While we are digging out from hurricane Michael and 5 days of no electric power, no internet, etc., in Greensboro, NC, Fascism continues to creep along in America.
The frog is boiling. ---- Turn down the temp on Nov 6th . . .
26
NYT, you've had some serious derelictions of journalistic duty lately...but this is not one of them. This is a straightforward piece about an honest-to-God national and global emergency -- and better yet, one that is willing to actually, accurately name the beast. More of this, please, and fewer puff pieces on dapper white supremacists.
33
There will always be those groups that wish to promote hatred. I have seen no real evidence that ties the president to any fascist group. Many times the media publishes stories like this because fear sells and if the particular media favors a certain party then they are likely to print these stories especially around election times
4
What are we talking about when we say Fascism. It's well recorded that Nazi Germany was not indeed fascist. Are you talking about authoritarianism? that social structure exists in both communist, socialist, totalitarian dictatorships, and several other ideological regimes. I'm starting to feel as if the term fascism is out moded. It's misapplication indeed represents a form of ignorance which is popular, buzzworthy, and intentionally misinformed in motivation. A platitude of intentional negative misapplication. This word fascism has no mores meaning and really from its inception was a variant on socialst economic policy. Let's just stop already.
6
I’m reading a detailed current tome on the ascent of Hitler and it is amazing how many times the familiar names of that era’s Nazis could so easily be substituted with those of Trump and his cabinet.
Just this morning, I watched a Secret Service agent go beyond protecting the safety of Jared Kushner to actually put his hand over the camera of an inquiring CBS reporter. Is this the Secret Service or the SA?
Fascism may already be here, my friends.
36
Fascism and Socialism both lead to murderous totalitarian abuses. At least the fascists have the good taste to remain in the shadows for the moment, ashamed. The socialists are reveling in their resplendent public reemergence and proudly proclaiming themselves from the rooftops. Given the current public displays of affiliation, evidence suggests that we will arrive at the Red killing fields long before we have a jackboot at our throats.
3
I've been ringing this bell for two years. These threats are becoming more concrete every day. And still so many Americans are blind.
Incredibly, so many American Jews are blind to the danger.
29
The video and author deliver an important message. However, use of staged iconography (eg Trump as Hitler) only cheapens the importance regarding the value of democratic principles and the necessity of moral leadership.
While our current president seems to have characteristics of past fascist leaders—and is often morally void— he is not a fascist. Our electoral system, independent branches of government and underlying freedom is vastly different than those of Germany, Italy and Russia in early to mid 20th century, and while its vitally important to understand world history and its relative dangers to us regarding the current global political landscapes, its also important to understand ALL of the intricacies. For example, the events surrounding the rise of Marxist rule and Stalinism that emerged out of seemingly “savior” i.e. liberal type movements lead to devastating consequences. As well, suppression of free speech and the divisive practice of demonizing those with different views leads to the kind of society and “governments” to avoid. I agree, its alarming that some of this is happening here— but its not limited to one political group by any means. This president is not setting the example— and its fueling fires that may have existed. But we can vote, right?
The US may be many things— plutocracy, flawed democracy.... but we are not on the verge of fascism. By recognizing the dangers, remaining free and respecting our unalienable rights won’t allow it.
3
Recently the NYT exposed Trump's lie of "The Self-made Man". With this article, the Times has called him out for the fascist he is. Apparently this has touched a nerve judging by the vehemence of all his enablers, sycophants, and plain old contrarians who have come out of the woodwork to defend him with their pseudo- scholarly, what-aboutitis nitpicking arguments. Now we have an American journalist murdered in a despotic country and Trump jumps in to defend its ruthless king. "No evidence that the Saudis were responsible!" cries the great man in defense of his fellow tyrant. What difference does it make if Trump is "technically" a fascist. Our so-called checks and balances become weaker all the time. The SCOTUS Citizens United decision practically gave away the country to the corporations; the recent tax cuts gave away even more. The appointment of the extremist justice Kavanaugh who supports greater executive power is yet another threat to democracy. The real test will come if an American journalist is murdered in THIS country. What will bully boy do then?
25
Strange that the left with it's Jewish roots, never complains about it's entrenchment in heretofore Christian institutions; strange that they never complain about the traditions and values which they corrupt intentionally for political purposes. No alarm about that.
As we see Christian values slipping away thru the sometimes necessary, sometimes accurate but always meant to abscond with political power--we the average American become alarmed--to wit, somebody like Trump lashes back at the leftist leanings which we don't necessarily agree with; is the left alarmed, particularly the Jewish left? Of course, because they know this game is about power. That is their goal. Absolute power rules absolutely.
2
Many authors have pointed toward this. George Orwell,Sinclair Lewis, to name a few. How many people have actually read them? I hear people quoting from 1984 but they have little knowledge of fascism. Lewis’ It Can’t Happen Here was prescient to what is happening today. We are falling the test and Trump is counting on that. Let’s see how many people actually vote in 20 days. Police harassment of minorities has increased. We have internment camps for refugees. The rich are much richer and the poor,poorer. We have an ignorant,foul mouthed president who has decimated the EPA and many other Cabinets by his unqualified appointees. Trump denigrates the FBI, causing us to lose faith it it. How will this end. Badly, I fear.
24
Personally, I am more worried and concerned that those on the left have made any civil discussion nearly impossible. By labeling anyone they disagree with as ‘racist’, ‘homophobic’, ‘sexist’, ‘white privilege’ and worse, they have basically shut down any dialogue. Those on the left will jump thru hoops to show sensitivity to certain minorities but will utter the most derogatory and evil statements about those who just happen to have conservative opinions. When conservative speakers are forced to make a quick escape from American campuses because they’ve been shouted down by student mobs, we ALL have much to fear. The only conclusion I can come to is that many of these people on the left would be quite happy living in a one political party nation....as long as that party is Democrat, progressive and liberal.
8
My 10th-grade students just began reading 1984. One of Orwell's significant artistic choices appears on page 3: "This, he thought with a sort of vague distaste--this was London." Why London? Why not Moscow or Leningrad? My hunch is that Orwell knew well that fascism was not a unique feature of some foreign ideology, but rather a natural product of the human will to power. While our system of government was designed to check this will, we can see its institutions stretching and changing (packing the courts, gerrymandering, purging voters, etc.). We have a moral responsibility to respond, and (fortunately) a unique opportunity to do so this November.
12
And if you’re not scared about Stalinism, you should be. Let’s face it, repressive left wing governments have had more staying power than those on the right.
6
@Daniel not likely, my friend. Not with the power hungry, unhinged, psychotic, authoritarian GOP strongmen at the helm. But sure, focus on the left if it makes you feel better. Or Hillary’s emails.
7
You are the people we have to worry about. Dictator left or right is bad. There’s no “better” Dictator.
9
So, being opposed to Trump and his incipient fascism makes you a Stalinist? Even the most exuberant "social Democrat" - which I am not - is still a much further cry from Stalinism than Trump's authoritarianism is from fascism. When I watch his rallies what I see are brown shirts in training.
1
Trump, the Republicans and many Democrats are just the vehicle. The driver is the corporate highjacking of our democracy and that has been brewing for decades, right under our noses. We're closer to a Fascist Oligarchy than when this blog was written 4 years ago. It's just becoming more apparent now.
https://extinctverse.wordpress.com/2014/04/26/is-the-united-states-a-fas...
16
The Death of Democracy: Hitlers’s rise to power and the death of the Weimar Republic by Benjamin Carter Hett.
How Propaganda works by Jason Stanley.
These two books will convince you of Stanley’s assertions.
I am concerned that the Donkeys will not get control of the House in the midterms. If they do, Trump will be stymied. If they do not, Trump will again have both Houses of Congress plus the Supreme Court. Watch out.
22
@DENOTE MORDANT it’s horrifying. And if he wins in 2020, what then? This isn’t the country I was raised in; we are tolerating insanity, bullying, nonstop LYING and Trump’s supporters are, truly, the lowest of the low. The worst of humankind.
9
The US empire has already worn a fascist boot for decades. It's now time to put the other one on.
2
@Dora Minor, Let’s not.
8
Some of the comments here remind me of the Jews in Germany who were adamant that tales of gas chambers were absurd.
20
The word “fascism” has many definitions. The definitions have evolved over time since Benito Mussolini coined the term just over a century ago. By the criteria of some of those definitions, the US already qualifies as a fascist regime and has for quite some time.
Mussolini most simply described the underlying philosophy of fascism as “…everything in the state, nothing against the State, nothing outside the state.” The tendency in the US to conflate all imperatives of morality and ethics with subjects for law and regulation is a dangerous symptom of fascist thinking which is widespread on both the left and the right. It has led us almost to the point of the totalitarian ant-hill in TH White’s Once and Future King, in which everything not forbidden is compulsory.
Umberto Eco, who grew up in fascist Italy under Mussolini, towards the end of his long and incredibly productive life, in a comprehensive and coherent 1995 essay, formulated fourteen characteristics of fascism. By my estimate, the US government met thirteen of those criteria before Trump was elected.
https://consistentprinciples.wordpress.com/2018/02/15/is-the-face-of-fas...
2
Umberto Eco (who grew up in Mussolini’s Italy) has written down the 14 characteristics of the original fascism. Many of these characteristics can be identified in Trump, Trump‘s policy, and his vocabulary. Examples: everything around his ‚fake news‘ communication or his irrationalism.
Right from the beginning, Hitler communicated very clearly what will happen - but the generation of my ancestors did not hear or they did not want to hear until it was too late. Hopefully you do not commit the same error and listen and observe carefully, what is actually happening in your country.
25
It is happening now in NM, with billionaire money infecting even very local small town races - just to get the politically naive public used to the boot.
9
Totally on spot for what my friends, family and I think is happening. This movement is insidious and worrisome but we are not cowed by it. Excellent video.
14
We're in trouble unless we vote it out Nov 6. Please vote to bring back sanity, freedom, and democracy to the the United States. Create the Blue Wave Nov 6.
25
This paper positions it self as a beacon of free press but behaves as an echo chamber and flagship of a narrow partisan views of the editorial clique... Freedom of expression on these comments or in the paper in general is almost nonexistent as well a complete hypocrisy since unless it is within the prescribed philosophy will not be published...
World had that... in Folkisher Beobachter... a blatter that was able by it's contributing "philosophers" to justify just about anything including genocide... which, hallelujah, so far is missing... though cultural, class and partisan intolerance is very much in context of this article or overall leaning of this paper... as well as shameless support of the screeching shrieking lynching mob demanding satisfaction to all the unsubstantiated claims of all male misbehavior ever upon one...
So, mirror is in order for this paper, known in the past for great content and evenhanded approach but resorting to publishing extremely twisted partisan views of the few to whip up rage in the crowd of sycophants ... :(/
Sad...
6
An echo chamber? Not only do you echo on and on in Trumpian style, but how do you end your fact-free tale? Sad!! That's straight outta the POTUS Playbook. How many of his Tweets & rants has he ended with Sad? Sad.
12
@Jack You are obviously it Trump supporter and that is a sad thing. It is sad because Trump is incompetent, stupid, and completely out of touch with reality. He believes there's anything he says is fact and what he says something that isn't fact, he'll say something even stupider to prove that it is a fact. The rest of the world is laughing at Trump and the people voted for him, including some of those who didn't, and the rest are wondering how such an idiot could be elected President. The rest are wondering what kind of education a person as who was going to believe anything Trump says, and believe he is good for this country. It is true that the majority of people with only a high school education from the ages of 18 to 35 voted for Trump, but what does that say? It is obvious that this age group does not understand what his policies will to this country in terms of bringing down from its already "Great" status to something less than that. You are from Texas, which says it all, pretty much. I'm sorry you don't or can't appreciate the video; or is it you can't understand it, I don't know. Nevertheless, I'm hoping that in the future, you might discover just how bad for United States Trump really is.
9
@Jackare’nt you describing your own tribe?that,s where we are now thanks to your acceptance of dt
6
Never realized I was such a big fan of facism......
Record low unemployment, record high property values and stock market. Making more money than I ever have.....
Yup, this is the form of government for me.
NYT- please, complain about something that’s not working.
11
@Crossing Overhead
Mussolini made the trains run on time.
16
@Crossing Overhead But at what cost?
11
@Crossing Overhead. You make good points. However, the top is still widening the income gap, our schools are not working, the environment is still going down hill, the middle class is still disappearing, many Americans have been left behind and the budget deficits will reach a trillion a year to name a few things that could stand " being made great again". I don't think trump is satan as many commenters seem to imply, but he could sure take this moment to at least attempt to do a little more public good with the things that are currently going well.
10
Trump so obviously has studied Mussolini--his stance, his wording. Check out the chin action when he rants, then go to youtube and watch Il Duce. Twinning!
11
@massimin The air accordion is what really drives it home.
5
@Steve Griffith. Good one. Hadn't heard that phrase before.
@Steve Griffith I can’t stand to watch his little Lawrence Welk routine with his squinty, lying eyes with the white rings from the tanning goggles and those pursed, arrogant lips, the hunched, fat man shoulders in the sleazy, boxy, channeling Guido Sarducci suits. He’s repellent to all things beautiful and decent and good. Can we bring classy back? Please?
What an extraordinary video, why not call it 'Biased, Qui Moi?' After a barrage of Hitler, Mussolini images and Trump in fascist drag. I waited and waited for an image of the left on one of their what is politely called a demo' but when viewed up close is a hate filled mob. Apart from imagery you are employing language and whoever or whatever controls language also controls thought, so you control language in your video, so is the language in your video is fascist? As to the fascist regalia and the portrayal of a pagan religion of ancestor worship, the Globalists, for their part, push and equally 'pagan' philosophy that the world is one, so no borders. How then Blake's Jerusalem, Holst's I Vow to Thee My Country, Rule Britannia, Bach Cantatas, National anthems which when sung swells the heart, are they all fascistic? Discuss. Witness the current voting patterns in Austria, Poland, Hungary, Italy, Brazil, UK et al, on rejecting the leftist mantra, by doing so are they all fascist? Discuss
Is the idea of patriotism, self-identification with the heroism of ancestors in wars you didn’t fight in, the oneness of land and people, the 'holiness' of flags and symbols and colours,
the special sanctity of certain tombs and landmarks, the rites of pilgrimage to sites hallowed by the past presence of mythologised characters in a national story,
the sense of belonging in a landscape and the fear of defilement are all these things fascistic. Discuss! I can't wait.
4
Before Trump was elected and was in all the headlines, all of this was being mentioned by commenters on this site and others. And they were castigated, especially those who drew comparisons to the rise of Hitler and the Nazi's. A huge Jewish block of voters fell for the Trump line because of his promise to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel (why is the US involved in other country's decisions anyway?).
Americans are a proud people...but our pride and our "patriotism" often gets in the way of our education, and we are self absorbed enough that we think the bad things can't happen to us. Only a small percentage of us bother with the history of other countries. We generally think it has nothing to do with us. However, as George Santayana so aptly pointed out, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." With the dumbing down of America and the limited funds assigned to education, we do not learn lessons from history.
That being said, we are now involved in a bloodless coup...much like the ones that put these dictator into power. The blood got spilled later.
Wake up, America. It is your blood and your values that will be sacrificed to the gods of greed and power.
17
I am duly frightened!
1
When Trump says "Make America Great Again," he actually means make America white again. A majority of whites, both men and women, voted for Trump. Trump, as any good fascist, knows that race will trump all. I'm afraid that the blue wave will not happen this November. Fascism is already here.
13
@Paul. And what does the left say? White people are evil incarnate. They've done all the terrible things the world has seen. The only way to address this is to flood country with anyone and everyone, as long as they're not white. The fact is, as horrible as the left says this country is, it remains, hands down the preferred destination of most people on earth.
5
It is precisely because the Liberal media like the Times only "sounds the alarm". It does not properly educate and I would argue it is all part of the plan of indoctrination of americans to make bombs without question.
If you spoke to me you would paint me as a far Left loony Liberal - I get mocked and laughed at while the far-right fascist Republicans (all of them are, this is where you are wrong) are shown in a gleaming light.
Either the 4th estate stops with the false equivalences or america is fascist, there is no other option.
1
I don't know if trump is brining fascism to America, but he is doing something that appears to be driving the left and much of the right crazy. He's beating them at their own game. The lies, half truths distortions and failures of the major parties have been swept aside by a guy that seems to not have any rules and doesn't use their play book and makes up his own world and shoves it down their collective throats. Trump isn't Hitler second coming he is the result of the utter failure of both parties in this country to address the problems regular people face every day.
7
Trump even looks like Mussolini. Things didn’t turn out for Il Duce, did they?
3
Fascism comes on little Fox feet.
118
@Peggy Sapphire
Wow, Peggy! This needs to be a bumper sticker! A whole series of them: Incitement comes, propaganda comes, lies come... all on little Fox feet.
Thank you!
6
@Ambient Kestrel Thank you, Ambient Kestrel! I'd love to make that happen!
@Peggy Sapphire
Contact the folks at northernsun.com - stickers, teeshirts, etc, most political or thoughtful - and they consider submissions, or will give you a price for a certain number. Good luck!
You cannot have a democracy without an educated electorate. If you seriously undermine the public school system, allow massive quantities of drugs into specific communities to undermine and mollify the electorate, gerrymander electoral districts, feed the population propaganda in lieu of objective unbiased reporting. create super delegates so a specific candidate can win a primary, you have american style fascism. The greatest threat to our democracy has never been communism but fascism. This has been going on since the 1930s in this country and we are finally seeing the end result.
50
@Angela. I'm thinking its corporatism and shady money buying off the so-called leaders.
5
An exaggeration? Trump is a straight up fascist. Anyone who doesn't see it is either profiting from it, isn't paying attention, or is fascist too. His fascism is laid out for all to see - he never even attempts to hide it. The next fascist in the White House won't be so bumbling and inept, which is what really worries me.
64
Trump fawns over the world's dictators and insults our democratic allies. That obviously shows where his sentiments lie.
10
If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then to a reasonably probabilistic level of certainty it’s a duck.
44
When I (a Boomer) was born, World War II was a recent memory for the vast majority of Americans. We watched endless WWII documentaries (like "Victory at Sea") and serialized TV shows ("Twelve O'clock High", "Combat!", etc.). WWII was a constant presence in our culture, media and memories shared (always reluctantly) by our parents and grandparents who'd just lived through it.
And with all this immersion in WWII imagery, almost all of us Boomers eventually saw the indelible clips of the infamous, torch-lit, 1930s Nuremberg rallies. We didn't understand the German language, but the bellowing sound of Hitler's rage-filled voice and the inflamed faces of the crowds (expressing both anger and adulation in equal measures) required no translation.
Anyone who's seen these film clips of the Nuremberg rallies cannot escape the chilling parallels between the demagogic spell that Hitler cast on his audiences and the near mirror-images that we see at every Trump rally (hundreds by now) over the last three years.
Both psychopaths revel in stoking anger, fear, jingoism and hatred of The Other. Both audiences are putty in the demagogue's hands. The only real difference is that Trump doesn't use torches.
But I'd wager that 80% of Americans alive today have never seen any film of the Nuremberg rallies; nor would they recognize the term. So they do not experience the shock of historical recognition when they watch a Trump rally.
Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
27
@Dave ... They also can't recognize how extraordinary it is for an Oval Office Occupant to hold endless rallies for himself (thus far, it's always been a "him"). They cannot know that, to residents and survivors of totalitarian regimes, such behavior is far too familiar.
7
It remains amazing to me that Americans are having such a difficult time accepting the term fascist to describe what today’s Republican Party is.
It is deeply disturbing to see mainstream media dance around the use of the accurate term of fascism, preferring instead to describe the politics and philosophy of the current Republican regime as “populist.”
Democracy in not the default setting for America. Belief that it is somehow always able to autocorrect for wild sways toward oligarchy and authoritarian rule is delusional. Huge swaths of this nation have denied equal rights to minorities through much of our history and we are well on the way to returning to that state for millions of Americans.
Stanley is totally correct in his analysis and warning. We are at a highly critical juncture. Either we use our vote to remove fascist from power or we literally suffer deep and painful consequences. So, get over your fear of using fascists to describe the thing that is today’s Republican Party. Democracy or Fascism, the choice is yours. Vote the fascist out, while you still can.
19
Is anything really different from those halcyon times of November 7. 2016; i.e., the Before Trump era? At that time, we had a President who mostly governed, by his own admission, with a "pen and a phone." Since Congress would not pass the laws he wanted and needed, President Obama relied on his own executive orders to get things done.
