On the other side of the Rubicon River Donald Trump stands smiling and beckoning all the good citizens of America to abandon their democratic republic and cross over to his empire.

Assaults on the American democratic republic are nothing new. In his Gettysburg Address Abraham Lincoln defined the civil war as a great battle to ensure that, government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

The War of 1812 was an assault by the British on the fledgling American democratic republic. As was the attempt by US industrialists who threatened Franklin D. Roosevelt with marshaling an army to mount an insurrection if he continued to peruse his New Deal plans. Of course the assault on the US Capitol by supporters of Donald Trump was but one more example.

One of the fundamental precepts of American democracy is that, the matter shall be resolved by ballots, not bullets. But democracies very often die by ballots as well. In 1933 the Nazis came to power in Germany through a convoluted parliamentary process but ultimately, through elections.

What is most concerning in the run-up to this momentously consequential presidential election is that many of the Americans who say that they will vote Donald Trump appear to have no idea of what they are voting for. It is not just a man or a vision of governance they are deciding, it is the fate of the constitutional democratic republic.

If the question of, should the constitution be declared invalid and an entirely new form of governance be implemented were on November ballot, it isn’t very likely that very many Americans would vote to suspend the constitution. In fact however that is exactly the question before the American people on 5 November: Shall the American Constitutional democratic republic continue or should a single individual, a monarch like figure be empowered to commandeer the affairs of the entire nation as he alone sees fit?

To understand the dark allure of Donald Trump it is important to understand the reemergence of ethnic nationalism. What might appear at first glance to be an irrational degree of fealty to Donald Trump by his supporters makes more sense when you consider clever use ethnic divisions. It is a primal fear that overshadows political considerations.

These are not political arguments or social strategies they are a means to gain power. At the center of Donald Trump’s world is Donald Trump. His revolution is for him and him alone. When he achieves power those he used to get there will no longer be of use to him and he will throw them away.

Today you have a country. Do not believe that keeping it is guaranteed for an instant. You must sacrifice to preserve this country that you still have. What Donald Trump is saying is, stop putting your faith in your country and put it in me.

A republic or an empire, what say you?