual analysis of The Dictator’s Handbook and the fictional allegory of The Obsolete Man. From the perspective of The Dictator’s Handbook, these actions are strategic moves to reward a loyal coalition, suppress dissenting narratives, and consolidate power—tactics rooted in the logic of political survival rather than ideology. Viewed through The Obsolete Man, these same actions reflect a regime’s attempt to declare inconvenient truths and moral voices “obsolete,” replacing knowledge and cultural memory with state-sanctioned distortion. Together, these lenses reveal a calculated campaign not just to control policy, but to dominate perception, rewrite identity, and punish resistance—where truth becomes expendable and symbolic power becomes a weapon of control.

Call to Action: Defend Truth, Preserve Memory

Understanding the intersection of fact and fiction helps us recognize the deeper strategies behind cultural erasure. It’s not enough to debate policy—we must defend truth, preserve historical memory, and resist symbolic domination. Whether through education, activism, or storytelling, we must ensure that the voices deemed “obsolete” by power remain heard, remembered, and honored.

About the Author

Daryl Horton is a technical and creative writer who is passionate about being creative. He has comprehensive training in business information management, information systems management, and creative and technical writing. Daryl has the knowledge and skills to help organizations optimize their performance and maximize their potential. He spent several years in a Knowledge Management PhD program at Walden University, nearly completing it, but resigned from the program during his dissertation phase to pursue his passion for creativity (http://www.abolitic.com/). Despite his love for creativity, he often finds himself participating in groups where his technical experiences add value.

You can find more information about Daryl Horton on his LinkedIn page at https://www.linkedin.com/in/darylhorton/.