In fact, the behavior of the left, in repressing conservative views on campus, relying on mobs to harass conservative members of congress and drive them from restaurants, shooting and severely wounding Republican congressmen, this behavior is far more fascistic than anything Donald Trump has done. Antifa? Hardly, it is more like "Pro-fa."
2
Obama did not have stupid night rallies where he said that the “press is the enemy of the people”. Look it up. Big difference between individuals acting out in anger and mobs driven by hate at rallies headed by POTUS.
9
Yes. Times were different. The news was the news not “fake.” Republicans had other views, they weren’t the “enemy.” Winning didn’t mean sticking it to fellow Americans. Man, take a history lesson. Educate yourself. Get out of the us against them and think of the “we the people.”
7
The fascists that I observe are coming from the left. Declaring Kavanaugh guilty absent ANY evidence; people stalking and harassing members of the administration who are having dinner with their families; blocking and shouting down speakers they disagree with; sending ricin other substances to GOP politicians and staff members; condoning violence against those who disagree with them; vandalizing republican offices throughout the nation; etc.; etc.
7
You don't see the difference between INDIVIDUALS on the left acting out in ways that are objectionable to most people, and the POTUS speaking at rallies attended by violent, yelling red-faced people, with the POTUS exorting the angry mob to distrust any media that says unfavorable (and truthful) things about the POTUS' words and actions? You're obviously not paying attention, or are looking at the sawdust in your brother's eyes but pay no attention to the plank in your own eye.
6
@jhart. I mostly agree with you. However, the left continues to talk down to and denigrate anyone who disagrees with them as an "uninformed deplorable". An effort to discuss the facts instead of name calling, would go a long ways toward mending fences.
@Al Sorry, but it’s hard to see how anyone supporting Trump, the GOP and their agenda is anything other than egregiously uninformed or deplorably mean spirited, bigoted and hateful.
See Amy Siskind's "The List" and theweeklylist.org for the evidence which she has tracked from the beginning.
3
This is needed so much. As a scholar of social memory, I have studied how nostalgia has been used for dangerous projects of nationalism and division throughout history. The Trump Administration started on Day One with their "Alternative Facts" about the size of the crowd on the National Mall, and has run with this ever since. Wake up America, and give these dangerous people the boot!
13
I've just started reading Stanley's book. It doesn't seem to cry wolf or try to draw questionable comparisons between The Donald and old Adolf or Benito. Instead, it compares The Donald with his contemporaries - the Le Pens, Erdogan, Orban, Duterte, etc. I've only read the first bit, but I'm hoping it explores political idiosyncracies of the United States that are not in any way pillars of fascism but nonetheless have gotten us into the mess we are now in: district-drawing/gerrymandering, and the electoral college. Those will be around long after The Donald is gone, I'm afraid.
14
I'm leaning toward agreeing with most of the points here. But the tone of the video -- its ominous background music and so forth -- are more typical of a campaign commercial than a news broadcast. So it makes me wonder why the producers seem to think that facts and analysis aren't enough to sway me in their direction.
18
@Some Tired Old Liberal
I expect they want to use every last resource they have because life depends on people being convinced and as history and the video indicates - many will not be convinced until lots of people are dead. This Country needs to wake way up get out in the streets in massive non violent civil protest. Non violence is utterly essential to good effective movement.
14
@Some Tired Old Liberal I think he made a weak case. It seems a lot worse than the examples he gives and the comparisons he makes. A more complete rundown would be truly frightening. Watch out America -- you're dangerously vulnerable.
1
@STOL -- At least half of all Americans don't like facts or analysis.
2
I"m still hopeful that our checks and balances will keep Trump from going full-blown fascist, but Trump is very much in love with fascism.
What Trump has definitely done is take US influence and shrink it.
Countries all around the world are thinking, what will change if the US is no longer the most powerful nation?
Trump is making world leaders contemplate reworking their banking networks, their alliances, and their trade.
It's ironic that Trump thinks he is making America Great when, to many eyes, he is making America Gone.
49
@Heather Thank you for your comment. I do hope that enough people in our country wake up before it is too late for democracy here.
10
Great article. What is overlooked in the article, and what I believe that many folks get tied up in is the blue/red thing; the fight between liberals and conservatives. That is the fight that conservatives want to have because it masks a larger issue.
The fight is not big D Democrat vs Republican; it is small d democrat vs totalitarianism. The Republicans want you to get all tied up in red herring arguments about the size of government (small vs large); free markets (open vs supposedly government run) when the reality is that most never believed in any of that, and the few that did, lost the argument years ago.
The game has always been, and always will be: totalitarianism. These people want a dictatorship: pure and simple, and the sooner that most people get their heads around it, the better. They want the veneer of a democracy for fear of a backlash, but they have corrupted all three branches of government (how? answer: money)
What has limited them until now is that the US government is the most complex large organization in the history of the world. And, for the most part (read Michael Lewis's new book "The Fifth Risk") it delivers really well, despite protests from the right. And for the most part the hard right is hopelessly inept (e.g. the health care fight).
And so the Republicans are fighting a "war by other means": taking through creeping authoritarianism (.e.g. outright lies, voter suppression, brainwashing on Fox) what they cannot get through popular consent.
57
I am way more afraid of the Socialist/communist ways of the Democratic Party and Big Media's Propaganda campaign against the President and everyone who isn't Liberal Left!
13
@There for the grace of A.I. goes I
What about an Administration that suppresses the vote, grants a huge tax decrease to the rich, wants to dismantle our healthcare system, and cuddles up to despots?
Maybe the media is not conducting a propaganda campaign, but rather reporting the truth about what is going on. Fox News is nothing but a P.R. outlet for the Administration. It is always a lesson to flip through the "news" channels and note the stories that are important to each outlet. Some days you don't know they are "reporting" about the same day.
I am scared that people cannot see how this Administration has weakened our Country, internally and in the world. I am scared of the numerous conflicts of interest that surround the President. Is he acting in our interest, or his own?
Isn't it time to see those tax returns?If that happens, I predict there will be numerous insights as to why our President acts as he does.
18
@There for the grace of A.I. goes I: What about us frightens you so? Access to affordable healthcare for all? A legitimate safety net that protects people from an impoverished old age? Safe and legal abortions? Access to reproductive care? Fair and secure elections?
14
@Mike Westfall---Thank you for your comment---I agree with you.
I urge everyone to read this story. It was written in 1975 by an Argentinian living in the era of disappearances.
THERE'S A MAN IN THE HABIT OF HITTING ME ON THE HEAD WITH AN UMBRELLA
By Fernando Sorrentino
http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stories/UBooks/TherMan.shtml
5
It is surprising that Jason Stanley is a specialist in fascism and yet seems ignorant of its raison d'etre, the purpose of fascism, so to speak.
Whatever the props---e.g. racism, national myth, militarism---fascism comes to power as the bloody answer to an intractable social problem that is destroying the country.
Typically, this is a conflict between a revolutionary, but indecisive, Left, and a temporizing establishment. Interwar Germany and Italy are the classic examples.
In such a setting, a fascist regime would replace the weak establishment regime, crush the Left (killings, mass imprisonment) with its own street gangs (SA/Storm Troopers, in Germany), solving the social crisis.
Nothing remotely resembling such a situation has ever obtained in the US. That is, there has never been a reason for fascism in the US.
What we have with Trump is a lot of symbols and acts of reaction: racist, sexist, diplomatic, for example.
One is reminded of another reactionary, Senator Joseph McCarthy, circa 1950. Back then, the word "fascism" drifted around a lot, but years later, after the threats and McCarthy personally were gone, analysts realized that their warnings of fascism had been quite overdrawn.
We need accurate analysis of Trump's authoritarianism, not lists of superficial parallels to classic fascism.
Trump isn't dangerous because he's a fascist.
He's dangerous because he's nuts.
37
@alyosha - Nuts? That's too easy--and comfortable--a word to use to describe the president. In any and every political rally, speech at the UN, interview, etc., ALL that Trump does is attempt to describe such "intractable social problems" that, as you suggest, are necessary precedent for facism to take hold. Pitting one group against another, playing on everyone's troubles and blaming another group for those troubles is cynical and fascist-like--and successful in a country where economic stability, recovery, and advancement left the middle class behind decades ago. (Proctor and Gamble nearly zeroed out their USA advertising of 'middle class' quality products in 2002, and shifted those dollars to India and other economies with more room for middle class growth and acquisition. That conservative corporation's own research informed that decision and underlying it was the truth that the middle class in US is GONE.)
As of the latest poll, 41% of Americans appear to be approving of his message. The toadies in Congress (and now on the SCOTUS) are aiding and abetting the goose-steppers.
In a riff on 'build it and they will come,' Trump is saying it (repeatedly) and making it so.
All Americans must wake up out of our complacency, before it's too late.
14
@alyosha
Quote: "Nothing remotely resembling such a situation has ever obtained in the US."
I would say that the forced internment of Japanese-Americans during WWII resembled such a situation. And if it happened once, it could happen again. The increasing criminalization of dissent is another worrisome trend. As is the designation of "enemy combatants" whom we then lock up in the Guantanamo hellhole with no end in sight. And the erosion of the 4th Amendment, everywhere, in the name of "security."
More importantly, you're creating a false dichotomy: it either has to be THIS bad, or it's not that bad at all.
No. There are many layers to fascism. A fascist state doesn't have to spring fully formed like Athena from the head of Zeus. It can -- and usually does -- develop step by slow incremental step, until one day you wake up and ask, "Gee, what happened to our rights?"
The point is to recognize these trends ahead of time, before things get that bad.
13
I'm worried about both extremes, not just the Right.
In many ways the Russia of Stalin is just as frightening as the Germany of Hitler.
Indeed, a look back at history reveals that shortly before Hitler rose to power, there was a battle between the two extremes in the 1932 Weimar Republic. Instead of discussing solutions in the Reichstag, communists and Nazis took to the streets. It was the center that failed to hold.
To some extent that is occurring in the US. On university campuses, the Left is afraid to allow freedom of speech. People with differing views are confronted with violent crowds.
A generation ago we listened to All in the Family. Yes many of us regarded Archie Bunker as bigoted, but we at least listened.
Now Roseanne Barr was fired. Nobody on the left seems to have realized that democracy is not possible when political views are silenced. We need to listen to each other. We need to tolerate differences of opinion.
It is when we are certain we are right that we are most likely to be wrong. And when our institutions are in greatest danger.
Obama contributed to the dissolution of democracy by granting amnesty to illegal aliens without going through the messy legal process of Congressional debate and decision.
Local governments contribute to the decay of democracy by sanctimoniously declaring sanctuary cities.
It is the moral certainty behind these actions which presages the fall. We need to allow divergent opinions if we want to be free.
20
@Jake Wagner
Of course Hitler and Stalin were both terrible.
But get real: Rosanne was not fired for doing her show or for depicting the character she did. She was fired because she has a big mouth and not enough filters between it and her brain - for obnoxious things she said of her own free will.
Oh wait, I forgot - she blamed a drug side-effect, didn't she. Yeah, there's that stern taking self-responsibility ethic the right talks about but practices arguably less than on the left.
3
@Jake Wagner: Roseanne compared an African American woman to an ape. That is not a "political view;" that is naked, disgusting racism, for which she was rightly condemned and punished.
8
It should be called Neo-Fascism. Plain and simple!
13
Fascism has to stop meaning anything that you want it to mean, and start meaning what it does mean. Anybody who really knows anything about pre-World War II Italy or Germany cannot possibly think that what they did does not parallel what is happening in the United States today. The people who are making the claim that we're in proto-fascist times are doing so to advance their political agenda. There is nothing more cynical that you can do. If Democrats scare enough people maybe they'll pick up some votes. It worked for Donald Trump.
8
Remember 1933.
4
Donald Trump is the closest thing to a fascist leader the U.S. has ever experienced. It's appalling to see Trump rallies as a 3-act performance, the "divide and conquer" strategy to increase control, attacks on the media, and desire to be "above the law".
As an independent voter, I hope the November midterm elections will help to restore some of the "checks and balances" which are missing in the current GOP-led Congress.
42
A feature of fascism the professor didn't mention is the "stab in the back" -- that the country's natural greatness was destroyed by people who betrayed it. In Trump's case, it's largely Obama, but he often blames things on other predecessors.
8
I've been worried from Day 1.
People often think I'm crazy, but they don't read or study history.
Two defining books for me since Trump took office have been "on Tyranny" by Timothy Snyder (also a professor at Yale, of history) and Madeleine Albright's Fascism: A Warning".
One is short, the other lengthy, but both show how easy it is for fascism to take hold in a populace so gradually that it's becomes a fait accompli before the proverbial frog realizes he's cooked.
Hallmarks of fascism include attacks on a free press, the rule of law, and the independent judiciary.
It also includes demagoguery, mendacity, exaggeration, scapegoating, and gaslighting--making listeners feel in hearing a leader's speeches that they're going mad.
If any of this sounds familiar, you should be scared.
Because, without our government's normal checks and balances(which haven't been working), you might think fascism in fast approaching.
And in that you'd be wrong--because it's already here.
103
Thank you Christine. I too have been worried since day one.
9
@ChristineMcM
Absolutely - it's here because, let's be real: if the behaviors are being repeatedly practiced, it's here! (What part of it's and here is not understood?)
The people dismissing the main point of this article are foolishly arguing based on a spuriously needed *level* of horror, as if it's not fascism until the actual locking up, the actual killing begins. This is a malignant blindness!
It's very much fascism in *all* the years leading up to such points. It's not a matter of some debatable degree, it's a matter of behavior.
Fascism is as fascism does. And it's being done in the USA currently just about every day.
6
The fascist learned their tactics from Lenin. He invented the "duel state" where the government was the dominant political party. There was no separation between the two and no room for any opposition party. His first step was to create chaos. He declared anyone who had any influence or position in the Tsar's government, the Provisional Government's or the Constituent Assembly "enemy's of the state". Trump is just following suit as any good totalitarian would.
11
Thank you for this piece, and for the research you've done on this subject.
I've been perplexed by fascism since high school history class. Behind the maps of conquered territory, and the horrors inflicted upon millions of people, I just could not get my mind around how enough of a country can get behind such a monstrous philosophy. To even risk their lives for it.
Yet it happened.
And during high school, and the decades of life that followed, a big part of me just KNEW that people "want" fascism. Not all people, certainly. But just enough people to fill the right ranks in society, leaving the others to just go along.
But I couldn't put my finger on it -- why so many people "want" something like this without even knowing it. As far as they're concerned --
-- they've cast a ballot (maybe) so all must be well for democracy; and
-- when the election is over there's a collective "whew! I'm glad that's all over..."
-- and they return to their lives, feeling as disengaged from the actions of their elected representatives as ever.
High school history taught us much about World War II. As we closed that chapter in US History we finished with the knowledge that we won that war. We had defeated the Axis powers...
...but we never defeated fascism...
19
I have been worried since Newt Gingrich. The GOP started its rapid decline into fascism back then, or, at least stopped trying to hide it.
43
@Erik Nelson
I agree that this started with Newt Gingrich. He's unremitting attacks on Bill Clinton and extreme partisanship. Now the GOP dream has become a reality with trump summoning up white supremacists, the KKK and other hate groups to join the voting public and pursue his right wing agenda. Meanwhile, the oligarchs running the country are laughing all the way to the bank while they bankrupt the country with profligate spending. We're in trouble.
1
The attacks on "others" and the continued lying by Trump are amplified by a Republican party that has lost all sense of decency.
Other parallels that stand out are the subversion of the legal system and the suppression of votes.
It is time that Americans show that they will repudiate this president and the corrupt GOP and stand up for truth and freedom. The upcoming election will be all-important.
29
Fascism is a form of government which is a type of one-party dictatorship. Fascists are against democracy. They work for a totalitarian one-party state. ... It stands for a centralized government headed by a dictator. Sound familiar. Started with the Philosopher, Julius Evola(Italian), then Mussolini (elected) and Hitler (elected) A compliant legislature, a neutered court, then the take-over by the Dictator. Soon our version of the Reichstag burning then Kristallnacht. Marx said History repeats itself, first the tragedy, then the farce. We're well along with the disease. Think it can't happen here? It already is.
34
Dictionary definitions of fascism include –
RW govt dictatorship, with the merging of state and business leadership, with belligerent nationalism.
Most other advanced democracies are better protected, simply because don't turn their elections over to the wealthy for financing as a norm. Their courts don't equate money with free speech. Here we make both parties compete for big donors.
The court in Citizens United distorted our founding ideals, ruling that unlimited corporate money in our elections was constitutionally protected ‘free speech’-- a lie worthy of Trump.
McConnell's quote as leader of the rw party dominating our 3 branches, says it all: “All Citizens United did was to level the playing field for corporate speech…. We now have, I think, the most free and open system we’ve had in modern times.”
Yes, and closed to the citizen majority, whose opinions on most issues differ from the elites. By this Orwellian thinking, the corporate wealthy had been unjustly blocked from wielding their proper influence over our politics, while average American citizens had too much say. The victimhood of the rich.
Now if the mass of citizens challenge the abuse by powerful business interests, they’re called a left wing mob and a threat to business free enterprise. Ominous echoes.
There’s no protection against the fascist trend without reversing Citizens United ---and most voters favor this.
63
@Meredith Agree completely - but I'd add Buckley v. Valeo. That was the ruling in 1976 that equated freedom of speech with money. Citizens United equated corporations with man-on-the-street citizens.
16
Most US presidents, at least in my lifetime, have made an effort to unite the country after an election, and during elections if they are not running--even when there is bitter disagreement. Trump doesn't just disagree, he provides a constant drip of insult, made up negative stories, belittling, and dehumanization of his critics. He has not even tried to find a way to keep us together.
More than half the voters in this country voted for someone else for president, yet Trump behaves as if none of "those people" really matter. As if only the ones who show up to his rallies and flatter him are worthy of America. And when opponents exercise their constitutional right to protest, or speak up, or criticize--they are framed as "rioting" "fake" and "evil."
I don't know whether or not Trump could be called, technically, a Fascist. But it doesn't matter whether he fits a particular profile, or is creating a different kind of authoritarian style. The terrifying thing for me is that this is the kind of rhetoric that is present in countries just before the killing starts. It is pre-genocidal--setting the stage to justify elimination of "enemies" and "vermin." The willingness of crowds of people to chant "lock her up" about women who have not been found guilty of any crime is terrifying alone. Fascist or not, yes, we should be very alarmed that a US president is doing this.
44
@C W
It is not just presidents who have sought to unite the country after elections. It is also the defeated candidate. As tempting as it might be to pin all of the division on Trump, there has never been, in my lifetime or yours, a defeated party or candidate vociferously calling the results of the election fraudulent, and worthy of being voided.
2
@Middleman MD
I must reject the idea that "there has never been...". First, I have heard citizens make accusations of fraud and calling for voiding the election of 2016, but NOT the losing candidate. Second, there always have been those who don't want to accept a result or are angry about an outcome. Trump was one of the biggest with his push of the birther movement and constant belittling of Obama and his administration. But it is up to the one who has the bully pulpit to reach out and lead a move toward unity. It may be that sometimes it works better than others, but they try.
Trump does the opposite. He insults, belittles and/or dehumanizes over half the country and the media in every speech and every rally. Trump calls his behavior "fighting back." If we accept the premise that the person in power who attempts to crush anyone who is even mildly critical of him is simply "fighting back," then we've already agreed to authoritarian rule.
3
@Middleman MD
Asleep in 2008?
And for those who have forgotten - the robbery of 2000 has set us up for the Fall.
1
I've posted comments similar to the one I'm about to make, and have had the Times post them, only to have them taken down one-half hour later. I suspect those on the right have their panties in a bunch at my plain spokenness. I've never used foul or improper language, nor have I spoken badly of anyone other than a public figure (usually Trump).
That said, let's see how long this comment lasts. We are already living in a fascist nation. One need only read the works of Paxton and Shirer to know that we are there. Not almost there. Not maybe we'll get there. But we are there. Now.
And from where I sit, it seems to me like people in this country are getting all too comfortable with it. Nearly half of our citizens love it, and wouldn't mind if Trump declared himself dictator for life. And the other half? They're too demoralized, too emotionally exhausted to keep fighting this fight. So they just keep their heads down, go to work, raise their kids, and try to keep afloat for another day.
Democrats may think they will claw their way back by winning the House next month. They need to think again. The Senate, and thus the Supreme Court, will be under Republican control for decades. So those of us who do not want to live in a fascist state for at least a generation really have few options at this point. Those of us who can, will leave the U.S. And for those of us who can't, well, as the Republicans like to say, "thoughts and prayers".
