American Fascism – Part Two
In my last post, I offered a more-or-less summary of the first half of On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder.
Review
According to Retired Major General Randy Manner most MAGA Republicans “… don't understand what fascism is. The reality is that they are, in fact, fascists themselves."
What do we do to stem the tide of fascism in a country where more than half of citizens are deranged or delusional or don’t give a shit?
Snyder offers twenty lessons. Let’s review the first ten and move on to 11 – 20. If you missed it, you can find an explanation of each of the first ten lessons at https://www.coachingwithwisdom.com/blog/contemporary-fascism
*
Lesson One: Do not obey in advance.
Lesson Two: Defend Institutions.
Lesson Three: Beware the one-party state.
Lesson Four: Take responsibility for the face of the world.
Lesson Five: Remember professional ethics.
Lesson Six: Be wary of paramilitaries.
Lesson Seven: Be reflective if you must be armed.
Lesson Eight: Stand out.
Lesson Nine: Be kind to our language.
Lesson Ten: Believe in truth.
*
Continuing
Lesson Eleven: Investigate.
Figure things out for yourself.
Spend more time with long articles.
Subsidize investigative journalism by subscribing to print media. [1]
Realize that some of what is on the internet is there to harm you. [2]
Learn about sites that investigate propaganda campaigns (some of which come from abroad).
Take responsibility for what you communicate with others.
Lesson Twelve: Make eye contact and small talk. [3]
This is not just polite.
It is part of being a citizen and a responsible member of society.
It is also a way to stay in touch with your surroundings, break down social barriers, and understand whom you should and should not trust.
If we enter a culture of denunciation [4], you will want to know the psychological landscape of your daily life.
Lesson Thirteen: Practice corporeal politics.
Power wants your body softening in your chair and your emotions dissipating on the screen.
Get outside.
Put your body in unfamiliar places with unfamiliar people. [5]
Make new friends and march with them.
Protests can be organized through social media, but nothing is real that does not end on the streets.
If tyrants feel no consequences for their actions in the three-dimensional world, nothing will change.
Lesson Fourteen: Establish a private life.
Nastier rulers will use what they know about you to push you around.
Scrub your computer of malware on a regular basis.
Remember that email is skywriting.
Consider using alternative forms of the internet, or simply using it less.
Have personal exchanges in person.
For the same reason, resolve any legal trouble.
Tyrants seek the hook on which to hang you. [6]
Try not to have hooks.
Lesson Fifteen: Contribute to good causes.
Be active in organizations, political or not, that express your own view of life.
Pick a charity or two and set up autopay.
Then, you have made a free choice that supports civil society and helps others to do good.
Fascists create what they call a “corporatist” system, in which every human activity has its proper place, subordinated to the party-state.
Lesson Sixteen: Learn from peers in other countries.
Keep up your friendships abroad, or make new friends in other countries.
The present difficulties in the United States are an element of a larger trend.
And no country is going to find a solution by itself.
Make sure you and your family have passports.
Lesson Seventeen: Listen for dangerous words.
Be alert to the use of the words ‘extremism’ and ‘terrorism.’
Be alive to the fatal notions of ‘emergency’ and ‘exception.’
Be angry about the treacherous use of patriotic vocabulary.
The most intelligent of the Nazis, the legal theorist, Carl Schmitt, explained in clear language the essence of fascist governance: the way to destroy all rules, he explained, was to focus on the idea of the ‘exception.’
A Nazi leader out-maneuvers his opponents by manufacturing a general conviction that the present moment is exceptional and then transforming that state of exception into a permanent emergency.
Citizens then trade real freedom for fake safety.
Lesson Eighteen: Be calm when the unthinkable arrives.
Modern tyranny is terror management.
When the terrorist attack comes, remember that authoritarianism exploits such events to consolidate power.
Then, a sudden disaster that requires the end of checks and balances, the dissolution of opposition parties, the suspension of freedom of expression, the right to a fair trial, and so on, is the oldest trick in the Hitlerian book.
Do not fall for it.
The Reichstag fire was the moment when Hitler’s government, which came to power mainly through democratic means, became the menacing permanent Nazi regime.
On February 27, 1933, at about 9:00 p.m., the building housing the German parliament, the Reichstag, began to burn.
Who set the fire that night in Berlin?
We don’t know, and it doesn’t really matter.
What matters is that this spectacular act of terror initiated the politics of emergency.
The next day, a decree suspended the basic rights of all German citizens, allowing them to be ‘preventively detained’ by the police.
