100% Fascism. This is how it starts. I applaud Kagan, and I applaud you for bringing him up. I'd love to see a comparison of "authoritarianism" and "fascism". I understand that fascism is a type of authoritarianism, but I'm curious to differentiate fascism from other forms of authoritarianism. Are there examples of authoritarianism that doesn't involve a cult leader, bigotry, cruelty, conspiricism or embracing lies and propaganda? They probably exist? I just can't think of examples of non-fascist authoritarianism off the top of my head. Love your article.
It IS fascism. It's a populist reactionary movement aimed at destroying the left who are the enemy within. In Germany the Jews were using the left to destroy Germany. In Spain it was communists trying to destroy the church (at least a little nugget of truth in that one), in Italy it was a general opposition to intellectualism that was throttling Italian greatness.
Here it's the left using immigrants to "poison the blood of our country" by importing "bad genes" to overthrow that votes of "our" people.
National Socialism was one particularly virulent form of a worldwide movement. Austrian fascism was mainly aimed at Social Democrats. Romanian and Hungarian fascism was aimed at Gypsy's.
The lack of an ideologically coherent set of policies is a feature of the movement that was true everywhere. The Fuhrer principle is the core ideology not a weird bug. The swallowing of lies is the sign of acceptance. Trumpism is anti-corporate unless the corporation submits. Musk is the Alfred Krupp of the movement here.
Hitler went to great lengths to only do popular things. He succeeded by having an inmate instinct for what was truly popular and not what people said was popular. There were precious few policies or ideas that couldn't be thrown away. Only the Fuhrer principle, the stab in the back and the fight against the Jews. Everything else was merely a lever to pull and nothing was sacred. Any policy could be reversed and justified . The USSR went from the cause of German suffering, to an ally and partner, to the cause of all suffering over two years. Contradiction didn't matter. Hitler was quite explicit about this. Sound familiar?
Just like with Schmidt in Germany, ideologists came along behind the Fuhrer and tried to create coherence from the contradictions. Sound familiar? Trumpism is absolutely a fascist movement. Its almost completely ordinary in its substance as one.
100% Fascism. This is how it starts. I applaud Kagan, and I applaud you for bringing him up. I'd love to see a comparison of "authoritarianism" and "fascism". I understand that fascism is a type of authoritarianism, but I'm curious to differentiate fascism from other forms of authoritarianism. Are there examples of authoritarianism that doesn't involve a cult leader, bigotry, cruelty, conspiricism or embracing lies and propaganda? They probably exist? I just can't think of examples of non-fascist authoritarianism off the top of my head. Love your article.
I just want to say that for all the compliments The Bulwark gives Harris for running a fairly flawless campaign, why do you think she is incapable of strategy on media/interviews? Was she hiding or is she strategic? I think her timing to wait until the last month for a media blitz is pretty spot on. The nation has a pretty limited attention span and a last minute push seems wise to me. We all just want her to ease our anxiety - we are looking for some certainty in a time of great UNcertainty. I think The Bulwark should cut her a little slack considering everything she's done in such a short amount of time. Let's not perpetuate the idea that women have to do twice as much as men...in heels. And no... she is not suddenly doing media because you all said she should.
I said something similar re: Tearing down this Walz:
"Did Bill Kristol just pat himself on the back for predicting Harris's pivot to the center in a way that looked like he was taking credit for it? I'm thinking Harris doesn't really need the Bulwark men to help her figure this out. Kristol tends to overvalue his mansplaining anyway, but I felt this was over the top."
The often unmentioned point is that she wasn't hiding; she was campaigning, doing bus tours in the swing states, visiting pokey little towns that don't merit a national media mention. But Trump does a rally, talks garbage and lies, and it's plastered everywhere. That double standard strikes again - even here.
Yesterday I watched the film Face in the Crowd with Andy Griffith, Patricia Neal and Walter Matthau. It's like watching Trump in action. You can probably g et it on the Prime channel and it is SO worth seeing.
I am calling our present situation FASCISM ;cause that's exactly what it is. I voted today and it felt great.
I'm getting some other people out tomorrow to do the same. Let's go guys !
"Fascism should rightly be called Corporatism, as it is the merger of corporate and government power." - Benito Mussolini
Call it what you want but fact is, if you can't afford your own army of lobbyists then you don't really have influence in our current system of govt. That's why i argue that Trump isn't so much bringing us fascism as he is slotting neatly into an existing system and making it explicit. The tragedy isn't impending fascism, the tragedy is we're already so close that an autocrat like Trump is a natural fit.
The real problem isn't Trump. It's that so many people are receptive to Trump's messaging. That's not gonna change until the govt reorganizes its priorities and genuinely serves the people.