58
@Donegal: So far, it is a soft fascism. And it is not anti-Semitic fascism.
1
@Donegal
Thank you.
2
@Donegal I pray that you are wrong. Voter suppression is VERY real, Nationwide. It is the ONLY way the GOP will stay in control. BAD news for the USA if this happens!
2
This is long over due. Trump represents the missing piece in a puzzle that has been obvious for a long time. McConnell is the latest in a long line of propaganda ministers. Cheney and the Bush II crowd. Tea party Republicans or Newt and the contract for America crowd. Take you pick. This train has been rolling for quite some time. We are still deaf, dumb and stupid about the proto- fascist fool Reagan, the template for Trump.
Trump is the logical successor to the ideology of lies that has gone before. We are in a moment of extreme crisis. Not to see that is to be morally complicit. Apologists still abound. Wishful thinkers or opportunists? We are on our way to trickle down freedom. We all know how the economic version went. Wake up or give up.
11
@bemused
"Trickle down freedom" -- Perfect! That sums up the stakes and what the result will be, in all its nuance, exactly because we DO know how disastrous the economic version was and the few who benefited and the vast majority who didn't.
1
I was reminded of how the bluegrass legend Ralph Stanley endorsed Obama's candidacy. There was a time it seem when Southerners remembered their humble roots.
Interestingly, the best Nazi officers came from first generation middle-class backgrounds...
But the best way for dealing with jerks is to ignore them. Show that they don't bother you, and they have no power.
Realistically, Trump will only be in power a few more years. Unless of course our elections are truly rigged, then we really are in trouble.
2
Anyone seriously interested in fascism and it's relevance in an America with Trump in the Oval Office, should read the book by former Secretary of State Madeline Albright, entitled, "Fascism, a Warning."
10
@phil
I strongly object to you and another writer citing Madeline Albright as an enlightened opponent of institutional evil, regardless of her book.
You're ignoring her role in the Clinton sanctions on Iraq, which cost the lives of half a million children. When challenged about this, she replied that their deaths "were worth it". I would suggest that that indifference to accepting responsibility for mass atrocities is the essence of what is frightening and inhuman about fascism.
1
Mussolini said that Fascism means that the State is the source of all value. What everyone seems to ignore or not realize is that Fascism is right wing socialism. Are those who shout down speakers at college campuses and use bureaucracies to promote the politics of identity and victimization much different in their authoritarianism than the chantings of the useful idiots at Trump rallies.
7
@Gregory: Right wing socialism is cronyism.
4
"Media darlings, not media ogres, receive a veritable free pass to ignore constitutional norms."
https://amgreatness.com/2018/10/14/who-and-what-threaten-the-constitution/
@T Rex: Trump's stance on climate change ignores all norms of science. It leaves no doubt that "sincerely held beliefs" now trump establishments of science.
10
@T Rex Way off base! He is so down-playing the Fascism that already exists in our country. It seems to me like people in this country are getting all too comfortable with it. Nearly half of our citizens love it, and wouldn't mind if Trump declared himself dictator for life. Trump loves to play "Victim of the Press" and spreads hate and Propaganda against Democrats like a true Fascist. He loves to lie about the "violent liberals" yet Heather Hiley was murdered by a Trump supporter... Then there are the other fractions... https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2018/10/13/far-right-skinheads-join-...
2
Proto-fascist trope of the month: "Every American man and boy is threatened if ANYONE questions the fitness of Brett Kavanaugh to serve for life on the highest court in the land."
25
I was inspired to reread Ernest Hemingway’s “For Whom the Bell Tolls” when I learned it was Senator John McCain’s favorite book. At one point, its protagonist, the American Robert Jordan, is asked, “But are there not many fascists in your country?” To which he responds, “There are many who do not know they are fascists but will find it out when the time comes....We can not destroy them. But we can educate the people so that they will fear fascism and recognize it as it appears and combat it.”
32
To steve Griffith, oakland. Education, yes. But in whose hands. Aye, there’s the rub.
1
Very recently Trump said at a rally: "Democrats are too dangerous to govern."
I am afraid of what his next move will be if the Democrats do not take one or both houses of Congress next month.
This may be the time we need to see if all the gun nuts are ready to defend this country against a tyrant.
18
@RN
Unfortunately, the so-called 'gun nuts' are likely on the side of the tyrant.
1
Fascism is indeed a threat in America right now, and cause for concern, but this sadly superficial video isn't going to raise an alarm anywhere with anyone. The real issue isn't whether Donald Trump is a fascist. The real issue is whether he'll make fascists out of us.
To analyze that threat you have to dig a lot deeper, understand "The Mass Psychology of Fascism" (Wilhelm Reich) and touch on more than just the few banal observations in this video by reading "On Tyranny" by Timothy Snyder.
New York Times, you can do much better than this tripe.
9
Everyone complains that millennials have short attention spans, but surprisingly it seems that Times readers and commenters also fail to pay sufficient attention. 1) this is an opinion piece and not a Times editorial. 2) The professor used behaviors and actions by Donald Trump to illustrate his 3 points, so people would recognize them for what they are. 3) Yes there have been other presidents who did some despicable things, but none of them was as dedicated to their own aggrandizement as Trump. When he comes up with a symbol like the Nazi cross and puts it on every government building we will all be wondering what rabbit hole we fell down.
19
I really wish this wasn't a video. Is there a text version?
8
@Mark T. Kennedy
I understand I'm in my sixties and videos are like watching paint peel. So much faster to read. You might be undazzled by expert video editing and believe you are being taken for a ride. But if you look at the video, it's like magic, marketing, but it is social psychology. Like with hypnotism if you are not a passive subject it won't work.
Look at the video and believe comrade. Do it!
1
@Mark T. Kennedy
Yes, Jason Stanley has a short book just out titled "How Fascism Works" (Random House)
1
I turn to a newspaper to read. It's fine to put out a video but when doing so, please publish a transcript.
50
One of Trump's ex-wives said he had a book of Hitler's speeches in the bedside table, and I believe her. Tragic for our nation that he cares so little about our Constitution, and would rather make inflammatory, divisive speeches worthy of the despots (Putin, Duterte, Jong-Un, etc) he idolizes. One has to be supremely ignorant not to see the similarities in Trump's tactics (or the white nationalists like Bannon and Miller, etc) he's surrounded himself with.
Dark, dangerous days for democracy, but those of us who love our country and all the good that it stands for must continue to speak out — daily if necessary.
And VOTE! In every election. Don't stay home.
28
Good grief, NY Times! Is this journalism? Opinion? A radical Yale professor who speaks against Trump makes him worthy of coverage?
1
If fascism ever flourishes it we be brought to us by the Leftist Liberals who deny freedom to anyone who dares disagree with them. Racial discrimination through “Affirmative Action”; denial of free speech by demanding “Political Correctness”; hatred of white males and Western Culture, (despite the extraordinary freedoms and amazing standard of living they provided); are all evidence of the Leftist Liberals love of totalitarian government.
5
@Oh Please: That is quite an overstatement of the facts. You appear to draw a universe of emotional reactions from failing to be convincing. I don't get it. I am unconvincing because I'm an atheist, but I don't take it personally.
6
@Oh Please Sounds to me like all the Leftist Liberals want is mutual respect and opportunity for all. Pretty simple. I fail to see much hate in that platform.
John
16
@John Harper From presidential candidates calling their opponent's supporters despicable to mobs burning cars and breaking windows in the name of anti-fascism, there is just as much hate on the left as on the right. And there should be just as little tolerance of it on either side.
You don't have to wear a brown shirt and have altar to Adolph at home to be a Nazi. Anyone who calls white supremacists and Nazis "good people" may not be a card-carrying Nazi, but he's still a Fascist, whether he can spell it or actually knows what it means.
Trump is a neophyte Fascist in training . . .in the making. What he knows about the Nazis and Fascisim, he probably picked up from the kids his father paid to do his homework.
I'm less concerned by Trump because he's in the game simply for the money. In short, he can be bought. However, I am terrified of the large cadre of voters who worship him. God. . they would have loved Adolph. Now that guy could give a speech!
15
Fascism def: a political philosophy, movement, or regime that exalts nation (Trump - loves the USA, Obama - wants to fundamentally transform the USA) and often race (Obama - promotes minority interests and illegal aliens interested at the expense of US citizens ) above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader (Obama - could not get legislation passed so he issued executive orders), severe economic and social regimentation (Obama), and forcible suppression of opposition (Obama- spied on reporters, investigated leakers, used the FBI and IRS to attack and disrupt his opposition)
Now, who's the Fascist?
3
There used to be a rule against Nazi analogies and playing the Hitler card: First side to do so loses the debate. But apparently not at Yale or on the Opinion page of the NYT.
2
To DLS bloomington—what rule? Whose rule?
@DLS
Yet sometimes the shoe does fit.
2
It is time to get on a bus and leave the blue bubble for a while. You may be describing fascism, but you are not describing anything happening outside some small pockets where a handful of nuts share a Soldier of Fortune subscription. Hit the brakes. Take a breath. Come see the real world.
2
@TD
My real world does not ignore the rallies. Those aren't small pockets of nuts. The venues are carefully picked so the guy in the White House hears nothing but adulation and validation.
When the guy in the White House visited Cincinnati recently, on his way to a rally in a conservative county
north of here, protesters were not allowed anywhere near where the motorcade went.
Suppression of free speech is a hallmark sign of fascism. Facists declare the legitimate press "fake". Sound familiar?
It may be time for you to get your eyes tested to see if you can even see "the real world". Have you seen the anger and hate present at the rallies? If not, it is time to do a little more looking into "the real world".
4
Professor Stanley, thank you for this piece although both you and the NYT may well face a backlash from it as Trump will surely respond: "No fascist! No fascist! YOU'RE the fascist!!". His camp followers will all clamor the same, on cue.
If there is a new, distinctly American quality to the fascism unfolding here it is in Trump and the GOP's unending projection of their own negative qualities/behaviors/activities onto the opposition - a virulent form of attacking the truth while avoiding blame or responsibility or accountability for their own actions. A constant wave of projection that serves to further skew reality and divide society.
Starting with Karl Rove's "I'm Rubber/You're Glue" strategy the GOP first began to truly hone the art of projection; under Trump he (and they) have taken it to such severe lengths that it is eroding citizens' perceptions of reality just as much as their "alternative facts" are.
As a historian I have struggled with how to convey to some people that what we are seeing is in fact fascism. To those unfamiliar with all the elements/context of fascism it can sound hyperbolic. But you have laid it out well in your video and it's a great teaching tool to discuss this topic in earnest, often.
Expect disbelief. As Trump proclaimed at his PA rally: "Just remember, what you are seeing and what you are reading is not what's happening....Just stick with us, don't believe the c**p you see from these people, the fake news."
To me, his most chilling line.
24
@Pamela: Thrumpists defy submission to the laws of nature, which automatically enforce themselves.
1
Another in the continuing NYT series (23 months and counting): Why The Donald Should NOT Be President and Hillary Clinton Should." Is Trump's comportment far more coarse, crude, impetuous, capricious, and boorish compared to other presidents we've had? Certainly. Does such a personality make a leader a crypto-fascist? I think not. And perceive none of the breathlessly described earmarks ticked off by the Yalie philosophy prof. Trump was elected president when voters were asked to choose between "coarse" and "corrupt". They voted for coarse.
4
Actually, you voted for both coarse and corrupt. That has been proven in all examinations of Trump’s character, business practices, and endless lies. It is sad that you can’t rise above the right wing misinformation campaign and see things as they really are.
4
Maybe Jason Stanley, a professor at Justice Kavanaugh's favorite drinking establishment, Yale, doesn't get out very often or isn't a broad reader, but parts of America have exhibited overt fascism or fascism with regional characteristics from the start. Whole populations in America have lived with a fascist reality since the nation's founding.
Years ago an older Italian man who repaired shoes told me that the emblem of facism was a bundle of sticks tied together with an axe protruding from the middle. I told him I understood the symbol was agrarian in origin, which he dismissed with a wave.
He claimed it was Italian folklore that facism meant castration of the individual by the state, the sticks being phallic and the axe the the brutal authority of the state to impose its will.
Whether or not he was pulling my leg, his interpretation had poetic resonance to it.
If nothing else, it renders in a different shade Trump's fascination with absolute power and spins new meaning into the fascinating times we find ourselves in.
Whatever the etymology of facism or fascination, our response shouldn't be fear as it should be rage and resolve.
In America facism is fighting words and we prefer voting to swinging that axe.
9
@Yuri Asian Actually, it's of ancient Etruscan and later Roman origin. Not sure about the castration connection, or disconnection, as the case may be.
2
It was about time someone called what is happening by its ugly name. Add the term 'Eco-Terrorism' to what is coming from the current White House and you get the whole picture.
8
You know- we have had some really awful presidents in our history- no one ever seems to read or remember their American history. You see a list in the paper of the "greatest of all time"- you name it films, music- and generally the oldest listee is 5 years old. Remember when George W. Bush was the "worst president ever"? How About Andrew Johnson- or Harding- he was a piece of work.
There is a lot of hysteria here and a lot of self- promotion by writer and "experts."
2
Fascism should be something to keep all of us mightily afraid. The trouble is, given the polarization of our country- one group sees fascism in here and the other group sees there, sitting on opposite poles. So, we are meant to believe one man's fascism is another's democracy? I think not!
From my perspective I see fascism in Antifa and Black Lives Matter, I see fascism in every act of 'violence' designed to inhibit the freedom of speech of others. I see fascism in every University and school of higher learning in our country, and I see fascism in the designs of the Democrat party.
If you don't like my perspective, or disagree with it, that is probably because we are different people and see the world in differing terms, but my perspective remains 100% valid.
1
@Rob Campbell
"but my perspective remains 100% valid."
that does not mean it is correct.
3
The Republican Party serves a critical function by facilitating and furthering the actions, conduct, and extremely dangerous and extensive inflammatory rhetoric of the chief executive that controls the party. Strikingly similar to 1930s Germany and Italy. The viciously exhorted diatribe and hateful incendiary public displays designed and intended to denigrate, degrade, denounce, and scapegoat minorities-racial and religious-succeeded through a persistent grassroots campaign engendering fear mongering, xenophobia, racial superiority, classism, and religious demagoguery. The constant pounding of self pride and self importance focused through rabid oratory directed at the supporters assured both political preservation and increasing political power. Civil liberties vanquished. Relentless attacks on the press unchecked. Destruction of free assembly and quelling free speech as an anathema to the forced rigidity necessary to maintain control. the chief executive thrives on confrontation, welcoming invective support, mischaracterizing facts, and telegraphing to his base they are better than anyone else, even though they may lack greater education and hold low paying blue collar positions, but their racial complexion is their privilege ticket at home, a crucial page from George Wallace's playbook. Americans must confront and take on the incessant dribble that flows from the noxiously toxic cesspool that is the Republican Party and the inept leader. Speak truth to power. Race matters.
14
The pattern of fascism was not so plainly visible until the ascent of reactionary political parties after WWI. Its growth was slow: scapegoating the powerless, attacking opponents, breaking communities and atomizing individuals, installing the machinery that eroded the protections of law, and painting the social landscape with its symbols and propaganda. It operated in plain sight, slowly, but with determined aims and results.
Victor Klemperer and his spouse, Eva, escaped the deadlier instruments of Nazi violence. His diaries survived as a witness. He recognized the way words the Third Reich used evolved toward psychotic, often religious language. As a professor of philology it was natural.
As the regime constricted their freedom and confiscated their property, as the conditions for their existence deteriorated, as their associates and friends committed suicides, as the rumors of assassination or rescue or the expected western invasion clouded their instinct for survival, Victor recorded those experiences so that a memorial survived to tell what they had witnessed, and what those who had not survived had suffered.
The disease is in us. We might look upon the caged children; the murdered victim; the repetitive, shouted slogans; the mocking slurs; the shattered community; the bombastic demagogue; and think: This will pass. The center will hold. I will be okay. Nothing is inevitable.
No, nothing is inevitable. It is the residue of chaos, violence and history.
7
The Victor Klemperer diaries have the title ‘I Will Bear Witness’. Very informative on life in a fascist state.
Yes, I can certainly understand how some of Trump's rhetoric sounds "fascist" but, as others have pointed out, so far it is only rhetoric. What's interesting is that the professor completely ignores similar rhetoric among the opposition: Consider that, most recently, the senior senators of the democratic party called Brett Kavanaugh "evil" simply because his judicial philosophy differs from theirs (that sounds like what fascists would say); were willing to suspend "due process" in order to "convict" someone they didn't like (that sounds certainly like something the Nazis did regularly) . . . and so on.
5
>>>"Consider that, most recently, the senior senators of the democratic party called Brett Kavanaugh "evil" simply because his judicial philosophy differs from theirs (that sounds like what fascists would say) . . ."
Actually, it just sounds like something people who think someone is evil might say. I think Brett Kavanaugh is effectively evil, both because of his reactionary judicial philosophy and because of his reprehensible behavior. And I assure you that I have no fascist tendencies, at all. ;^)
>>>" . . . were willing to suspend 'due process' in order to 'convict' someone they didn't like . . ."
If you've been paying attention over the past few weeks, you have probably heard any number of people explain that due process has exactly *nothing* to do with vetting candidates for the Supreme Court. And that the word "convict" is not relevant to one's determination that a candidate is not qualified. As is the case with so many who are promulgating this fundamental misunderstanding of the procedure, careful review is advisable.
@Arthur: No, that is not accurate. If anyone called Kavanaugh evil (mostly I heard “unfit”), it was because he lied under oath, not because of different philosophies. And no one was trying to convict anyone of anything, because there was no indictment and no trial. The man was up for a promotion, and the question was whether he or a more qualified candidate should get the position. And so on.
9
@Arthur: My comments on Kavanaugh pertained primarily to my suspicion that he is judicially inclined to hold "sincerely held beliefs" equally meritorious under the law to establishments of science. I also found him evasive on all topics, not just drinking and teenage pranks. I don't like evasive judges.
8
An excellent, essential, and courageous ‘exposure’ by the NY “Times”, in warning all Americans of how easily we could become, like the Germans simply passive but “Good Germans” under Hitler, or what I’d call “Quiet Americans” under Emperor Trump.
Yes, Jason, we are all at risk of falling into “Fascism”, or what I refer to as a fascist Empire, in that fascism is merely a 20th century political/economic version of the four century old history of Empires' ‘big tools’ and deceits.
This current, unique, and modern metastasis of the Disguised Global Capitalist Empire employs not one, but a dual-party Vichy-political facade of faux democracy, which is only 'nominally' HQed in, and merely 'posing' as, our former country, (PKA) America --- which is exactly what Professor Robinson had correctly diagnosed:
"The U.S. state is a key point of condensation for pressures from dominant groups around the world to resolve problems of global capitalism and to secure the legitimacy of the system overall.
In this regard, “U.S.” imperialism refers to the use by transnational elites of the U.S. state apparatus to continue to attempt to expand, defend, and stabilize the global capitalist system. We are witness less to a “U.S.” imperialism per se than to a global capitalist imperialism.
We face an EMPIRE OF GLOBAL CAPITAL, headquartered, for evident historical reasons, in Washington.” [Caps added]
Global Capitalism and the Crisis of Humanity, 2014 Robinson, William Cambridge University Press.
5
Reagan legalized 3 million in 1986. The country survived and thrived. The fear-mongering over immigrants now (illegal or legal) is purely fascistic. Trump is leading the charge. The likelihood of more and more violence is great. We are heading in a terrible direction.
9
I'm concerned about fascism, but the fascists on the left, who seem to think they aren't fascists, except they are often promoting harassment and violence against those who disagree with their ideas. After all it is the left on college campuses shouting down any differing opinion, and Antifa on the street attacking any dissenting view, and Dems in Congress telling their followers to attack conservatives in their homes. It's interesting to see the Left continue to think that Trump and his supporters are fascists, yet it is the Left wanting to change the Electoral College, it is the Left seeking to limit the First and Second Amendments. All I hear from Leftists is how I'm a "racist" or "homophobe" or a man is "guilty" of sexual assault merely because he is accused without evidence. All because someone tells someone on the Left, "No." The real fascists in the US are Dems and the Left.
6
@DarthW: I don't anything that you have projected onto what you call the "left". I merely challenge constitutional interpretations that arrogate to government powers and rights reserved to the people, and abuse powers that are delegated to government.
