Only about a third of Americans are happy with the way democracy is working, according to a earlier this year.

At the same time, between 30% to 41% of Americans are open to some form of authoritarianism, according to separate surveys from the and . And President Trump himself has Americans might like a dictator.

Against this backdrop, KPBS spoke to two San Diego men about what it’s like to live in an autocracy.

The first man, who wished to remain anonymous because of his job, is a local university professor. He grew up in Saudi Arabia. He said when he went there as a child with his family, the Saudi government confiscated their passports. They couldn’t come and go without notifying the government first. And it was understood that the government’s hospitality could be revoked at any time

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