As far as I'm concerned all the climate change denying Trumptards in Florida can drown in the storm surge and I will not shed a single tear. FAFO and they will find out. My only wish is that Marco Rubio, Rick Scott, and Ron DeSantis would be with them.
Oct 15, 2018 — When fascism starts to feel normal, we're all in trouble. While calling President Trump a fascist may seem like an exaggeration, it might not be ..."
and then go to "On Tyranny" by Timothy Snyder and you can see that the fishwrap pinpointed the issue Snyder's 20-chapter book synopsis brings out. His book came out in 2017. So we are on notice that the media is well aware of the Snyder warning. I recommend everyone read it; it will take about an hour, but thinking what is in it will take the rest of a lifetime.
Since his daddy was a member of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s, an avowed supporter of Lindberg's original "America First" proto-fascist movement in the 1930's, an enthusiast for the Nazi party in America before WW2, a suspected German spy who radioed information about NY harbor naval and convoy movements to Berlin during WW2 according to FBI files, and a racist and antisemite who practiced housing discrimination against Blacks and Jews in the 1950s, I think that it is reasonable to suspect the son of fascist tendencies. Trump has often stated his belief that individual character and behavior is "in their genes," and, clearly, fascism is in his genes.
I write to repeat what I said on another platform: read Timothy Snyder's short, 20-chapter historical review of aberrational events that eat away at democracy, "On Tyranny". It is short, concise, and, like steak, needs lots of chewing on - and essential for understanding what is, has been and probably will be happening to our country. It is an historical review of those people who have taken over countries and how it happens. It is current and also has a bibliography that backs up what he succinctly comments on in his synopsis. I highly recommend it for anyone beyond high school. It is an eye-opener into the innards of fascism, totalitarianism and how they and their ilk sublimate their way into democratic principles.
What else would you call this? It is fascism or even better - Totalitarianism. The MAGA movement is a mirror image of Stalin's totalitarian Soviet Union. I encourage my follow Bulwark subscribers to compare both. They are the same.
;
100% Fascism. This is how it starts. I applaud Kagan, and I applaud you for bringing him up. I'd love to see a comparison of "authoritarianism" and "fascism". I understand that fascism is a type of authoritarianism, but I'm curious to differentiate fascism from other forms of authoritarianism. Are there examples of authoritarianism that doesn't involve a cult leader, bigotry, cruelty, conspiricism or embracing lies and propaganda? They probably exist? I just can't think of examples of non-fascist authoritarianism off the top of my head. Love your article.
I’ve called it fascism since he attempted a coup. It’s what it is.
I thought it was the right that was trying to destroy "our democracy" and America? This is all so confusing.
It IS fascism. It's a populist reactionary movement aimed at destroying the left who are the enemy within. In Germany the Jews were using the left to destroy Germany. In Spain it was communists trying to destroy the church (at least a little nugget of truth in that one), in Italy it was a general opposition to intellectualism that was throttling Italian greatness.
Here it's the left using immigrants to "poison the blood of our country" by importing "bad genes" to overthrow that votes of "our" people.
National Socialism was one particularly virulent form of a worldwide movement. Austrian fascism was mainly aimed at Social Democrats. Romanian and Hungarian fascism was aimed at Gypsy's.
The lack of an ideologically coherent set of policies is a feature of the movement that was true everywhere. The Fuhrer principle is the core ideology not a weird bug. The swallowing of lies is the sign of acceptance. Trumpism is anti-corporate unless the corporation submits. Musk is the Alfred Krupp of the movement here.
Hitler went to great lengths to only do popular things. He succeeded by having an inmate instinct for what was truly popular and not what people said was popular. There were precious few policies or ideas that couldn't be thrown away. Only the Fuhrer principle, the stab in the back and the fight against the Jews. Everything else was merely a lever to pull and nothing was sacred. Any policy could be reversed and justified . The USSR went from the cause of German suffering, to an ally and partner, to the cause of all suffering over two years. Contradiction didn't matter. Hitler was quite explicit about this. Sound familiar?
Just like with Schmidt in Germany, ideologists came along behind the Fuhrer and tried to create coherence from the contradictions. Sound familiar? Trumpism is absolutely a fascist movement. Its almost completely ordinary in its substance as one.
100% Fascism. This is how it starts. I applaud Kagan, and I applaud you for bringing him up. I'd love to see a comparison of "authoritarianism" and "fascism". I understand that fascism is a type of authoritarianism, but I'm curious to differentiate fascism from other forms of authoritarianism. Are there examples of authoritarianism that doesn't involve a cult leader, bigotry, cruelty, conspiricism or embracing lies and propaganda? They probably exist? I just can't think of examples of non-fascist authoritarianism off the top of my head. Love your article.