2
@DarthW
A person's eye-witness account and description of an event IS "evidence" of the event. (Imagine you are in a fender-bender. When the police ask you, "what happened?," your experience, your statement is another piece of 'evidence' about the crash.)
Whether or not the "evidence" is believable or credible is a question of fact for thinking people to discern for themselves. (So, if you come across as lying or unbelievable, your evidence will likely not be given weight. Whether or not it's given weight does not change its nature; your voice, your experience, is still 'evidence.')
The composure and dignity of Blasey-Forde as she gave her evidence--who had zero to gain and everything to lose--compared to the tantrum-filled, intemperateness of Kavanaugh as he gave his evidence--who would be denied what he perceived as his entitlement if 'she who dared to speak up' were to be believed--implicates the credibility of both individuals.
Blasey-Forde came across as rock-solid, whereas Kavanaugh sounded like a spoiled brat used to getting everything he wanted who was outraged that his mommy finally decided to enforce the rules and he might have to face consequences for his behavior.
Mr. Stanley appears to be an example of a kind of academic that is all too common: intelligent but lacking common sense. There occasionally are similarities in the language Trump uses and in Hitler's or Mussolini's. Also, Trump likes inciting crowds at rallies, as Hitler or Mussolini did. But there's not much more you can point to. German and Italian fascism arose in the aftermath of World War I out of violent resentments and discontents. Germany for example had suffered about 2 million military deaths, then lost the war. Following that there was a humiliating peace, the imposition of a republic (it went against German traditions of authoritarian government), the fantastic inflation of 1923 and finally the Depression, which was worse in Germany than here. On top of that, Germans were terrified that communism might spread from the Soviet Union to Germany. In 1919 there had actually been two communist revolts, on in Berlin and the other in Bavaria.
In Italy the sources of rage and resentment were different but almost as powerful, and Mussolini was able to manipulate them.
Mr. Stanley is perfectly well aware of all of that. He chooses to ignore it. The United States in 2018 certainly has its problems but impending fascism is not one of them. The country is evenly balanced between Republicans and Democrats and if either party tries to impose a dictatorship the other will put a stop to it.
Mr. Stanley needs to calm down.
4
@David Todd: I think the right wing "utopia" is a theocracy, and desire to nullify constitutional separation of church and state motivates many Trump supporters.
In many respects, theocracy is even more oppressive than fascism, as Saudi Arabia and Iran both illustrate.
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great example of trump derangement syndrome and/or historical ignorance. under woodrow wilson's sedition act, those who criticized the govt were imprisoned. fdr put citizens in internment camps, imposed wage/price controls, tried to pack the supreme court, and was "president for life" winning 4 terms. looking for fascism? that's the closest we ever got. yet those who are obsessed with trump cant think straight. the author is a professor of philosophy, not history, and it shows. acc to his logic, he would be denouncing wilson abd fdr and worrying about fascism under two of our most cherished presidents. pass the koolaid. can we stop worrying about fascism? is the sky falling, too? krugman says we'd be in an economic holocaust by now. good lord. where can one find sober analysis???
8
@ari: "Make America Great Again!" rings like Mussolini's call to Italians to restore the Roman Empire to me.
8
The muse of the far right economists, and Ayn Rand that the GOP so admire wrote a massive critique of Fascism.
Ludwig von Mises: Human Action. As we say, it it sounds like a Fascist, acts like a Fascist, and looks like a Fascist (Mussolini),
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/01/opinion/donald-trumps-il-duce-routine...
It might just be a A Fascist.
4
I am not a Yale professor but survived WW2 in Europe.The ideology in Germany was fed by the economic desperation of the blue collar workers, the aggressive demonstrations of the Socialists and desire of the country for law and order.The undermining of our emigration laws by the Democrats makes people feel that they need a strongman at the helm.The agitation by Waters,Holder and Clinton are part of the problem.It is the Republicans who are attacked at family dinners it is a Republican Congressman who almost got killed. Antifa is the darling of the Dems and Trump is right the extremist on both left and right are hurting democracy.
5
@GDKClearly you are not a student of history and surviving WW2 is no reason to believe you are.
A modest student of history would recognize the seeds of WW2 were planted in Versailles when USA withdrew and allowed our allies to dictate punitive and unattainable terms of peace to Germany. WE, USA, set Germany up. Next, post WW1, Republicans's failure to address banking & investment regulation, as well as agricultural issues (Dust Bowl) set the course for Great Depression. Simultaneously, Republicans failed to protect workers from horrid conditions (eg River Rougue, Triangle Shirt Waste fire, miners working as indentured servants). The time between WW1 and WW2 saw Republcian heads of industry (Ford. Sloan, Lindberg) admiring Hitler as a means of protecting their wealth by way of defeating unions. All 3 of them received medals from Hitler.
A modest student of history knows this. A modest student of history recognizes what you are blind to from wrapping yourself in the flag.
I learnt this from my Dad who was decorated for his combat service in the Pacific theater. He was a student of history and was entirely disillusioned by his war experience which haunted him to his death. My friend, i suggest you read more before espousing silliness.
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@Jim Just a little cherry picking of history going on here ... better bone up.
It is as if the professor is modeling a hypothetical student assignment - "Create a reason to motivate democrats, progressives, socialists, and their ilk to vote next month for candidates on the left. See example (conveniently in the NY Times) which I have provided"
As if on cue with the election near, the professor's opinion piece was meant to further divide the country by stoking the fires of fear and hate, but what he is really after is to get leftists to vote in November. That's fine. He is permitted to do that. Its a free country. But what is apparent to me as a moderate conservative, this philosophy professor is seeing what he wants to see, hearing what he wants to hear and is promoting his own warped perceptions and worldview through a willing medium, the NY Times, who no doubt agrees with him.
It does NOT reflect the reality of half of the country though - a slight problem. That vast swath of confident, fear-resistant Americans who are pleased with Trump, despite his flaws which are apparent, but not all that important at the end of the day. These level-headed millions in fly-over country who are experiencing real and tangible results of Trump's fulfilled promises, see clearly what this professor is trying to do.
4
An excellent, essential, and courageous ‘exposure’ by the New York “Times”, now when as Dylan sang, “the ‘Times’ they are a changing” —- in warning all Americans of how easily we could become, like the Germans simply passive but “Good Germans” under Hitler, or what I’d call “Quiet Americans” under Emperor Trump.
Yes, Jason, we are all at risk of falling into Fascism, or what I refer to as a fascist Empire, in that fascism is merely a 20th century political/economic version of the four century history of Empire ‘big tools’ and deceits.
This current, unique, and modern metastasis of the Disguised Global Capitalist Empire employs not one, but a dual-party Vichy-political facades of faux democracy.
3
While calling President Trump a fascist may seem like an exaggeration, it might not be that far from the truth.
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Sorry, this is where the Op-Ed editor should have stopped reading and moved to the next submission.
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What bothers me more than the idiot in the White House, and I don't like the guy, is the ochlocracy of the press. Trump will be gone in two or six more years and the institution of the Presidency will recover. But the press has done so much damage to itself, the institution of the press may never recover.
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That's a lot worse than a bad, temporary president.
8
Terms like fascism and Nazism are tossed around with complete disregard for history and what these terms connote.
Was Roosevelt a fascist for confining US citizens of Japanese origin to internment camps, and closing our borders to Jews trying to escape Europe?
Was Truman a fascist for decimating two Japanese cities with nuclear bombs?
So Trump is a fascist for blocking immigration from 7 countries the Obama administration said exports terrorism? And for ripping up the Iran deal both the Senate and a House were against? For canceling the Paris Accords?
Are you kidding me?
Let me know when Trump starts arresting and assassinating political opponents. Then we can talk about it.
Until then, this kind of talk is a disgusting, and why the hard Left loses centrists, like me.
8
Perhaps Trump is not a fascist, just in outlook and method a National Socialist, or " neo-Nazi," among whom there were some "good people" in Charlottesville.
3
You should be concerned about a the video propaganda that Jason Stanley peddles in the major news outlet in the US. Not the movement of the center-right that reinforces following the law and bringing about change through elected representation (law and order). What does Stanley ignore? That the left is rioting in the streets, is rioting in the halls of Congress, is rioting on college campuses, is rioting in the Courts. People like Stanley attacked the Tea Party for violence, that never occurred. This was aided and abetted by the traditional media. Words like the "Baggers" (verbal denigration in itself) were distorted by the Left. Peaceful meetings were said to be violent. Holding of traditional liberal political views by conservatives were mocked and said to demonstrate anti-democratic intentions. But we saw what the left is really like. They say it openly and proudly. Harass govt officials and elected representatives that have different views. Define them first as outside the mainstream and then as fascists. Who is suppressing free speech on campuses? A collection of leftist professors/administrators and the little monsters they have empowered to threaten, harass and physically punish those who dare to deviate from the party line! Seem familiar? Right out of totalitarian playbook. Make any comparison and it is the left who represents the fascists in the photos and films of the 1930s, not the right. If you are not scared about Fascism of the Left in the U.S., You Should Be.
5
As Senator Lindsey Graham aptly pointed out recently, in America we have, unaccountable to its citizens, unelected ─tyrannical bureaucracy—that increasingly function like another branch of our government. These powerful bureaucrats will try to supersede or subvert elected bodies of our government, and endangering citizens will and our democracy. That’s why our founders wanted a “hands off, small government.” It’s the Democrats who created this authoritarian system, ─under various justifications, pretexts. And this bureaucratic monster devourers’ huge sums of tax payer money to live, and expand—increasing the tax burden on people. The Democrats’ love for a powerful and vast big government programs ─ both in theory and practice, naturally links them with Fascists.
2
Excellent review of HOW Fascism works.
What about WHAT Fascism is?
Communism: Everyone shares everything equally
Democracy: One person one vote
Fascism: ????? What is their tagline?
Hard to imagine at first. But the Church of Scientology showed me that:
Fascism: Make us stronger by making them weaker
In the end the WHAT is as simple as the HOW. As truth always is. KISS - Keep it simple ... stupid!
1
No offense meant to my virtuous male friends but women have to recognize that, as Dr. Stanley points out, the fascist leader "is always a he" One of the main goals of fascism is the subservience of women. Did we not just see that in the blatant Supreme Court power grab and the treatment of women as lying "others?" If you know men claiming that women are lying about sexual assaults, you are seeing Fascist recruiting material. This isn't just doubt about the facts it was an assumption that women are lying vermin determined to bring down righteous men .
In spite of Marie le Pen's pretensions, there never has been and never will be a female fascist leader. It is a contradiction in terms.
11
Trump isn't fascism first appearance in America. It has been with us for centuries and rears its ugly head in cycles.
It was here when millions of Native Americans were slaughtered.
Fascism was here when slavers brought in millions of Africans to this nation.
Fascism was here when newly freed African Americans were reneged on the promise of two acres and a mule.
Fascism's virulent presence was felt when Jim Crow arrived.
Fascism was here when African Americans struggled to have their civil rights enshrined into law.
Fascism was here during the McCarthy years (with Roy Cohn's help)
Fascism was here with COINTELPRo
Fascism was here with the start of mass-incarceration and since.
Fascism was here with police brutality and still is.
Fascism is here with the second coming of Jim Crow.
Fascism will continue to be here when we continue to ignore our history and pretend that fascism came from outer space. It didn't.
The particular brand of fascism that is practiced in this nation is native to this nation. Hitler borrowed from it. To point to Hitler when talking about Trump denies fundamental truths about authoritarianism, racism, and America's relationship with them.
---
Trump and the GOP: More Jim Crow Than Nazi Germany
https://www.rimaregas.com/2018/06/19/trump-and-the-gop-more-jim-crow-tha...
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The more people lie, the more fascistic they usually turn out to be.
4
The Democrats Party’s love for a powerful and vast big government is well known. To make that massive government function there has to be tax payer supported costly, massive Federal bureaucracy ─which runs those vast government operations. This is exactly what naturally links Democratic politics with Fascism. The vast governmental bureaucracy is unelected and unaccountable. The Germany’s Nazis “national socialists,” Russia’s V.I Lenin’s Bolshevism, and Stalinism, Mussolini Italian Fascism, People’s Republic China’s Mao-Zedong Maoism, are all from the political left. All these authoritarian systems believed in all-powerful big governments would create a “new man” with their ideological obsession for “equality” and, production and redistribution of wealth. All of them started as left-wing, worker or as labor movements. All of them collectively ended up massacring perhaps 100 million civilians to accomplish their objectives. To suggest that Democratic Party’s platform and its political praxis is alarmingly linked with Fascism─ is to point out the obvious.
6
Big government takes away individual rights as in a woman's right to choose and tax cuts for the wealthy while increasing the national debt by 1.5T not to mention endangering life as we know it on the planet.
Have you ever considered the costs of relocating 10 million displaced persons? Trump and his Republican sycophants can't even handle a few thousand refugees much less 10 million.@ChandraPrince
2
the republican party may have gone fascist but trump himself is a stalinist.
the republican party and hence america has been moving in the direction of fascism for the last 20 years. hitler gave fascism a bad name, but if you look at the political and economic attributes of fascism you get one party or dictatorial rule (republican america for most of the last 20 years) and collusion between the state and the wealthy to transfer additional wealth from the lower economic levels to the top level (growing income and wealth inequality). trump however has gone one step further down the road of despotism. with trump america has entered an era of stalinism. because the soviet union was on the winning side in ww2 Stalin was able to write his own history and so hitler's germany has been made to be the epitome of evil. but in fact the soviet union under stalin was much much worse the soviet union claimed that it lost over 20 million people in the war, but what they failed to mention was that at least half that number were killed as a result of stalin's orders. so how is trump channeling stalinism even if he has not yet ordered the deaths of millions of americans. even in fascist germany the truth, facts and not fictions counted for something. in a stalinist regime the truth no longer counts. the only thing that matter is political expediency. this is where we are with trump and his supporters. the truth does not matter. we have entered the era of stalinism in america.
3
To paraphrase the late, great Tom Wolfe: "...the dark night of fascism is always descending in the United States and yet lands only in Europe."
2
Oh, please. This is nothing but a piece of propaganda. I dislike Trump as much as the next guy, but to put him in the same league as Hitler and Mussolini is crazy. When I start seeing concentration camps filled with political opponents, a eugenics program to weed out the 'useless eaters', book burnings and targeted mass violence against a minority population ... then I'll believe it. Trump is all about oligarchy. A ham-fisted attempt to take our country back to the Gilded Age via a reality TV star who has his sound bites carefully crafted to appeal to just enough of the decreasing number of the voting age population that actually turn out. It's genius if you think about it.
10
@S. Will concentration camps with children separated from their parents and placed in cages do for starters?
6
Are you sure you are acquainted with a nascent Hitler or Mussolini?@S.
@S.
You make some good points. Hitler was anything but a useful idiot. He wasn't stupid. Trump has a gift for demagoguery and that's about it. In most respects he is a stooge. If it weren't for other people's ideas, he wouldn't have any.
Here's just some further historical parallels:
1)Both Nazis and Trump came about after prolonged conflicts and economic recessions in their respective countries
2)They both blame the society's ills on minorities. For the Nazis it was Jews/Gipsys/Gays... For Trump it's Muslims/Mexicans/illegals...
3)Both disdain a free press. For the Nazis it was lügenpresse which literally means lying press, for Trump it's the dishonest media
8
And I can verify from articles in the American, German and world press of the early 1930s, no one then thought Adolph H. would become THAT Hitler.
8
Fascism is a form of collectivism, with similar goals as socialism and communism. All three are antithetical to capitalism, which is the only social/political/economic system that requires and defends freedom. Collectivist ideologies require the government to use physical force against its own citizens - because all collectivist ideologies demand that the individual be crushed under the weight of the group, at the demands of central planners.
One indicator of fascism: The destruction of Freedom of Speech. Hillary Clinton promised to crack the First Amendment during her campaign - by any standard of honesty, she ranks as a premiere Fascist. Trump is of course no better - witness his arbitrary creation of tariffs to please voting blocs by punishing all other Americans with higher prices for everything.
By the same token, nearly every Donkey POTUS has acted along Fascist - Collectivist - lines.
6
Fascist or not Trump is the most divisive individual I have witnessed in my lifetime. He is more akin to a Banana Republic Dictator.@KarlosTJ
4
I am worried about fascism. I am worried that the pro-illegal immigration stance of the Democratic Party is going to sink their chances of regaining power.
I am worried that if Trump is stopped in his plans for immigration reform and the deportation of those here illegally someone even worse will be elected.
I am very worried that we are losing our democracy in order to protect illegal immigrants.
I am afraid we have a tough decision to make- preserve our democracy and the idea of citizenship or preserve 22 million illegal immigrants. I don't think we can do both.
And, what makes me frightened most of all, I am not sure which would be worse. The United States is turning into a third-world country- our collective future is being flushed down the toilet because of over-population.
If the Democratic Party fails to moderate on immigration millions of people, like me, will vote for whichever politician promises to do something. Trump will be the tip of the ice-berg.
8
@WillT26 Please provide one shred of evidence that the Democratic party is in favor of illegal immigration. Not that they oppose immoral means of curbing it, or means like a stupid wall that won't work, but evidence that they favor it. Trump saying so doesn't make it so. Quite the contrary, nearly everything he says is a lie, which you by now should have learned.
11
@phil,
See Democratic position on: TPS, border security, DACA, the parents of DACA, asylum standards, detention standards, work place enforcement policies, etc.
TPS- temporary programs that have, now, lasted for decades. Democratic party opposes ending them- ever.
Border security- Democratic position: none. Disband ICE.
DACA - Democrats support it. Google: 'DACA participant convicted.'
Asylum standards: have too many kids? In a bad relationship? Stubbed a toe? Welcome to America!
Detention standards: Can't detain- must release. Gone forever.
Work place enforcement: oppose. Disband ICE.
I don't have to listen to Trump to know the Democrats support unlimited, unrestricted, immigration and amnesty for all here illegally.
The New York Times is suggesting that Donald Trump may be exhibiting Fascist tendencies. But it is BOTH political parties that have been pulling back from constitutional liberties guaranteed by the Bill of Rights. It is hypocritical to accuse Trump of fascist tendencies while not recognizing the dissolution of personal freedoms due to liberal excesses.
To balance comment, let me describe some of the ways in which liberal politicians have dispensed with legalities when they wanted to achieve a political goal but did not have the constitutional power:
Perhaps the most glaring example is Obama's granting of amnesty to Dreamers without congressional approval. This is not about whether the Dreamers deserve to stay in the US. It is whether a president has a right to disregard the will of congress because he wants to achieve a goal without the appropriate legislation. This is what made many conservatives angry with Obama, and rightly so.
Illegal immigration is a serious problem. The political parties adopt extreme positions. One of those positions is declaring certain cities to be sanctuary cities. What does that mean? It seems to mean that certain communities are openly defying federal laws. And if Democrats do that, what right do they have to complain when the other side uses similar tactics?
As I said, illegal immigration is a serious problem. The discussions of this problem should be occurring in Congress.
The Left seems to want to fight in the streets instead.
10
@Jake Wagner You mention "dissolution of personal freedoms due to liberal excesses." Yet you give no examples. I repeat NO examples. That's because there are no examples, for you to give. You also appear to have no understanding of what fascism is. It involves authoritarian rule, maintained and/or accomplished by violent means. Your hints that "the left" has moved in that direction are ridiculous and hyperbolic. A demonstration by a splinter group that veers toward street violence, and there are some on both sides of the partisan divide, in the extremes, has NOTHING to do with the establishment of authoritarian rule. On the contrary, your cult leader Drumpf has attacked the rule of law in numerous ways and stated repeatedly that "only he can fix things." THAT smacks of fascism Mussolini or Hitler style, though thanks to a pathological level of mental disorganization those characters did not suffer from, your cult leader is far from being able to get there.
Now lets talk about sanctuary cities. You make the false claim that the policies of sanctuary cities "openly defy federal laws." No court has so ruled. NO COURT. That's because the policies of these cities are totally legal and your claim otherwise, like your other claims, is mendacious and misleading.
7
@Jake Wagner - Hi Jake. You have a technical point but it is taken in isolation - it ignores the de-facto legality of employing so-called illegals. This has been by design for over 50 years:
"During the negotiations for the third renewal of the Bracero program, Mexican officials unsuccessfully demand that the United States sanction employers who hire undocumented Mexicans. In 1952, Congress passes the Texas Proviso, which makes harboring an illegal entrant a felony, but does not punish those who employ them."
