The author and political commentator will be visiting Oakland University April 2 to talk about her latest book, “The End of America.”

Wolf calls her book a “basic call to awareness” about the state of politics in America and discussed how our personal freedom is slowly being taken away from us.

She details in the book 10 things that dictators have done in the past to eliminate democracy, from Hitler’s Germany to Stalin’s Russia. Wolf also makes a case that modern Americans are seeing examples of those 10 things from the Bush administration.

“It’s a scary thing,” said Wolf. “Slowly and systematically our rights are being taken away.”

She stated that we, as citizens, have to recognize these signs and be proactive about keeping our liberties.

The first step toward encroachment of liberty, according to Wolf, is a terrifying internal or external threat, whether it be real or imagined.

She gave terrorism and the threat of weapons of mass destruction as examples, comparing them to the issue of insurgents in Stalin’s administration.

“One sign of eroding liberty today is legalized torture and illegal prison systems,” said Wolf, highlighting the second sign to watch out for.

The controversy over Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay, as well as the closed trials held for terror suspects, are ways Wolf ties that sign to modern America.

“The State department bypassing Congress is troubling,” she said, noting its use of controversial surveillance apparatuses.

According to Wolf, the last step in the process is declaring martial law, but it will take many small encroachments on our liberty to end up there, she emphasized.

Another sign to look out for, according to Wolf, is violence against political dissidents. She gave the example of the student who was subdued by a Taserâ„¢ in Florida after asking Sen. John Kerry a question.

What does she hope to accomplish with the book, and what does she think will save America?

“Student activism and student protest are staples of democracy,” she said, urging students to get involved in the political process.

“As these trends continue, it will be scary or dangerous for citizens to assemble,” she said.

Wolf said that rights of privacy have been trampled, and that the government has access to every facet of citizens’ lives, including the use of warrantless wiretaps.

She included that campus life is a microcosm of what is going on in the country as a whole. As the government is putting pressure on citizens, so too is it putting pressure on professors and students.

In her next book, Wolf plans to detail what needs to be done to reverse this trend.

“What we need in the short term is a democracy movement,” she said, saying students like those at OU are a vital part of the democratic process.

For more information about Wolf and her views, go to www.americanfreedomcapaign.org.