On March 23, the new parliament passed an ‘enabling act,’ which allowed Hitler to rule by decree.
Germany remained in a state of emergency for the next twelve years, until the end of the Second World War.
As I am writing, wildfires devastate large sections of California.
Fingers point, and blame is being politicized and assigned.
A few days ago, I read a headline on Fox News that said: “[Jesse] Watters [Fox News Journalist] Wants Federal Takeover of California, Martial Law: Danger.”
“This is biblical-level destruction. And the city of LA is hosting the Olympics in four years. There’s no way we can showcase LA to the world. A full federal takeover is needed. Invoke the Stafford Act. The state’s overwhelmed. Martial law might have to be declared.”
This is how it begins.
Trump has instructed his henchmen to refuse to grant federal aid to CA unless they meet certain conditions: autocracy at its finest!
When your neighbor’s house is on fire, and you are holding a bucket of water, do you refuse to help him unless he makes concessions first?
James Madison nicely made the point that tyranny arises ‘on some favorable emergency.’
Lesson Nineteen: Be a patriot.
Set a good example of what America means for the generations to come. They will need it.
Lesson Twenty: Be as courageous as you can.
If none of us is prepared to die for freedom, then all of us will die under tyranny.
*
Snyder published On Tyranny in 2017.
A lot has changed since then.
Phrases like “print media” sound obsolete.
When was the last time you saw someone read a paper copy of a newspaper or a magazine rather than a version on his phone, laptop, or iPad?
Snyder gave us a good start, but we must modify it as times change.
*
American fascism will look different from the fascistic systems of the past, but the essential elements are hurrying into place.
Whether the leader shaves his head, wears a silly mustache, or thinks orange skin is de rigueur, under any version of fascism, the leader is still a malignant narcissist and a bully.
Whether they demonize Jews, communists, or immigrants, fascists always employ the tactic of the common enemy, the “purification of the homeland,” and the theme of returning to a time of grandeur.
American fascism may not adorn itself in brown shirts but prefers red baseball caps.
American fascism may rely more on economic and political tactics than the street violence of the Nazis.
That is not to say that once Trump pardons all of the Proud Boys, they will not revert to the same tactics they used on January 6th.
*
Here are a few more lessons I would add to Snyder’s list:
· Beware of attempts to take away your rights because “we can’t afford them” while oligarchs lounge on yachts and lunch on gourmet meals.
· Beware of governments that are “teams of yes men” instead of “teams of rivals”, following the model of Lincoln.
· Elect leaders based on their character, not their personal wealth or charisma.
· We must break up extreme concentrations of individual and corporate wealth. We once had anti-trust laws in this country. What happened to them?
· We must return to a more progressive system of taxation. If we do not, the rich will continue to get richer and will have the power to elect those who care little for the underprivileged.
· Avoid doing business with sycophants who contribute large sums of money to leaders in exchange for lucrative corporate tax cuts or unknown benefits.
· Hit them in their pocketbooks!
· Don’t forget that the first thing Hitler did when he assumed total control was take control of the public media to make it an exclusive vehicle for his propaganda. Facebook, X, the Washington Post: the dominos tumble as you read this.
· Fight not only for your individual rights but also for the rights of the planet; record corporate profits will mean little if we destroy the planet.
*
Keep the faith!
In the end, freedom will prevail.
In the meantime, the autocrats, fascists, and oligarchs can do a hell of a lot of damage.
We, the people, have the power to defeat fascism and reform our country to one that is more egalitarian and more respectful of the rights of all people, rich and poor alike.
But compromise and appeasement will not work any better for us than they did for Neville Chamberlain.
We must confront the bullies of fascism and let them know that we will go down fighting if we have to.
We do not have the luxury of piddling around anymore.
The wolf is at the door.
You can make a difference.
If nothing else, let your voice be heard!
*
[1] Like Reader’s Digest? As I state below, this sounds like an anachronism.
[2] As I write this, Zuckerdork has declared in his most pussified, obsequious tones to Emperor Trump that Facebook will no longer fact-check posts. Apparently, he believes that if people are allowed to post false crap about teenage girls, he has no ethical duty to intervene. This should go a long way to remedy the problem of Internet bullying.
[3] See my post of April 29, 2024: https://www.coachingwithwisdom.com/blog/may-i-have-your-undivided-attention
[4] A “culture of denunciation”? Interesting phrase.
[5] With caution!
[6] We now know that it is acceptable for them to have multiple hooks from which they suffer no consequences, but we need to worry about our own hooks!?