That's our history and the attitude has not changed at all. It takes an illegal employer AND an illegal employee to make a crime - otherwise its a hypocritical and cruel waste of time and money. It's clear that hard working farms and businesses have grown depending on so-called illegal labor, and we're not going to send those hard working people to jail or bankrupt their businesses and tank the economy. Me and you and everyone else cannot even avoid being complicit in our daily consumption of food products which are cheaper than they would be without the existence of so-called illegal labor.
In the 2000's McCain and Kennedy managed to create a compromise bill to give legal status to the so-called illegal workers. Unfortunately it was defeated in congress. I hope you agree it's worth it to keep on trying. Create a real reliable e-verify along with visa for legitimate seasonal workers and green cards for legitimate permanent workers. Thanks.
2
Would have been more effective without a pre-roll for Cup Noodle and if Prof. Stanley wasn't sitting on a folding chair and had had some hair and makeup help.
2
You think hair and makeup "help" would have made the presentation more effective? And that the folding chair is, somehow, problematic?
Well . . . it's certainly true that none of the great fascists would have made rookie mistakes like that. ;^(
While there are certainly echoes of fascism in Trumpism, there are major differences.
First, the 1930's were a time of extreme economic desperation, far worse than the recent Great Recession and with no safety nets. We have our economic issues, but it is nothing like the misery of those days. Most people have something to lose.
Second, the institutions of government were very weak in these countries, nor was there a long history of democracy. America has many checks and balances that limit Trump's ability to act. Also, Americans identify strongly with freedom, and any hint of losing it would cause vast number of Republicans to abandon him.
Third, these were large populations of poorly educated people by modern standards, who were receiving their first introduction to propaganda via mass media. Today people are better educated. Trump rallies don't represent most GOP voters, who realize that he is a deeply flawed president but is delivering on policies that are important to them, so they tolerate his shenanigans.
We have a very strong antidote to Trump, which is to vote him out of office. If the Democrats can put up Obama-like numbers in the 2020 election, the Trump presidency will be discarded onto the ash heap of history.
2
@Roger One correction. You obviously don't know much about Germany in the 1920's and 1930's. The education level there was quite high. Here's a relevant quote:
"In Germany the general level of education in the Weimar period was regarded as high by international standards and there was very little illiteracy. Prussia, for example, had made education up to age 14 compulsory in 1825, much earlier than France or England. Even before that the proportion of children attending school up to age 14 had been high. Traditionally, Germans have held education in very high regard. Before 1933 Germany was seen as a bastion of scholarship and science, and aspects of its school and university systems were widely imitated in many other countries, in particular the heavy emphasis on research in the universities."
I'd offer the contention that education in Germany in the 1920's. when fascism got it's start, was more esteemed than it is in today's America. Trump says he "loves the uneducated." Wonder why?
5
What's terrifying is that the Republican party now seems to be accepting of Trump whereas in the past they were as appalled with his words and actions as the Democrats.
As long as they can advance their agenda they're fine with his unacceptable and undemocratic behavior. I fear that the people in the GOP just don't have the integrity to stand up to a fascist and will do anything to hold onto their power.
8
@L
We already know about voter suppression and gerrymandering, but perhaps the best example of how far Republicans will go to hold onto power is Merrick Garland.
14
@Robert Sewell: I generally find my comments to be more persuasive if I accompany them with corroborating facts or reasoned analysis. I figured that out on the playground in grade school when my retort of “I know you are, but what am I?” failed to convert my young tormentor.
2
Trump didn't emerge from a vacuum. He exploits a situation where people feel unheard by both major parties.
Even if Trump is defeated and his policies rebuked by the majority, unless the conditions which led to Trump's rise are addressed, the ground is still fertile for the emergence of another demagogue, perhaps more effective and devious than Trump.
3
Donald Trump is a race-nationalist demagogue. If Trump is a fascist, then so were dozens of such 20th century demagogues.
In postcolonial East Africa and Southeast Asia, indigenous politicians inflamed ethnic resentment against communities that had migrated into these regions under Western colonialism. Indian and Chinese were scapegoated in the same way Trump scapegoats brown-skinned foreigners.
But these politicians were not fascists. That’s because fascism is more than talk. It’s an activity. It’s a political program around which people organize to achieve revolutionary goals. Those goals are informed by race-nationalist demagoguery, but that doesn’t make such demagoguery fascism. To be a fascist, one must have a program to capture state power and transform society, and pursue it methodically.
Mussolini and Hitler went beyond demagoguery. They established complex, organized movements to capture state power and use it to reorganize their societies. They were intelligent political operators who understood social dynamics. This allowed them to go beyond demagoguery and achieve mass political mobilization.
By contrast, Trump is a pathological narcissist of limited intelligence, albeit with a gift for cheap demagoguery. He has no political organization. Various right-wing intellectuals and hangers-on have coalesced around him, but he has neither the capacity nor the inclination to establish a political movement to achieve what actual 20th century fascists did.
33
@Capital Spaulding: Trump is already doing a lot to further the fascist agenda. Specifically, he has put pro-industry mouthpieces in charge of the agencies designed to be a check on industries' harmful effect on the environment, pn their bottom-line emphasis that cheats workers out of a living wage and pension benefits, and on the rampant cheating of customers in the financial industry. Furthermore, he fully supports vote suppression and gerrymandering and electoral interference by Russians - he knows that they won him the 2016 election.
11
@Capital Spaulding Gee, somehow I feel so much better now. Not!
6
@Capital Spaulding
I disagree. I believe Trump is acting under constant instruction from someone we don't see. Someone who is telling him what to say and how to say it with a plan to turn the US into effectively a one party state. He is merely the actor. What he says and how he says it is all planned and scripted with a long term goal in mind.
7
Trump has all the hallmarks of a dictator.He has contempt for a free and vigorous press.He shows disrespect for judges who rule against him or his policies. His disregard for the truth is legendary. He scapegoats vulnerable minorities. He manipulates his supporters at mass rallies.And perhaps he makes the trains run on time.He is doing his best to emulate his heroes. The leaders of Russia,China,Saudi Arabia and North Korea.If you walk like a dictator and talk like a dictator and act like a dictator it is obvious what you are.
22
So when the leftist mob beats up conservative speakers at college campuses, is that fascism?
When the IRS targets political groups with which they disagree, is that fascism?
When the FBI infiltrates the opposition party during an election, subverts the investigation into their preferred presidential candidate, and then tries to take a sitting president down, is that fascism?
To paraphrase the great philosopher Forrest Gump; Fascism is as Fascism does.
Once again the Democrats accuse Republicans of their own sins.
11
@Steve MD When Steve refuses to see the obvious right in front of him is that racism?
3
@Steve MD Of course, none of that has happened.
However, lying and twisting reality to fit one's loyalties, and believing in far-fetched conspiracy theories, are also signs of fascist tendencies.
10
@Religionistherootofallevil
Where have you been these past few years? Look at all the violence and people injured at campus "protests" by Leftist Mobs when conservative speakers were scheduled. Yes, I used the "M" word. Mobs. Def: a large crowd of people, especially one that is disorderly and intent on causing trouble or violence.
Antifa protests usually end up with someone on the opposing side getting attacked with ball bats, sticks, bike chains.....
How can you say the IRS didn't target groups that Obama, Lois Learner, John Koskinen disagreed with? Insane!
All of this is documented. Wake up and stop drinking the Dem Kool-Aid
No one needs to worry about Trump becoming a fascist, his support would evaporate the second he makes a unconstitutional grab for power. It's unfortunate that those on the left have so little faith in our institutions.
9
@DM Bekus That's because we realize that our democracy depends on more than just institutions--it's based largely on political norms, which the right has been breaking down since New Gingrich came to town.
10
@DM Bekus GIven the overwhelming evidence that his "support" would do not such thing, you're living in la la land if you believe what you wrote. Our institutions have been steadily weakening since before Trump, but his relentless, GOP supported attacks on them are doing a lot to erode them.
13
@DM Bekus.
So sayeth you. But not Mitch McConnell, or Paul Ryan, or a Supreme Court with Kavanaugh. “Becoming” a facist? He is what he is. No transmogrification necessary.
1
As attributed to Benito (Il Duce) Mussolini: “Fascism should more properly be called corporatism, since it is the merger of state and corporate power.”
I would suggest that it's not "classical" fascism that is so worrisome as it is the bigotry, race baiting, and cultural demeaning of Trump's nationalism, and its 40% approval rate, that is worrisome.
Corporatism has been Republican policy since the 1870s.
9
Fascism is already here, under its Americanized name Trumpism. The courts have been packed with Trumpists, both houses of Congress are Trumpist enablers and large numbers of voters are Trumpists. We had our last free election in 2012. Sic transit Gloria America.
5
Now I know GOP will maintain their majority.
The Times is reporting with more desperation as we get closer to November 6.
9
I teach philosophy, too, and one of my recent courses was on political ideologies. Among those we examined in class was the ideology of Fascism, both historically and in terms of its characteristic traits. Jason Stanley is correct in much of what he says here, but there is much more to it - and even more disturbing parallels between Trump and other authoritarian leaders - than he acknowledges here, including the following: the cult of a "charismatic" leader; anti-intellectualism (or, anti-science); aggressive nationalism; anti-immigration; economic isolationism; denial of human rights; and, of course, as admitted here, consistent distortion of the truth in the service of propaganda. Trump fits the historical and theoretical description almost perfectly. As long as Congress fails to check his power, the fascist tendencies of Donald Trump will only grow.
The midterm elections in November are vitally important to our democracy. Vote for Democrats before it's too late!
209
Many of the Trump faithful won't fear fascism until Trump comes for their guns. They should note that an absolute ruler cannot tolerate any possibility of meaningful resistance. By then it will be too late to avoid much unpleasantness.
5
There is clearly a growing trend here in the US, and other places around the world, toward the support of leaders with fascist-leaning tendencies. I believe that all of us – liberal, conservative or center, democrat, republican or unaffiliated - should be concerned. Prof. Stanley is right to warn us that ‘When fascism starts to feel normal, we’re all in trouble’. Let’s expand on that thought!
When a President speculates about ‘rogue killers’ and it feels normal, we’re all in trouble.
When a President says the ‘Fed has gone crazy’ and it feels normal, we’re all in trouble.
When a President reiterates his ‘love’ for the North Korean dictator and it feels normal, we’re all in trouble.
When a President hosts a ranting rapper / reality star in the oval office and it feels normal, we’re all in trouble.
When a President is still looking for ‘proof’ that climate change is man-made, and it feels normal, we’re all in trouble.
When a President describes a hurricane as ‘tremendously big and tremendously wet’ and it feels normal, we’re all in trouble.
When a President says, ‘I alone can fix it’ and it feels normal, that’s the beginning of fascism and it’s NOT normal.
Please vote for normalcy on November 6.
28
@KateV.... "BINGO!!! We have a BINGO over here''!
3
Who is enabling this President ? - republicans
Does that mean that all republicans are fascists as well ? What it means is that they are ignoring (and in many, many ways wholly complicit with) their designated duties laid out in the Constitution to be a check on the executive.
The republican controlled Congress (since 2010) have disregarded their sole responsibility to declare war. The United States has sent troops and military assets to many places around the world, that is in many regards fitting the description of being fascist. This most basic fact, has been ignored by many, including the press.
The core of Democracy is the vote, and the republican party has been (for decades) trying to limit any vote that may go against them. That has been at the federal, state and local level.
Lastly, in recent years (especially with this President), it has not been enough to have a media conglomerate as bullhorn to blare propaganda, but now all press (that goes against said propaganda) is now an ''enemy of the state''.
First they came for ...
5
One of the reasons we should be worried about fascism in the United States is due to the bigger fascist threats in China and Russia. The US, with a developed democracy, has a long way to go before descending into what are essentially well organized gangs in China and Russia.
The way for the United States to lead is to be a champion of democratic values. We should tie trade to those values. World GDP would be at least 40% higher if all countries were democratic. What's happening in China, Russian, Saudi Arabia and so many other countries is thousands of times more dangerous to humanity.
1
The problem I have with this video is that the authors exude remarkable confidence in their ability to see where fascism will come from. At the same time, though, they remain silent about the disturbing developments on college campuses. I am not convinced that the greater danger isn't the left-feminists on campus running kangaroo sex courts and vicious social media campaigns against students. Surely, these developments looks like fascism, too. Maybe even more so. Why the silence? It makes your presentation look like left-wing ideological fluff rather than a thoughtful piece about the erosion of democracy and justice.
The next fascism might not wear a uniform and salute a flag. Indeed, it might take the form of a professional at the very school that you work at.
7
@KOne of the problems with that line of thinking is that the leftists on college campuses or progressive organizations, not to mention the democrats in government, are not in power. Nor do they seem to have a chance to take it. And the right increasingly refuses to allow the left participate. To quote Robert O. Paxton, as others have done here: "The only route to power available to fascists passes through cooperation with conservative elites."
2
Yes it is scary...
when the screeching shrieking mob, supported all along by political hacks disguised as senators, drives character assassination and demands acquiescence to their unsubstantiated accusations of a person for his suspected political affiliation...
6
American Fascism is already a reality. Since Reagan this country has been run for the benefit of the rich and corporations. You want to find the real power? It is not in the citizens, it's in the hands of Oligarchs and their dancing elephant.
10
Poverty is a kind of violence, the worst kind - Gandhi
From 1945 to 72 GNP increased by 100% & each segment of society increased in kind, poor, working class, middle class and rich.
The median wage has not increased since 1972. Family income went up only as families spent more hours in the job market.
Meanwhile GNP has gone up 150%. Think about what that means.
How was that arrived at?
In 60s tariffs were dropped. It was the Cold War era. Guys like Nixon opened American markets up to places like Japan & Western Europe to spread prosperity to front line states. But it also had the effect of undermining American Labor which in 1969 lead a middle class existence.
In 1965 legislation was changed that made the borders more porous. Also American manufacturers began outsourcing factories to Singapore (who perfected a model of modern infrastructure cheap disciplined labor that spoke English & coddled executives, that spread thru out Asia)
Prior to 1960s, if an Executive talked of outsourcing a factory he risked a brick through his living room window from the mob, which had ties to labor.
That seems horrific violence, but remember Gandhi: "Poverty is a kind of violence, the worst kind." A brick thru the window was a reminder of that.
In the 1960s beginning with the Kennedys, govt began cracking down on organized crime. In 1970 the RICO statutes were passed.
Flat wages was hardest on white working class. Long term flat wages are not sustainable w/out Fascist government.
2
@Tim Kane "flat wages was hardest on white working class" I guess no one else is working ? especially in manufacturing ?
1
@GY: I am sorry I don't have a link or citation, but during the 2016 election year, I saw articles hear and elsewhere showing graphs of health and well being fore various subsets of society. All were increasing (some from some serious low levels) - except the white working class which was decreasing - and had been for a considerable period of time.
And when I say all, I mean just not our society but also many societies around the world.
The decline of the white working class was an anomaly.
We are talking use and deaths linked to abuse of alcohol, opiods, other drugs, death by failed organ functions, that sort of thing.
Now for a while they took it on the chin, I suppose, waiting for things to get better. But its' been over 45 years now, and we shouldn't be surprised if at some point a reaction wouldn't occur.
Sooner or later, some monster like Trump or worse was going to come along and exploit this politically.
In this case, he's exploiting reaction on behalf of the rich upper class (so far).
Trumps seems to think raising tariffs will fix everything. This is called Industrial policy. Places like Japan have been successful at it but they have huge bureaucracies that do it. We apply Ind Pol to 2 sectors: Ag & Defense and they are some of our biggest bureaucracies in government. It is needed and called for, but for Trump to do this from hip is, really, absurd, and probably reckless and dangerous.
@GY: It's not that other groups weren't working for these flat wages. It's that White Working Class was starting from a very high point while other groups were staring from a low point. The White working class benefited from the New Deal (FDR) and the Fair Deal (Truman) social contract which lasted until Reagan (1981) and worked in heavily unionized industries early on giving them a middle class life style. The other groups, such as Hispanics and African Americans were coming from a lower base, and despite the erosion of the social contract, first under Reagan and again under Bush II, circumstances, broadly speaking, managed to improve as more African Americans and Hispanics obtained higher education and so forth. White working class were basically descending while they managed some ascent. It's not your status but your trend that affects your sense of future prospects and hope. Everyone is entitled to rising level of expectations - its necessary for peace and harmony.
October 15, 2018
The only thing we have to fear..... okay history and resume is our key to understanding events and personalities that claim ruler-ship. For me America is very smart and educated to sort our the trouble makers and hold to account. However, in collective psychology the best of the best thinkers and speakers in all professions are very able to give rational discourse to prevent panic and terror in the souls and minds. Believe is our advance educated families and desires to enjoy their productive life style is the winning recipe and the in full stomachs get out the votes and know the resume of the every that will come forth to take power - but never to dishonor the America culture we love and protect - our Grace eternal.
2
In an earlier post Martin says, "No one who is aware of history could listen to Trump without thinking of Mussolini or Hitler."
I agree. During the many decades since the time of the Great Depression and WWII it was broadly viewed as inappropriate to speak of American politicians or body politic as having any similarity to, or potential for emulating, fascist regimes of the 1930s and 1940s. A couple of years ago I revisited that taboo (e.g. see Hannah Arendt's The Origins of Totalitarianism) and concluded "it could happen here".
An important requirement, in addition to the usual demagogue, is that part of the population be susceptible to gradual seduction, commonly via intense propaganda. And, in the past, this necessity element seems to emerge all too commonly. And then I think of a Trump rally.
7
There are times I believe that I feel like some Germans must have felt in the 1930's. We must be on guard. There are definitely some similarities.
5
From a well respected, well informed Republican:
"If conservatives become convinced that they can not win democratically, they will not abandon conservatism. They will reject democracy.”
― David Frum, Trumpocracy: The Corruption of the American Republic
And from the same source - who, remember was *W's speechwriter* for God's sake - this observation:
“The Republican Party was built on a coalition of the nation’s biggest winners from globalization and its biggest losers. The winners wrote the policy; the losers provided the votes.”
Thank you professor Stanley. That you will be written off as an "intellectual elitist" is part and parcel of exactly what you are so well describing.
14
Am I the only one who thinks that in some of his grimaces and postures, Trump seems like Mussolini?! Sure he got that playbook from Stephen Miller! (PS By the way, before Mussolini cozied up to Hitler, there were a number of Italian Jewish Fascists!)
what an awful, alarmist piece of drivel. just awful. how about this--im willing to bet $1,000 and give 10,000:1 odds that trump wont become a fascist. everyone knows the good professor wont risk the $1000...which says it all.
if he becomes a fascist, how does it actually work? how does he get the scotus to go along-the 5 conservatives are fascists too, now? ? how about the congress- they are powerless to stop him? really? they can stop the obamacare dismantling, but not his fascism???? all the republicans become fascists and give him free reign?? really?? when quite a few could barely vote for kavanugh?? and the army is also a bunch of fascists and they go along with this, too? really? did the good professor consider any of this- on how he actually becomes a fascist and we lose our freedoms?? and this gets published in the NYT???? it belongs on huffpost at best.
ive heard this fascism idiocy for two years now, and at first it was relegated to dopey celebrities threatening to leave the country and the unhinged SJW's.
how about this-if you REALLY fear fascism, why wouldnt you buy a gun just in case? i mean, you're going to just sit there and have your freedom taken away like its 1933 germany? or do you plan to flee the country and not fight for your freedom??
sigh. yet another hack pretending to be an intellectual.
7
@ari
Having common sense unfortunately is not part of this echo chamber...
but rather scare tactics, propaganda and outright lies to whip up the pre-election fervor among party adherents...
And it works reading the comments section... just like it did for Folkisher Beobachter...
4
Ivory tower bedwetting. It's ironic, though, that when the good professor defines fascism, it sounds like he's describing the Democratic Party's far left cadre.
6
@Timothy
Spare us "the good professor" sarcasm and clichés like "the far left cadre." Hitler arose to power in part because he blamed the Jews for being both "far left" communists, and the worst capitalists. To embrace lies that are mutually contradictory is a hallmark of an authoritarian regime, call it fascist or not, and Trump has learned from masters. The Nazis called themselves the National Socialist Party, so words can be twisted to mean whatever a demagogue chooses them to signify.