I just want to say that for all the compliments The Bulwark gives Harris for running a fairly flawless campaign, why do you think she is incapable of strategy on media/interviews? Was she hiding or is she strategic? I think her timing to wait until the last month for a media blitz is pretty spot on. The nation has a pretty limited attention span and a last minute push seems wise to me. We all just want her to ease our anxiety - we are looking for some certainty in a time of great UNcertainty. I think The Bulwark should cut her a little slack considering everything she's done in such a short amount of time. Let's not perpetuate the idea that women have to do twice as much as men...in heels. And no... she is not suddenly doing media because you all said she should.
I said something similar re: Tearing down this Walz:
"Did Bill Kristol just pat himself on the back for predicting Harris's pivot to the center in a way that looked like he was taking credit for it? I'm thinking Harris doesn't really need the Bulwark men to help her figure this out. Kristol tends to overvalue his mansplaining anyway, but I felt this was over the top."
The often unmentioned point is that she wasn't hiding; she was campaigning, doing bus tours in the swing states, visiting pokey little towns that don't merit a national media mention. But Trump does a rally, talks garbage and lies, and it's plastered everywhere. That double standard strikes again - even here.
Yesterday I watched the film Face in the Crowd with Andy Griffith, Patricia Neal and Walter Matthau. It's like watching Trump in action. You can probably g et it on the Prime channel and it is SO worth seeing.
I am calling our present situation FASCISM ;cause that's exactly what it is. I voted today and it felt great.
I'm getting some other people out tomorrow to do the same. Let's go guys !
To those of us used to Sheriff Andy, that movie was a huge surprise. It was also made long before Sheriff Andy. :-)
This from Tom Nichols, published last November, is a solid piece on Trump’s fascist tendencies.
https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2023/11/trump-crosses-a-crucial-line/676031/?gift=zAnkYvr0mQ92zBx_uNTv1a9viBZ3EF6fLYxMMVzjDvs&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share
"Fascism should rightly be called Corporatism, as it is the merger of corporate and government power." - Benito Mussolini
Call it what you want but fact is, if you can't afford your own army of lobbyists then you don't really have influence in our current system of govt. That's why i argue that Trump isn't so much bringing us fascism as he is slotting neatly into an existing system and making it explicit. The tragedy isn't impending fascism, the tragedy is we're already so close that an autocrat like Trump is a natural fit.
The real problem isn't Trump. It's that so many people are receptive to Trump's messaging. That's not gonna change until the govt reorganizes its priorities and genuinely serves the people.
As far as I'm concerned all the climate change denying Trumptards in Florida can drown in the storm surge and I will not shed a single tear. FAFO and they will find out. My only wish is that Marco Rubio, Rick Scott, and Ron DeSantis would be with them.
From a Google search:
"If You're Not Scared About Fascism in the U.S., You Should ...
The New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com › fascists-leaders-america-trump
Oct 15, 2018 — When fascism starts to feel normal, we're all in trouble. While calling President Trump a fascist may seem like an exaggeration, it might not be ..."
and then go to "On Tyranny" by Timothy Snyder and you can see that the fishwrap pinpointed the issue Snyder's 20-chapter book synopsis brings out. His book came out in 2017. So we are on notice that the media is well aware of the Snyder warning. I recommend everyone read it; it will take about an hour, but thinking what is in it will take the rest of a lifetime.
Since his daddy was a member of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s, an avowed supporter of Lindberg's original "America First" proto-fascist movement in the 1930's, an enthusiast for the Nazi party in America before WW2, a suspected German spy who radioed information about NY harbor naval and convoy movements to Berlin during WW2 according to FBI files, and a racist and antisemite who practiced housing discrimination against Blacks and Jews in the 1950s, I think that it is reasonable to suspect the son of fascist tendencies. Trump has often stated his belief that individual character and behavior is "in their genes," and, clearly, fascism is in his genes.
I write to repeat what I said on another platform: read Timothy Snyder's short, 20-chapter historical review of aberrational events that eat away at democracy, "On Tyranny". It is short, concise, and, like steak, needs lots of chewing on - and essential for understanding what is, has been and probably will be happening to our country. It is an historical review of those people who have taken over countries and how it happens. It is current and also has a bibliography that backs up what he succinctly comments on in his synopsis. I highly recommend it for anyone beyond high school. It is an eye-opener into the innards of fascism, totalitarianism and how they and their ilk sublimate their way into democratic principles.
I listened to that Chappo House pod with my son. Only once. Poor Bill, you guys tease him so😉
What else would you call this? It is fascism or even better - Totalitarianism. The MAGA movement is a mirror image of Stalin's totalitarian Soviet Union. I encourage my follow Bulwark subscribers to compare both. They are the same.