6
IMO the only US citizens who have an inkling what fascism “feels like” have brown skin and live primarily in large cities where the (mostly but not all white) power structure has set up a fear-based criminal justice system that has for decades employed the police, courts and prisons to arrest people at will so that the rest of us can feel “safe”. The “fear” that led to this existed in a wide range of people of both genders and political parties whose myopic boosters were at times “well-meaning” urban liberals like me and it led to the “War on Drugs” and the criminalization of “going about your business while black”.
For the rest of us white skinned people, this is NOT the Weimar Republic. Ask me again on November 7.
4
When you put a photo of Trump next to one of Hitler, you've already lost the argument. Is Trump planning on conquering Europe? Invading Russia? Exterminating Jews,Gypsies, and gays? He's not? Then what is your point ? Comparisons are odious.
8
@Paul McBride
Whip up the adherents into pre-election mob frenzy... And it works!
Echo chamber is up in arms... :))
1
@Paul McBride
So because Trump's scapegoating of certain minorities is different from those Hitler chose, and because he hasn't gone so far as murder, this means we cannot make historical comparisons?
5
The USA is a fascist country. It's ruled by a corporate oligarchy that controls the senate, the executive, and now the supreme court, dictating how they rule on everything both domestic and foreign. These corporations also control the major media messages that are carefully crafted by their employed psychs and quants to twist the gullible public into believing what amount to half-truths and outright lies. Trumpolini would like to make it a fascist dictatorship, with himself as the Fuehrer. It is clear that he despises democracy, and only seeks to empower himself by whatever lies and extortion he can get away with.
9
It has been my observation that the progressive left are the ones exhibiting fascist tendencies. Anybody who does not express the proper politically correct opinion are viciously attacked on social media (the avenue of today's brown shirts). They hound politicians they don't agree with in public places such as restaurants, elevators, theaters, even at their homes. Their leaders advocate that there will be no civility until the Democrats control he government.
20
@johnlo But what you describe is not fascism, which historically, politically, and economically comes from the far right, not the far left. The far left gave us communism. For further reading, try Robert O. Paxton's The Five Stages of Fascism.
9
@johnlo
Your memory seems to be very short. The GOP in the '90s under the direction of Newt Gingrich began the process of weeding out those who didn't toe the party line. This progressed to the tactics of Tom Delay and the process of "primarying" sitting GOP congressmen and senators who weren't "conservative" enough. The process exploded with the tea party in 2010 which drove the party even further to the right and continued the tactics of the previous decades.
I'll leave you with a quote from Will Rogers: "I am not a member of any organized political party. I am a Democrat."
7
@johnlo No sir, what you are observing is not fascist behavior. It is resistance to fascist behavior. If there had been effective resistance in other cultures, fascist leaders might not have committed the atrocities that they did.
10
So Trump is a fascist because he's not a milquetoast like Obama? Whatever. It really pains the Left that they have no one they can walk all over anymore, doesn't it.
6
@John Doe
Perhaps Trump is not a fascist, just in outlook and method a National Socialist (the name of the Nazi party in 1930's Germany). Or maybe a neo-Nazi, among whom there were some very " good people" in Charlottesville.
3
Watch Rick Steve’s (Yes, THAT Rick Steve’s, of dulcet-toned European travel fame) new documentary about fascism and then see who’s name you keep substituting in your head for Il Duce and Hitler. The stoking of violence against their own people, propaganda, populism, lies, narcissism, and scapegoating, all elements of both leaders...and Trump. I have never seen such a concise and clear history of fascism. He even visually explains where the word fascism came from using sticks, which stuns with its relationship to what Trump is doing.
15
Trump is not Hitler: Trump has not ordered mass murder, and Hitler paid his taxes. The point is that by the time Trump becomes Hitler it would be much too late.
5
@Richard Schumacher
Unless one believes in reincarnation, Trump is not Hitler. He has learned from him and other demagogues to deceive the faithfully credulous and willfully ignorant They all thrive upon the poorly educated.
2
Your placement of Trump smack in the middle of a montage between Mussolini and Hitler was tasteless and inappropriate. I'll assume that Prof. Stanley, notwithstanding his paranoia, is not responsible for designing the montage.
6
Trump's first wife, Ivana, says he kept a book of Hitler's speeches by the bed. Here's a man who reads very little, yet he chose a book of Hitler's speeches to have on his nightstand.
14
@Linda: OR an embittered woman facing her husband dumping her in a painful, public divorce….was just making up insulting stuff.
It is only white Americans who need schooling about the threat of fascism in this country, as it now begins to affect the institutions which we have taken for granted will protect us for so long. I suspect that in many communities of color around the country, among many people of color, black and brown people especially, fascism has been a reality for a long time. Due process? Innocent until proven guilty? Powerful leaders with cult-like followers who promote racial strife and division? Attacks on the truth about people of color and immigrants of color (when was the last time you heard an attack on all the undocumented Polish immigrants working in Chicago. of whom there are many?).
I am not negating the Civil Rights movement, or any other progress made in the 20th century, but since the election of Ronald Reagan, any study of history clearly shows a steady decline as well in things such as policing, militarization, and attitudes.
Even though the term white privilege deeply rankles those who most benefit from it, the reality is that us white folks will be the last to feel the worst effects of the fascism Stanley warns about, and upper and middle class whites will be the best protected against its ravages.
But don't be fooled. We already have one sign of fascism: a corporate state that long ago ceased working in the interest of the people. Fortunately we still have some institutions which may continue to be responsive and it is these which we must use to the max.
18
I'm surprised this has not been noted more frequently since Trump took office! Trump's supporters remind me of WWII Italy and Mussolini: They were ok with him so long as the trains ran on time. When the deficit begins to crush our economy and Trump's nationalistic views begin to wear thin with the rest of the world, we might have a changing of the guard. I only hope the cure is not the reincarnation of the malady under a different name.
11
The deniers will deny, the avant-garde will sound the alarm and little will penetrate the American psyche until the “silent majority” are motivated to resist this very real threat to our Constitution and way of life. The ballot box must be utilized to protect and defend our Democracy. YES, we should be concerned, very deeply concerned.
12
Lawrence Britt lists 14 characteristics of Fascism https://ratical.org/ratville/CAH/fasci14chars.html
Donald Trump fits all 14.
Mr. Luettgen, if Trump obeys court rulings, why are the children not reunited with their parents? Why does he actually use executive diktat (immigration, despoiling the environment, moving funds from disaster management to prisons)? This shoe fits.
25
Proto-fascist trope of the day - Fox News personality Ainsley Earhardt regarding Lesley Stahl's purported disrespect to the strongman: “So if you watched the full interview, you can see, she does interrupt him a lot. And people — many Republicans thought it was disrespectful and obnoxious."
7
In my teens, it was almost a summer's right of passage to read Shirer's Rise and Fall. It was different for us, then, however, because we were born from families who had fought the fascist tyranny. Many of them having lost sons on the fields of battle in North Africa, Sicily, Italy, Burma, and eventually Europe, or drowned in a frigid Atlantic.
They had all seen it coming, while weak, hopeful, appeasing politicians did nothing. And they see it coming again. It's no mystery to them, and it should be no mystery to anyone who's ever read Rise and Fall, or paid even a little attention to the world around them.
These are not strong men, these are weak men who can only govern through fear. They are bullies, and all bullies are inveterate cowards at heart. And they can only survive with the aid of petty sycophants, and through the gross ignorance of a grossly ignorant society.
Such people thrive on stupid; those who can only feel empowered in the midst of mobs. Trump has called the public stupid in the past. He knows his supporters are stupid. Because, seriously, who, in a normal world, gives such credence to a lying, venal celebrity? Only in America.
Trump pays minuscule to no taxes while his supporters are okay going broke paying theirs! If that's not demonstrably stupid, what is left for being stupid in this country?
27
Oh yes. We have every reason to be scared of fascism in the U.S., because it's already happening. And those who don't know what that really entails, don't recognize it...which is unfortunately, too many Americans.
I didn't need the video to realize this. Being half German and having a family that survived Nazi Germany was the only primer I've needed.
What's happening in this country now; from a single political party in control of all three branches of government, to the clamp down on all social opposition, to the vilification of the free Press, has all the earmarkings of a Democracy in trouble.
But as long as people think everything is fine because the stock market is doing well, and there's always food on the table -- the danger that's lurking now will grow and persist, and quite possibly until it's too late to do anything about it.
WAKE-UP, America.
30
Orwell said that if fascism came to England, it would call itself anti-fascism. That's what has happened here. The fascist street thugs call themselves "antifa".
7
@Jonathan Katz
Trump wraps himself in the flag of a false patriotism., like so many fascists. Make Germany, America "great again." He and his followers are the street mob.
5
Yes, I'm frightened. Trump indeed uses the rhetoric of autocracy. He imagines that the Justice department should be loyal to him, rather than the law. He calls the press "the enemy of the people." Can we be surprised that Saudi Arabia's young king thought he could get away with killing a journalist in the Saudi embassy because the U.S. would cover for him? He trumpets the basest kind of bigotry and hatred during his infamous rallies. In this mode, he reminds me of Hitler whipping up his supporters into mindless hatred. With his autocratic instincts, he is moving by small steps toward destroying our republic: Julius C. Trump.
32
Hitler invented the Volkswagen or claimed he did; built massive superhighways; provided millions of Germans with good paying jobs; made German industry profitable again; stirred racial and religious animosities; held huge political rallies that enabled him to secure the unbridled love and admiration of millions of ordinary Germans; plus their votes.
Today there are still considerable numbers of people around who believe he did a very good job.
6
@A. Stanton Of course there are, but there are so many billions more who object to the moral degradation, depravity and inhumanity of ethnic cleansing and the detaining, assassination and execution of six million people of Jewish ethnicity and faith. Shame and stain on humanity.
2
@A. Stanton
And a few years later many millions of Germans were dead and the country was beyond ruined.
1
Dr. Stanley sounds a lot like Timothy Synder another brilliant in his own mind professor of history at that paragon of American institutions and anti-Americanism intellectual thought Yale University. Over a year ago Dr. Synder said that President Trump would stage a coup in 2018 vis-a-vis the 1933 Reichstag fire and declare the necessity for a dictatorship just like ..."lions and tigers and bears oh my." Adolf Hitler. Really Dr. Synder should read his own book and tell us how the darling of the Left Joseph Stalin liquidated the Polish academia and intelligentsia in accordance with the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and the Soviet invasion of Poland. Really Dr. Stanley another man's fascist is another man's freedom fighter. President Trump is neither, his only "crime" is he challenged the bi-coastal professional managerial elite and defeated the worst oppositional candidate in American political history,
9
@KBPresident Trump is neither, his only "crime"......
oh and yeah, he lies. just a bit. like every other sentence that comes out of his uncouth, bullying, bellicose mouth. Proven. Verifiable. That's just a 'small' problem for people who pay attention.
Not to mention: toadying to dictators and grabbing women.
Yeah, he's a real winnner.....
3
@KB
Stalin is a “darling of the Left” only in the minds of people who would like to hang that stone around the necks of people who make a habit of voting left of center.
3
@KB -- So, your only response to Dr. Stanley is to assert that he sounds like some other professor, and then try to discredit Dr. Stanley by talking about the other professor's claims? Weak sauce ,that!
If you want to dispute the substance of Dr. Stanley's point, then by all means do so. But at least be intellectually honest enough to talk about what Dr. Stanley. amd not some other professor, says.
5
Given that fascism marks a connection between government and business, it's disconcerting to have this video open with an advertisement.
1
Yes, we all should be scared by fascism, which IS coming to the U.S. like a runaway freight train - as millions of Americans have their heads down, studying their personal devices for "Likes" and texts from others.
10
When I was a young women I talked to a man who escaped from Germany in 1939 (ish). He wasn't a Jew or homosexual or Communist or any other group that was high on the hit list. He was just a man who saw how the world was going and knew he had to get out. When I asked him how did it happen, how did Germany put itself on the road to Hell, he said "bit by bit, law by law". We should all be afraid.
76
What is fascism?
For many it's simply any authoritarian you do not like.
But was Stalin a fascist?
Fascism, historically was Hitler, Franco and Mussulini, in which a charismatic leader enunciated some sort of jingoistic, nationalistic or religious (Franco) mythology and led his nation by his own will, not necessarily the will of the people.
But Trump has no creed beyond hating MS-13 and fear mongering to no specific purpose other than self aggrandizement.
3
@Claudia In this scheme, where is the coordinated effort to disenfranchise voters across many states fit?
3
While appearances can be deceiving, and we don’t want to necessarily judge a book by its cover, there is absolutely nothing out of place or incongruous about the visage of Trump alongside the images of Mussolini, Erdogan, Orban and Hitler in the accompanying graphic. In fact, and frighteningly, he fits—fascistically—far right in.
4
@Steve Griffith
I was in Hungary this summer and speaking the language was able to to see Orban in action.There is democracy, economic growth, freedom of religion.The safest place in Europe to be a Jew or a Moslem and I saw many in the streets.His only sin that he is against open borders.
1
Over the weekend, the NYT published two articles which nicely juxtaposed who supports trump. Middle and upper middle class white men who live in the suburbs, and evangelicals who live in the south. Both groups have this in common. . .trump tells them what they want to hear. Not unlike when hitler consolidated his power.
I don't despair quite yet. Germany's weimar republic was destined to fail. It was a democracy, but very weak. Before then, all Germans knew was authoritarian government, headed by the kaiser.
The American experience is far different . . .but no guarantee against fascism taking root here in America. Read Sinclair Lewis' It can't happen here.
If the mid-terms fail to establish checks and balances, then the American experiment will further metastasize into an authoritarian regime. The the gop and trump will then seek to pervert the law even more (see gerrymander) in order to keep themselves in power.
If the people cannot hold off tyranny through the ballot, then what? All we know is what our forefathers did after they penned the declaration of independence.
9
Being an Asian born citizen living in USA for more than 40 years peacefully and prosperously, I am now scared about violent White Supremacist rise up and White Nationalism. I am scared for my children and my grand children. When fascism is encouraged by the POTUS and the ruling majority political party.
Bad days are coming for non-white Americans unless it is intervened by silent majority good people.
20
Thank you Professor Stanley and you are absolutely correct. Discerning people who want to be fair and non-judgmental need to understand who Trump really is and why he's an imminent danger to America and the world. He is indeed a malignant narcissist and a fascist who wants to be a dictator. There is little difference between Trump and Hitler, and if given Hitler's power he would act as Hitler did. Voices like yours are sorely needed to help awaken people to this threat.
19
@William Jaynes
"There is little difference between Trump and Hitler." That is an astounding statement. They may share evil ideas, but Hitler spent decades organizing the NSDAP to to put them into practise. He possessed an evil but incisive ability to read German and European politics. Trump, on the other hand, is just riding on the degeneracy of the corrupt Republican Party. Without their forbearance, he is nothing.
5
Thank you, Dr. Stanley. I’m one of those silly folk who respect credentials , erudition and sophisticated knowledge. I remember garbage in, garbage out, but I have grown old and tedious.
You can’t fix stupid unless stupid wants to be fixed.
But please, keep on trying.
7
It's not just that he studied fascism for 10 years and learned nothing, but Yale is actually paying him.
2
Fascism is already here. Well, maybe not quite yet. But we are an Oligarch-controlled glorified Banana Republic, that's for certain. The next step is full-on fascism.
If the US fascists get control of law enforcement, the FBI, and the military, then it's game over.
They pretty much have the courts now. The own the legislative and executive branches using the fascist republicans. They own or have broken every other institution that matters - the press, the electoral system, unions. They want to ban protesting and public assembly. Using technology, they can know all forms of protest, and organization of the people to resist, before these efforts can even get off the ground.
Next they will march us into the corn fields and rice paddies to farm for the Oligarchs.
"You'll work hard with a gun at your back, for a bowl of rice a day."
The American Gulag is coming.
9
Never forget that it was Trump's first wife Ivana who said that the book on his bedside table was Hitler's "Mein Kampf." Watching his performance (and it is that) he has studied its advice well! And his favorite advisor was Roy Cohn who told him that one should never apologize but always stack, attack, attack.
7
Video Op/Eds are illiterates. Please stop this now before it becomes a habit.
11
@Dissatisfied
I agree.
3
That's your whole spiel? That they're ''illiterates''? What, may I ask, do you base this statement on? Please, elucidate for us. Certainly you can disagree with the content & argument(s) made. that I can understand; but, to call him/them ''illiterates'' is weak, shallow & trite.
1
Of course Trump is a fascist and his movement has a lot in common with the rise of National Socialism in Germany. When the Nazis started agitating, everyone thought they were clowns and they were made fun of. Until they started breaking jaws in brawls. The rest, well we all know what the rest of that story is. I think hate rallies fired up by Trump are not far from this stage. Yeah. Fascism is alive in America. When truth is attacked on a daily basis, when the President propagates conspiracy theories, spread hate against ethnic groups, creates a state of alternate reality disconnected from common sense, we need to be worried. I never thought I would see Fascism first hand; it's very ugly.
23
Too bad there's ot a printed version of this. Can't undersyand a word he is saying!!!!
1
Trust me, this Canadian is scared about fascism in the U.S.
17
Anyone who says the press is the enemy of the people is marching his way to fascism.
30
Several have commented about Trump's current actions not meeting the level of fascism. I don't think that is the author's purpose here. This article is a warning about potential. In 1930s Germany, Hitler's squadristi helped him bully his way to becoming chancellor in 1933 and Der Furer shortly after Hindenburg's death. Germany had a constitution. Hitler convinced the Reichstag to suspend it. These are not German tactics or war tactics. These are human tactics, and Americans are not above them. The Germans used Hitler to help them weaken the Communists, never expecting that he could rise to any significant level of leadership. Sound familiar? America has economic uncertainty with volatility in the markets and new tariffs. It has a ready-made scapegoat in Muslims and immigrants. I don't think most people thought Congress would shirk its checks and balances duty by looking the other way with the Russia investigation, staying silent about his racism and his misogyny, not investigating his violations of the emoluments clause, allowing the disaster at the border with migrant children, and not criticizing Trump's diminishment of the press. In the eyes of Republicans, Trump is useful for their destruction of government project, but they may well find themselves with a party shift that they didn't anticipate and a public who will support even a suspension of the U.S. Constitution. We say that it could never happen here. Some said that about Trump's election in 2016.
40
@KESullivan - Nailed it on the head! Just more Liberal Lies!
@Tim I think you misread her comment (to be kind).
Agreed!Excellent comment! I completely agree with your informed approach and realistic assessment! The Republican Party is responsible for the ascendency of the present chief executive by abdication. Cowering in the halls of Congress, fearful of even merely offending 45, they keep their heads low and plow ahead blindly. But there will come a day of reckoning for the GOP. To quote Malcolm X: "The chickens are finally come home to roost."
@KESullivan
1
Trump was compared to fascists during the campaign. An Auschwitz said Trump sounded like Hitler. And let's not forget he secured the backing of white nationalists. I voted for Clinton because I believe Trump had to be stopped. So far his administration has not been as horrible as I feared. But it's not over yet.
5
@Michael Gallagher
Yes, six more years to go (at least).
If Jason Stanley didn't give Jonah Goldberg's book, Liberal Fascism, a positive review and write articles warning about the liberal fascism of the Clintons and Obama, he has no credibility when he warns about Trump's fascism.
Did he?
Back in May, I asked Goldberg whether Trump's attacks on the media are as fascist as Obama's brutal attempts to silence his political opponents and critics.
"Yes!" He declared.
At least Goldberg is honest enough to see the fascism of America's left and right, not just the fascism of the left's Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi, Elizabeth Warren, the Clintons and Obama.
Politicians who demonize and try to silence political opponents and journalists by demonizing and killing them are fascists. See Russia, Saudi Arabia, Iran, N. Korea and Syria.
5
@Donald Johnson Obama "brutal"? When did that happen?
4
@Donald Johnson
And just what, pray tell is "liberal fascism"?
4
It's tiresome to hear different political camps described with vacuity, as if they're team red and team blue with neutral ethics and values--that there are both good and bad on either side. When your values are to promote exclusion, the intentional disenfranchisement of voters, the most basic of rights, and to even hint at demonizing the press, it's no longer of some republicans are good, some democrats are as well. Wrong. If at this point in time you are on the republican side promoting in any way those values, you are not only anti-american, you are anti-human.
3
If you’re NOT scared, you are either a fool OR complicit.
Period.
22
Oh give it a rest. You guys are a bunch of weaklings, with no understanding of the word. Every republican president is worse than the last.
3
@Mortarman. Hmmmm.. your last
sentence is correct!
@Mortarman
How many....that's HOW MANY amputated limbs should be laid at the doorway of the heralded new Bush 'Presidential' Library in Texas....reaped from American troops sent to fight a phony 'war' against phony weapons of mass destruction?
You're spot-on.....Every Republican president IS worse than the last.
3
@Mortarman: Let us know what you think when Trump comes for your guns. By now you must suspect that he won't tolerate any potential for resistance. Of course, by the time guns are confiscated there will be no way to hear from anyone who disagrees with Trump.
Fascism is here, in 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, and 40 millions of small rural town racists that openly support Trump. Yes, they are racists. Its time to call a spade a spade.
14
Only Trump defenders will refuse to see the clear parallels between Trump and other dictators. And that's what's REALLY terrifying because there are so many Trumpists. When you consider that Hitler's followers were a significant minority before he came to power, this should alarm any freedom loving American, and refute any claims that "It can't happen here!"
Oh yes it can! In fact, it already has.
Unless the American people break the totalitarian grip on our government by the Republicans this November, it will be a very short time before we witness the first American "President For Life".
22
It's worth noting that the sycophantic people at the table is contradicted, not only by the collapse of Kushner's hobbyhorse, a formal panel of business advisors when they all bailed after the remarks about Charlottesville, but also the way his initiative headed by Brownback to make states submit voter rolls died when almost every secretary of state refused to cooperate. The Mississippi secretary of state said Brownback should jump into the gulf.
Nixon also fit this description. We survived him. I'm hopeful we can do the same with Trump.
"While calling President Trump a fascist may seem like an exaggeration, it might not be that far from the truth."
Excuse me, it it very, very far from the truth and it is a dishonest exercise to suggest otherwise.
Let's start by - carefully - reading the definition of fascism:
1: a political philosophy, movement, or regime (such as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition
2 : a tendency toward or actual exercise of strong autocratic or dictatorial control
Nothing Trump has said or done is even close to "exalting nation or race" over individual Americans.
Nothing.
There is a huge difference between putting the well being of Americans ahead of those in foreign nations, and the exaltation of nation.
His statements on immigration have been seized upon by radical progressive leftists as racist, but in fact they all refer to enforcing existing laws put in place by bi-partisan agreement.
Further, Trump is not, and can never be, an autocrat as President of the United States. Our system of government is structured to prevent such an occurrence.
This piece, is leftist propaganda.
10
When comparing your dictionary-definition-level of knowledge about fascism vs someone who has made it his career to study how it develops, grows, and functions for over 10 years, I think I'll stick with the prof.
Also, when you use phrases like, "radical progressive leftists," there's no pretense of objectivity. You might consider dropping that moniker from your name
6
@Objectivist:
"Our system of government is structured to prevent such an occurrence."
Yes, it was structured that way - assuming members of the fascist's own party would actually speak out against his divisive and lying language. But they don't because they're scared of him and his followers. Now *why* might that be?
5
@Ambient Kestrel
I reject your assertion that Trump exhibits fascist tendencies, in its entirety.
Who is enabling this President ? - republicans
Does that mean that all republicans are fascists as well ? What it means is that they are ignoring (and in many, many ways wholly complicit with) their designated duties laid out in the Constitution to be a check on the executive.
The republican controlled Congress (since 2010) have disregarded their sole responsibility to declare war. The United States has sent troops and military assets to many places around the world, that is in many regards fitting the description of being fascist. This most basic fact, has been ignored by many, including the press.
The core of Democracy is the vote, and the republican party has been (for decades) trying to limit any vote that may go against them. That has been at the federal, state and local level.
Lastly, in recent years (especially with this President), it has not been enough to have a media conglomerate as bullhorn to blare propaganda, but now all press (that goes against said propaganda) is now an ''enemy of the state''.
First they came for ...
14
@FunkyIrishman - If you are saying it started in 2010, by your logic Obama was a fascist too. The truth is, neither of them are fascists.
Fascists can only come to power, when they have disabled all of the checks and balances to Democracy. The bottom line is that they need enablers.
Who is enabling this President ? - republicans
Does that mean that all republicans are fascists as well ? What it means is that they are ignoring (and in many, many ways wholly complicit with) their designated duties laid out in the Constitution to be a check on the executive.
The republican controlled Congress (since 2010) have disregarded their sole responsibility to declare war. The United States has sent troops and military assets to many places around the world, that is in many regards fitting the description of being fascist. This most basic fact, has been ignored by many, including the press.
The core of Democracy is the vote, and the republican party has been (for decades) trying to limit any vote that may go against them. That has been at the federal, state and local level.
Lastly, in recent years (especially with this President), it has not been enough to have a media conglomerate as bullhorn to blare propaganda, but now all press (that goes against said propaganda) is now an ''enemy of the state''.
First they came for ...
5
Fascists can only come to power, when they have disabled all of the checks and balances to Democracy. The bottom line is that they need enablers.
Who is enabling this President ? - republicans
Does that mean that all republicans are fascists as well ? What it means is that they are ignoring (and in many, many ways wholly complicit with) their designated duties laid out in the Constitution to be a check on the executive.
The republican controlled Congress (since 2010) have disregarded their sole responsibility to declare war. The United States has sent troops and military assets to many places around the world, that is in many regards fitting the description of being fascist. This most basic fact, has been ignored by many, including the press.
The core of Democracy is the vote, and the republican party has been (for decades) trying to limit any vote that may go against them. That has been at the federal, state and local level.
Lastly, in recent years (especially with this President), it has not been enough to have a media conglomerate as bullhorn to blare propaganda, but now all press (that goes against said propaganda) is now an ''enemy of the state''.
First they came for ...
8
Just about every American president in my life time (starting with Nixon) was called a fascist by critics on the left. The accusation just becomes another instance of the degradation of political discourse in our country.
6
To degrade means to get worse. Yet you just pointed out that every republican president since Nixon is treated the same way by the Left. Where's the degradation, the getting worse part?
There is indeed degradation in political discourse. There's a cessation of logic, of thinking. Join the Left and pick up a book.
3
I'm pretty left-wing (though not now and never will be a member of the Democratic party), and I can tell you: There will be no "blue wave."
There are people on this board and others who talk a lot about protecting "the minority" from the "tyranny of the majority." The fact is, in the US, thanks to (1) gerrymandering of House districts, (2) the structure of the Senate, (3) the structure of the Electoral College, and the fact that the Supreme Court's makeup is controlled by (2) and (3), (and throw in a healthy dollop of voter suppression) -- the majority is not guaranteed a win ANYWHERE.
Now the minority controls all three branches of government -- including Senate and House -- while not representing the will of the majority of Americans. Those in the minority are very vocal and VERY defensive about how un-representative the government is, but here we are.
In any case, the minority will hold onto their power, changing any rules necessary to do so. See: Mitch McConnell.
Government in the US will be less and less representative of the people.
We could one day elect a President with some 25% of the vote.
But no, no, no, ya'll.... there is no risk of fascist, authoritarian government.
Not here, never here.
115
This is exactly right. We are ruled by the minority, who are tightening their grip.
2
(The video was not viewable by this 66 year old.) However, recent photos from Portland OR suggest masked fascist thugs are increasing their violent acts without intervention by the police! They are following the playbook of Hitler and Lenin!
14
There were a lot of fascists in America in the years leading to WW2, and they were Republicans then too.
29
@mary bardmess No, Mary. Down south they were Democrats who formulated Jim Crow and had a long tradition of upsetting Reconstruction and the promotion of the rights of freed slaves designed by Republicans.
5
@Tim Goldsmith
Don't confuse the mob with facts.
So is your claim that it's the republican party today who protects the rights of blacks and their interests? Is that why blacks are overwhelmingly democratic, why almost all black congressional figures are democratic? Or are you suggesting republicans secretly express the interests of black Americans best, but for some reason black people just don't see it?
Or are you just arguing some meaningless point over nomenclature that has no bearing today?
Where's the article???
2
@Miriam
Please watch the 5 minute video. It is excellent.
It is about time we use the "f" word.
In his speech to the UN Trump laid out a fascist vision of his ideal future. He wants the US to be militarily strong enough to impose its will anywhere in the world. He sees the state as the embodiment of the American people, i.e. the "real Americans" and he believes that use of state military and economic powers to advance the interests of "real Americans" and of US corporations is a core value. The interests of the state and of his rule take precedence over individual rights because his rule and the state embody the American people. And it is the responsibility of the media to advance these interests.
There is only one leader in the world today who more clearly articulates a fascist vision for his nation state -- the booby Netanyahu.
23
@benjamin ben-baruch - Trump has used the US military's power less than most any President before him. Having the power deters the North Korea's, Iran's, Russia's and China's of the world. As Trump has proven. Your comment about Netanyahu is way off base also. Now if you named, China, Russia and Iran; you might be onto something.
1
He teaches philosophy at Yale and he doesn't understand that the first principle for any such argument is "Define your terms"?? If he had, maybe he would have realized that "fascism" is corporatism in service to the state; the state doesn't own the means of production, but it controls them.
What he's describing are particular manifestations of "authoritarianism." THAT'S what scares me about Trump, which is why it's all the more important to differentiate between the two terms.
What makes much sadder is that there's nothing here most of us probably already haven't realized. Be scared. Be very scared.
3
I’m afraid the definition of fascism provided in your post is incomplete at best.
One can easily make the case that it is inaccurate, certainly misleading.
My basis for the above statements: I’ve looked at five dictionaries, two electronic encyclopedias, and yes, even Wikipedia.
Government “control” of industry is an aspect (arguably even a product) of a mature fascist government, but in itself is not a defining characteristic of a fascist movement.
1
Does Richard Luettgen have his head in the sand?
Parents torn from their children that end up in 'tent-camp' living, parents unable to locate their children, farming children out to strangers and the abuse of children all smack of fascism to me.
Voter suppression that becomes a nationwide clarion call to all states smacks of fascism.
Stacking all levels of courts with jurists of one mind-set smacks of fascism.
Limited time and letter-counting prevent me from citing more examples but I think the picture is very clear when you have a President that fawns over dictators and admires and wants to emulate those that make themselves 'emperor-for-life'. My suggestion is that we not wait until the bitter end before we start to clean up our act.
80
The trouble with the world "fascism" and the recipe that includes a mythic history is that it seems to exclude similarly divisive and cruel demagogic tyrannies that divide along lines other than those of race or ethnicity and appeal to a delusional utopian future rather than to a mythic perfect past. The Khmer Rouge killing fields in Cambodia, Mao's multiple bloodbaths and persecutions directed against 'class enemies', and the corrupt despotisms of no ruling Venezuela and Nicaragua are of 'the left' rather than of 'the right'. And Myanmar/Burma's persecutions of minorities (which Stanley does mention in the video) are led by a military with ostensibly socialist roots, that are used to justify its natoinalization/expropriation of land and expulsion of populations for the benedift of enterprises owned by the military or the military caste. Worse, use of the term "fascism" outside its parochial 1930s European place, here and now, may suggest that 'antifa' street violence against all they accuse is the correct remedy, whereas both the history of 1930s Germany and of our present American politics suggests that left/right street violence and attempts to silence or disrupt rallies and speeches plays into the fears that drive people to support 'law and order' tyranny. Trump sees this. Too much of 'the left' does not.
2
This anti-democratic drift didn't start with Trump. The Republican Party has been the delivery vehicle for this tendency since at least FDR, and Trump is currently driving it.
The bottom line for me is this: we have a political party (Republican Party) that is enacting laws that are designed to make it harder...harder!... for citizens to vote; a political party whose policies are influenced and driven by a handful of right wing multi-billionaires.
What kind of a political party and ideology does this sort of thing? Certainly not one that's interested in preserving our democracy or democratic institutions, but one that's more attuned to the fascism described in this story.
58
@Larry M
Asking for some kind of ID when I vote is not racist, anti immigrant and it is not voter suppression.
1
I wanted to watch this piece. Unfortunately, that thonka-thonka-thonka background noise was insupportable. I had to turn off the presentation.
Please, NY Times, those who like background "music" (or just plain noise) can always play some sort of sound effects on another piece of equipment. For those of us who can't abide it, can you spare us, please?! Make it optional, OK? Don't inflict it on us.
3
Sure, any trend to US fascism is a vital topic for discussion and debate.
BUT---
I don't want to see a video on it with ominous scenes.
Or hear music.
Or have an ad inflicted on me at the start.
Or have inflicted on me yet another ominous photo of Trump's domineering, hostile face.
As if we need illustrations shoved in our faces?
It's not worth it. Who thought up this contrived gimmick? Your shtick fails.
We need to see a well written op ed by these authors to intelligently grapple with.
Please, NYT don't do this to your readers. Don't manipulate us with videos, sound, pictures and advertising. Cable TV 24/7 is enough visual, enough manipulation, enough sensationalism for effect.
We need well thought out prose, logically presented to get at the truth. That's what can combat the exploitation of social media and fake news. That's what's essential to maintain US democracy.
Is that the NYTimes? Or not?
42
@Meredith Good point! However many Americans under fifty have been kinesthetic learner's! They need it, shoved in their faces! Thoughtful essays just don't work in the America of 2018!
2
@Meredith Bless you. I've read about how The Times has wanted to move toward video presentations. If this continues, I'll discontinue my subscription. I subcribe so I can READ The Times, not have to watch it!
2
@Meredith Great post! I literally cringed when I realized this was a video. I have an ad-blocker, the computer sound is always "off" (to prevent ambushes) and I've even taken to muting live sports (MLB and NFL) on TV to avoid the on-air verbal promos. Yet I can still recognize every commercial out there. This is crazy. If the Times thinks we're all simpletons and too stupid to read, I'll gladly cancel my subscription. (and if this post does not appear, that's strike one!)
1
I believe that one additional ingredient not mentioned in the piece for the transformation of a democratic nation into a fascistic autocracy is an uninformed populace, one that’s already receptive to fascistic ideology. At the moment, that question remains unanswered with respect to our voting public.Perhaps the ballot box will provide the answer come November.
18
@Regards, LC
I think we have answered this question with the results of the 2016 election. The question is whether people have learned anything in the past 2 years.
6
Although, we should get rid of Trump for incredibly obvious reasons, most unfortunately, that will not solve our countries' problems.
The toxic political machinery that is moving us to a fast track fascist system is in place and will be hard to remove. For people that are watching……. what is happening in the backfield is breathtaking!
When history, science, and basic ethics are ignored evil rushes in.
11
Virtually the entire GOP needs to be replaced, and fast. We know full well that Trump is a fascist. If Russia put Trump in power, it was because we had allowed the Republican leadership to open the door. For example, Mitch McConnell unconstitutionally refuses to allow Merrick Garland a vote. Newt Gingrich pushes through an impeachment which diverted and weakened the country, allowing bin Laden to muster numerous attacks on us, leading to 9/11. The Koch Bros., Adelson, and many other extremists have taken over state governments.
Our inaction has enabled the country to be primed for Trump.
40
A very cogent analysis despite one inaccuracy. Trump has called for imprisonment without trial for aliens crossing the border seeking asylum and for his political enemies ("lock her up").
The myth underlying American fascism is a racial purity that is tied to Christian Europe while conveniently forgetting slavery and the Mexican land grabs.
20
@Paul
Do you think that the loser of an election can't be charged for crimes? Wouldn't the Dems seeking charges against Trump be seeking imprisonment or impeachment be political enemies? That is just silly talk. People say that be they think Hitlery got away with crimes and should be held to account.
"while conveniently forgetting slavery"
You mean the group that was the first in the world to outlaw it? Who are you talking about forgetting about slavery?
"and the Mexican land grabs. "
Honey, that period of time was everyone grabbing land from everyone. The tribes and nations before white man showed up were land grabbing for centuries. The white man didn't start it, they ended it.
1
In his widely respected 2004 study of the European fascist movements of the period between the world wars, The Anatomy of Fascism, Robert O. Paxton elaborates what he sees as the "mobilizing passions" skillfully manipulated by fascist leaders. Keep in mind that this book, written long before the 2016 election, does not mention Donald Trump in any way. It is purely retrospective. And yet, a look at his list should make anyone watching our current political scene very uncomfortable. Here are a few:
• a sense of overwhelming crisis beyond the reach of any traditional solutions
• the primacy of the group, toward which one has duties superior to every right, whether individual or universal, and the subordination of the individual to it
• the belief that one's group is a victim, a sentiment that justifies any action, without legal or moral limits, against its enemies, both internal and external
• dread of the group's decline under the corrosive effects of individualistic liberalism, class conflict, and alien influences
• the need for authority by natural leaders (always male), culminating in a national chief who alone is capable of incarnating the group's destiny
• the superiority of the leader's instincts over abstract and universal reason
• the beauty of violence and the efficacy of will, when they are devoted to the group's success
There are several more, and the list is well worth reading. Unfortunately, Donald Trump meets every single criterion.
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@Kathleen Martin
"Unfortunately, Donald Trump meets every single criterion."
So did Obama
1
At one of the first anti-Iraq-War marches in DC in October 2002, an elderly woman was holding a handwritten sign that read "Is it Fascism Yet?" It felt that way then, but we felt safer after Caligula was replaced by Claudius. Now, even conservatives like Bret Stephens and moderates like Tom Friedman understand that we are just one election away from losing the last shreds of our democracy.
Vote like you life depends on it, because it may.
27
Ever watch Mussolini in action and deeds?
A populist dictator, bombastic words, simplistic language for the people, delusion of grandeur - yup, exactly the way Jason Stanley describes it - Donald Trump!!!
However, a warning for the meek - the populace likes strong men - history shows this as does the present day. So, for the Democrats stand by and whine is a losing proposition.
As Trump mentioned last night during 60 minutes: "We won".
Yup - the Republicans are winning because the Democrats are letting them. You can only defeat facism with strength!
32
@Publius Yep! The Democrats need a strong one too! I see Biden as that person, or perhaps Huntsman will switch parties, or Mattis standing up at one of Trump's cabinet meetings, and proclaiming, enough, is enough!!!
It would seem that in the Republican's obsessive desire to dismantle the public education system in America, clearly, one of their goals was to purposely eliminate the teaching of world history as one of the mandatory subjects, hence, a situation now in which the old adage applies, "those that don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it".
If it was taught then more would realize that America is not immune to such a frightful occurrence happening in the country. Democracy is fragile, practiced by people, especially those in power, to interpret its meaning any way they wish, and, once again, history has continually confirmed there is no check and balance to its continued existence.
For decades, the Republican Party dreamed of such a situation in which they would have complete control of all THREE branches of the Executive and a majority of state governments, this, of course, along with the Oligarchs who control THEM. So here we are.
To think it can't happen in America, think again!
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@Deus
Looks like that public system failed you. We don't live in a democracy, we live in a republic. If we were in a democracy, then the voters would be the ones with all the power. Luckily they aren't, that's how mobs work.
"to interpret its meaning any way they wish,"
And to be voted out when they don't.
While Jason Stanley correctly describes the techniques of fascists like Trump, he ignores the situations which permit fascism to rear its ugly head in the first place.
The previous major outbreak occurred in the aftermath of World War I and the worldwide depression. Combined with pre-existing anti-Semitism and the weakness and corruption of liberal democracy and the mutual hatred of both the right-wingers and the "liberals" for communists, it allowed Hitler to step into the vacuum.
Despite the Depression, fascism didn't similarly catch on in the US as a mass movement because first, the war had been fought across the ocean, and second, FDR enacted the New Deal under pressure from a then-vibrant left wing, aka socialists. The Nazi rallies in Madison Square Garden soon became a thing of the past.
Fast forward to Trump. Decades of neoliberal capitalism have created severe wealth inequality, with most Americans not even having $200 saved up for a household emergency. Only the poor and working class fight in our endless wars. Politicians from both parties are beholden to the rich.
So yes, we should be very, very afraid of fascism while acknowledging that a form of it -- corporatism - has been suborning democracy for quite some time now. We cannot expect to defeat Trump and the GOP without transforming our government into a force for good for all the people, not just for a handful of oligarchs.
Otherwise, the next fascist leader will make Trump look downright benign.
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@Karen Garcia When GW Bush invaded Iraq, yet was reelected, with people in blue shirts attending his rallies, I sensed the groundwork for something sick was being lain (I would hardly call Bush a 'fascist', its just the GOP started relying on overt Patriotism at that time to divide 'us' versus 'them'). Bush and Co also studiously avoided any kind of intervention, in the 2000's, as Wallstreet gambled its way into Mainstreets insolvency. So, to the newly impoverished white working-class this was clearly the fault of... immigrants? That ability, for the GOP to rip off its working-class voters, and then suggest this was done by the 'other', is classic fascism in play today. Today the US military, in particular, is filled with virulent anti-communists, ready to fight the liberals for free-market capitalism. Ironic: there isn't a larger gov't program on Earth than the US military. "Free capitalism! And give me my veterans benefits!"
14
@Phil Do you count the NYT and all the Democratic senators as fascists who also pushed for war in Iraq. Didn't HRC vote for was-is she a fascist as well?
@Karen Ga
So FDR was a liberal whose policies warded off Nazi fascism, but neo-liberals created "severe wealth in- equality"? PAGING AYN RAND.
2
In The Five Stages of Fascism, (1998) Robert O. Paxton points to the "mobilizing passions" that are always present in fascisms:
1.The primacy of the group, toward which one has duties superior to every right, whether universal or individual.
2. The belief that one's group is a victim, a sentiment which justifies any action against the group's enemies, internal as well as external.
3. Dread of the group's decadence under the corrosive effect of individualistic and cosmopolitan liberalism.
4. Closer integration of the community within a brotherhood (fascio) whose unity and purity are forged by common conviction, if possible, or by exclusionary violence if necessary.
5. An enhanced sense of identity and belonging, in which the grandeur of the group reinforces individual self-esteem.
6. The authority of natural leaders (always male) throughout society, culminating in a national chieftain who alone is capable of incarnating the group's destiny.
7. The beauty of violence and of will, when they are devoted to the group's success in a Darwinian struggle.
My fear is that if and when Trump faces the legal jeopardy that could topple his presidency (conspiracy, money laundering, obstruction) we will see these "mobilizing passions" kick into high gear and deliver to us a full blown constitutional crisis.
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@joe
Adopting this yardstick, arguably Antifa and the illiberal Left pose a greater threat of fascism than Trump and his cohort.
1.It is the Left which insists on the "primacy of the group" above individual responsibility and liberty.
2. It is the Left which champions group victimhood, and justifies street violence.
3. It is the Left which dreads the "corrosive effect" of individualism and free speech, even on the college campus, because of its potential traumatic effect on victim groups.
4. It is the Left which spins out antifa, BLM, various la raza groups and other "pure" racial or ideological groups "forged by common conviction, if possible, or by exclusionary violence if necessary."
5. It is the Left which seeks to build an "enhanced sense of identity and belonging" through intersectional identity politics and a cult of victimization.
6. It is the Left which violently rejects "patriarchal" authority -- particularly of the white man variety -- and seeks to elevate a symbolic chief capable of incarnating the group's destiny.
7. It is antifa, BLM, and other Left activist groups which extol the beauty of street violence and its role in securing victory.
5
For further context, please read "Trump-Russia Was Never 'Just' Russia" in the DailyKos.
The link is: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/10/14/1804328/-Trump-Russia-Was-Ne...
Our collective future is at stake. Fascism thrives on war, because war scenarios facilitate the suspension of freedoms & normal legal processes. Remember the Patriot Act?
If a war between Russia and Iran is on the menu, it will not go to plan. Russia today is vastly different from the USSR of Stalin's time, that could "afford" to inflict tens of millions of casualties on its own people in order to upgrade its status in the community of nations.
It is madness even to consider such plans. And yet, apparently, some are.
Fools & criminals do not belong in leadership positions.
25
Boiling frog syndrome
70
A brilliant and necessary commentary. Only the willfully ignorant can fail to see the connection between Trump's use of language and the fascist movements of the past (fake news, enemies of the people, even "America First.") He has said, "Only I can get us out of this mess," echoing the fascist trope of the Strong Man Who Will Lead Us Out of the Wilderness. His scapegoating of Muslims and immigrants is lifted directly from Goebbel's playbook. He sides with authoritarians all over the world (Putin, Kim, Duterte, Erdogan, MbS) while denigrating the leaders of democracies. Does he truly represent the people of the US? We'll know in three weeks.
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@John Terrell Yes, we will know in three weeks but no be too hopeful about that. You know, not too many people realize what it is to do things outside of democracy or better say no democratically.
1
@John Terrell
Unfortunately, when you see journalists interview people attending Trump rallies you quickly realize that these people happily deny the truth, that they gladly refer to as "fake news".
4
@John Terrell The majority of us are allowing the tail to wag the dog. Just read in NYT that only 33% vote in Texas. And you can bet it is the dedicated far right. We are too comfortable and complacent to get out and VOTE! I am very worried. But I am voting for sure!
2
Trump most certainly has autocratic tendencies, but he has not acquired the powers that previous or current autocrats have and he will find it quite difficult to do so. Those despots typically did not have functioning, stable democratic republics with long histories as the forms of government prior to their consolidation of power. Yes, we could be in a situation of a death by a thousand cuts, but those cuts would have to occur with relative speed. If, and this is a big if, the elections that we have with regularity, push back against Trump, as I suspect they will, it will send a clear signal that he is not immune from checks and balances. Will he get more reckless, provocative and threatening? Of course, but will he acquire real, measurable powers which exceed those granted to him by the constitution? Will he silence the press? Just look at this conversation we are so freely having. Trump is an odious, narcissistic liar, but he's in way over his head, and it shows.
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@Kvetch
Are you implying that the lethargic, corrupt GOP politicians are a check on Trump? And they're packing the Courts together with ideologues and incompetents. Your own Senator Susan Collins rolls over and plays dead for Trump, so I wouldn't be so sure. It may not be Trump in the future, it might be a smooth talker like Paul Ryan.
14
@Kvetch
Nevertheless, he is eroding standards of behavior that will plague us for years to come he will always stand as an example of what can be done outside the frame of decency.
12
@Kvetch I agree. While he's correct that Trump's brand of "populism" is worrisome, he doesn't mention that all of the dictators he cites didn't face the constant, extremely widespread ridicule that Trump does — and the pushback by several sectors within the federal government, most notably the military establishment.
Democrats, this is the base of your ad buys in the next three weeks. Not health care or minimum wage. Wake up! Rubio, a Bush, McCain or Romney are not president. Things have fundamentally changed since 2015.
9
Americans have got to get over their exceptionalism when confronting the risks of a drift towards a fascist state. France was another democracy with revolutionary roots which openly embraced all sorts of reactionary ideas bubbling below the surface leading to Vichy France during the Second World War.
Face it-- the American people are obsessed with the same mundane issues as other citizens of developed nations such as jobs and pensions. They do not possess an innate immunity to the strongman promising bright shiny objects if he happens to be the one to provide a rapid solution for complex problems. I have no illusions about Americans' ability to forsake old principles in the name of pragmatism, no matter how much others may suffer and the United States' image is sullied for posterity. Most of our contemporaries live in the HERE and NOW and do not give a moment's thought to our descendants' fate.
28
@AE most of our contemporaries here and in France where we visited en famille a few weeks ago are obsessed with social media and their addictions to electronic toys from China. There's the difference. Individuals are so busy checking their messages that they are completely unaware of, and vulnerable to, any social or political manipulation that an evil politico wishes to try on them.
2
@AE
No offense, but France was a monarchy for a long time before it ever became a Republic, which may in part explain why it drifted to an authoritarian Vichy government during the second World War.
It was American self-determination and "exceptionalism" that forced British rule out as the result of its founding.
As with climate scientists and their dire predictions based on evidence, so with those who study fascism: it's "fright-mongering," so "What, me worry?"
We can not know how far into a fascist dictatorship Donald J. Trump would go with a compliant House, Senate and public following. The strutting mockery, the career built on cheating, lies and exaggerations, the "love" and admiration of ruthless leaders may all be "passing fancies and in time may go." On the other hand, if the price of genuine freedom is "eternal vigilance," then warnings such as those of the world's students of climate change and of professors such as Jason Stanley and others must be heeded. They, like Ibsen's Dr. Stockmann, are in the best sense "enemies of the people" -- the people who are easily misled by arrogance, lies and propaganda. It's still the same old story: Power corrupts.
Doug Giebel, Big Sandy, Montana
19
One commenter seems to absolve Trump by suggesting that he has not yet undertaken fascist actions or policies as President. Whether he has undertaken such is open to debate, but that is not the point. For argument's sake, we can say he has not done so yet. The purpose of this video is to educate people as to the nature of fascism and its techniques for achieving power. It draws comparisons of Trump's language and behavior to fascism. First question: is Trump a fascist? Second question: if he is, how and when will he commence to rule as a fascist? Third question: should we be vigilant to make sure he does not accomplish this goal?
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@M.i. Estner
Yes, we should. Just consider last night's interview with Trump on 20/20. There wasn't a single straight answer in the whole interview. He regrets nothing, he made no mistakes, and he is friends with the worst world leaders. What kind of man is so perfect.
17
Absurd. Words are just that, words. Fascism is a political system in which a single person rules a country using the military and police to hold onto power.
Trump has no sway over the military; in fact, he appears to have alienated much of its leadership along with the entire FBI, which would be instrumental in any attempt he made to become a dictator.
What he has done is use language to take over a political party. In other words, he is exploiting built-in flaws of our democracy just as he exploited flaws in our tax code. He is a bovine excrement peddler and always has been. He shares that title with numerous other politicians of both parties. Everyone needs to stop giving him more credit than he deserves.
@M.i. Estner
What is not publicized very much, yet, is probably an even more sinister situation in which those whose interests wish to be served are now helping to stock the courts at all levels of federalist/corporatist style judges right down to the local level.
In many ways, the idea of social justice in America is being gradually eviscerated, all for the sake of corporate/government control, hence, what happens to the environment, education and life for all citizens, in general, will be under the full control of the rich and powerful in America, all done to serve strictly their interests.
10
And how is the United States not already fascist? Fascism means a command economy that the war machine dominates. We live under the complete domination of the multinationals who have coopted every branch of the government to their uses and ends, offshore corporate entities, many of whom incidentally are massively bloated defense contractors and who are directly responsible for churning up the interminable foreign entanglements in Afghanistan and Iraq for example. How is this not already fascism, especially given that the Little People Who Pay the Taxes are the same people who are duped by the Russians before and during elections?
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@Tournachonadar
Fascist governments require explicit monolithic obedience; we have the freedom to speak out, though not the freedom to be heard, which is reserved for deep pockets. We aren’t thrown in jail for political crimes, generally, though one wonders if we would be if it were worth the trouble. It will be hard to convince large numbers of people that they are oppressed by the system that gives them a voice, even if that voice is an impotent, manipulated one. We really need other ways of talking about politics and freedom.
3
@Martin really? Are you old enough to remember the Democratic National Convention of 1968 held here in Chicago? What freedoms were evident there? The freedom of CPD to club young hip people? Instead of a fear-based mechanism that is super-expensive to administer, we merely have a system that ignores Joe and Jane Average completely and gives everything to the lobbyists...
@Tournachonadar
You have a point. I can remember Chicago. And Occupy WS was more recent. It was forcibly suppressed and the media basically collaborated. But my question is. still, how to show people how they are being used, when people like Trump are sold, successfully, as representing working people?
There are fourteen characteristics of fascism that are easily found on line. They are all - without exception - practiced to varying degrees by today's Republican Party.
Those who say otherwise live in a world of "alternative facts" (Kellyanne Conway) in which "truth isn't the truth" (Rudi Giuliani).
I teach history for a living, and I am very concerned that fascism has already come to America "wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross" (Attributed to Sinclair Lewis.).
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Mr. Trump is hemmed in from all sides: from a legislature that cannot pass his health care bill, from a court system that puts a hold on his most egregious immigration proposals, from a defense establishment that checks his rhetorical impulses, and from a popular media that lambastes, ridicules and picks him apart ruthlessly on a daily basis.
His academic pedigree notwithstanding, Mr. Stanley appears to have gone a bit over the top.
9
@Frank J Haydn
I am sure that most well educated Germans thought the same way about Hitler.
There are too many poorly educated Americans that are ready and willing to follow someone who claims to have the answers and there are too many Americans with vast wealth who are ready to support him in their own interests.
4
This is irresponsible intellectual pabulum, a loathsome fear-mongering screed convincing only to those lacking any historical understanding or whose political vision is so narrow and partisan that the overwhelming countervailing evidence is simple ignored. This consists of a handful of grossly over-drawn parallels; none which compares Trump to ANY of the figures cited can survive even the most superficial analysis. For a "scholar of fascism" there's more than a touch of irony in his use of the "Big Lie." This is no more than crude propaganda. Not a single objection is anticipated, no counter-arguments are permitted. It is stridently asserted in the histrionic terms and emotional urgency he ascribes to the President. This sad joke evidences George Orwell's assertion that nowadays the term "fascism" has lost all meaning: it is simply used as a means of sullying those whose views we oppose. A suggestion to this "philosopher" is to follow the advice of a for-real predecessor: Know Thyself. This disgraceful childish screed reveals more about the professor's insecurities and unconscious aping of the very fascism he alleges is about to overwhelm us. And this man holds a named chair at Yale? Heaven help us.
15
Another pretentious defense of the American fuhrer. Let's keep it simple: If he looks a fascist, talks like a fascist, and acts like a fascist - he is a fascist.
You mention counter arguments, but your entire post contains nothing but basically ad hominem attacks on the author. Zero counter arguments in support of your "point".
16
@Dr. Svetistephen Please give us your educational credentials since you have attacked the author's. Where did you get your doctoral degree?
16
Richard Luettgen, you are actually making the author's point. Creeping fascism does just that; it starts with dehumanization and trying to make dissent illegitimate, and gets worse from there, exactly as was pointed out in the video.
Trump obeys court rulings? He's pretty quick with a pardon, no?
Has he not encouraged his mob to beat up journalists (then, as per the script, denied he has done so)?
As was pointed out in the video, even in 1937, German Jews had rights. Things can change a lot in 2 years.
141
@Lori He didn't pardon Manafort (yet).
1
Jason Stanley is right. Evoking a "mythic past" that has been hit by liberalism, sowing division and spreading hatred and discord by using all sorts of reasons and attacking the truth, from science (ex. climate change) to facts on human rights and economic and foreign developments, is the preliminary stage potentially leading to an authoritarian or fascist era.
What makes this phenomenon possible is the sheer force of social media in world society. Social media by their own very nature offer people the potential to group themselves in clusters weaving their own truths. In the era where social media dominate and distort public discourse it is easy for demagogues and rogues to bend reality and glow into the growing hatred and discord.
Regulating social media by the same strict rules all other media are regulated is imperative if we want to prevent societies morphing into hostile grounds of warring factions and countries descending into authoritarian and fascist darkness.
5
@Pavlos Papadopoulos Regulating social media would be the quickest road to fascism. And, other than over-the-air broadcasting and radio, NO media are regulated.
3
Trump is a very real danger but he isn't the only danger. The movement by moneyed interests to buy every branch of government is what we should all be more aware of and REALLY worried about. Trump is simply an end result of repeated assaults on our system of government by an entitled white male coterie that is amply funded by fantastically wealthy individuals and corporations. The buyout is nearly complete and unless we are able to balance it out at least a bit by voting more Republicans out of office, we may as well accept the fact that we are a banana republic. There nothing good coming from the GoP or Trump. Once they are done undermining our human rights and liberties, and selling out to China and Russia, they will simple decamp to their homes in some safe country and leave us in a mess.
53
As Professor Stanley states, the kind of language President Trump uses and his choice of rhetoric has direct parallels with the most odious fascist leaders of the past. Consider this passage from an OSS sponsored psychological profile of Hitler, written in 1943 (and available via public archives, as published after WWII in book form):
"His primary rules were: never allow the public to cool off; never admit a fault or wrong; never concede that there may be some good in your enemy; never leave room for alternatives; never accept blame; concentrate on one enemy at a time and blame him for everything that goes wrong; people will believe a big lie sooner than a little one; and if you repeat it frequently enough people will sooner or later believe it."
While we need to be very careful about false equivalencies, language absolutely matters. President Trump engages in precisely the kind of behavior stated above, and the kind of language he regularly uses is very much in the tradition of fascist propaganda (albeit a new, 21st century American kind).
Climate scientists warn us of the dangers of climate change. Philosophers and historians warn us of the dangers of authoritarianism and fascism. Are we listening?
288
The stakes are so high that one doesn’t want to admit that there’s room for doubt. But another characteristic of any totalitarianism is that you have to join sides instead of discussing honestly.
No one who is aware of history could listen to Trump without thinking of Mussolini or Hitler. The obsessive self-glorification, the lies, the vilification of everyone who disagrees with him, the clownishness. Not to mention the fanatical lock-step adoration of his audiences. But the same rhetoric had already become, over the last few decades, ingrained in our politics. The conspiracy theories and polarization of Fox news and a.m. radio was already central to GOP politics in the 90’s. There was, however, a pretense that the checks & balances of government created a line of constraint between the elected officials and the demagogic media that drove them. Trump’s election has destroyed that line, at least far as rhetoric goes. Whether or not he wants to be a dictator, or simply to play one on TV, remains to be seen. The fact that Republican politics had perfected a complete division between manipulative rhetoric and policy requires us to consider that Trump is simply the latest salesman for the (mostly) same enrich-the-rich policies.
On the other hand, there’s no question that this is having a profoundly debasing effect on the culture and on politics. If Trump does not want to be a dictator, he has definitely already paved the way for someone who does.
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@Martin: Well said. If it weren't for at least some of the checks-and-balances Trump would be even further.
6
@Martin
Trump is doing someone's bidding. Daily. With every public utterance he makes. None of it is random, it all leads towards the place where that unseen someone wants it to go. And that is fascism in the US.
2
With a president misusing power, not respecting separation of powers, often not telling the truth, showing a lack of ethics, decency, empathy, using alternative facts, a lack of transparency and accountability, tendency towards autocracy rather than democracy, pervasive conflicts of interests, emboldening of authoritarian regimes, suppression of free speech and the free press, and the list goes on and on. To worry greatly about what is happening in the country seems to make sense. Let's hope the midterms make a real difference.
138
Outrageous and wildly inaccurate equivalencies, and irresponsible fright-mongering.
Trump obeys court rulings, even when he doesn't like them -- he may challenge them right up to the Supreme Court, but while they're in force he obeys them scrupulously.
He awaits legislation from Congress. He weighs-in on what he's willing to sign, as every other president has, but he doesn't seek to achieve broad policy ends by executive diktat that require legislation and which he is not legitimately empowered to impose by executive action alone.
How has he abused journalists? By putting them in jail? He certainly has his views about them, and isn’t shy about expressing them; but name one journalist whose reportage, news analysis or commentary has been suppressed or punished in any way by Trump.
How is this "fascism", and how is he like Mussolini and Hitler?! Who in the end ruled by decree? Or even like Erdogan, who jails dissidents, notably journalists, and has moved Turkey to a point politically at which the next step is the kind of fascistic rule practiced by Mussolini and Hitler?
This is an outrageous hatchet job seeking to outrageously attack a president whose policies the author rejects. Well, you lost an epochal election: live with your profound failure. Of course, you have every right to hold and express an opinion, even a remarkably inaccurate, ideologically interested one which, even as commentary, deserves to be labelled “fake news”.
Gawd, but you guys are getting desperate.
38
@Richard Luettgen separating children from their families and hold them in detention camps seems like an illustration of the right to reject personal responsibility in order to serve ideology. What is the greater purpose or advantage of a people dependent on a leader who is accountable to apparently accountable to no one? What is the future of America alone, fearful and without influence?
68
@Richard Luettgen-Who are "You guys"? Are they
anyone who is other then your self-identified group ? Very self revealing . It seems you have already bought into Trumps efforts to divide Americans from one another.
14
@Richard Luettgen
Stanley made his case based what Trump has said compared to what historical and current day fascists have also said in speeches, rallies and press briefing. The similarities are undeniable. You argue the Trump can't be a wanna be fascist because he is operating under the rule of law. Hardly. Just look at the fact that he is enriching himself while in office, illegally maintaining interest in his company and property. The numerous emoluments suits being filed now will prove that point, and the Mueller investigation will likely show how he used a foreign power to illegally take hold if power.
He has said that being president for life was a good idea. He routinely stokes fear and hatred with his rabid followers at rallies. He constantly attacks the press, challenging truth itself so that he becomes the sole source of truth. He creates enemies; immigrants, liberals, me too women, and most importantly the press.
These are the foundational steps for future action should he, by some sick twist of fate, prevail in the coming election. Our only hope is for a Dem win to then become a serious check on his (and his neofascist party) quest for unbridled power.
We are on the brink of losing our democracy should the Dems lose. I am doing all I can to see that doesn't happen.
17