I think this is an important point to make. The road to fascism is paved with people telling you 'you're overreacting'. Although I'm less optimistic about the roadblocks in Trump's way. He may take both houses and has the Supreme Court completely on his side. Dems were incapable of holding him accountable when they had the Presidency and will be even more incompetent now. Once institutions have allowed fascism to take root to this extent those institutions can't be relied on to suddenly kick into gear (imo). Opposition can only come from legal and extra-legal community resistance.
Nor should we ignore that Hitler was admired globally - imitators sprang up everywhere. In Australia Robert Menzies was an admirer just as today the Dutton led Liberals are falling in behind Trump. We have an election in 2025 and irrespective of what one may think of Labor we cannot afford to go down that road.
Thanks for this, a brutal, brilliant, and necessary reminder of Paxton's anatomy. The academics' refusal to call it fascism, because, they insist, it doesn't exactly match the template of Hitler's rise to power--where's the militias, the street fights, the communists who threaten the bankers?--actually accomplishes the normalization of fascism. A terrifying prospect, because what will they say when Stephen Miller tells Secretary Noem to crack down on the professors who denounce or ridicule the boss?
Thanks, James. I get particularly concerned about the way Corey Robin dismisses the fascist label (and I noticed MaxSpeak doing the same thing to today, if you know him). Corey is a great analyst with deep knowledgee so I don't dismiss his concerns lightly, but it still seems to me a real blind spot.
Yes, the dots are joining aren't they. It isn't hard to imagine a settlement in Gaza and Ukraine on Netenyahu and Putin's terms, for instance, and a turning up of the heat on China. Australia couldn't be worse served by the duopoly we have.
I’ve just spent the past couple of weeks walking a pilgrimage trail in Japan. All of the Americans I met were tertiary educated (‘elites’?) retired or soon-to-retire people who told me they were briefly escaping a country they no longer recognised. These were NOT sneering ‘libs’ looking down on the ‘little people’ but down-to-earth, unpretentious but deeply thoughtful folk who were genuinely worried about what is happening to their country.
I truly wonder what they do. Oddly, the chance of violence in the shortterm is lessened by the realtive scale of Trump's victory, but I suspect that will just be a false sense of security. For many Americans, it will be a frog-in-water situation.
I think this is an important point to make. The road to fascism is paved with people telling you 'you're overreacting'. Although I'm less optimistic about the roadblocks in Trump's way. He may take both houses and has the Supreme Court completely on his side. Dems were incapable of holding him accountable when they had the Presidency and will be even more incompetent now. Once institutions have allowed fascism to take root to this extent those institutions can't be relied on to suddenly kick into gear (imo). Opposition can only come from legal and extra-legal community resistance.
Yes, I think I become less confident by the day. And the complacency is unbelievable.
This might be of interest: https://pocket.co/share/f74a5496-35ab-44ee-b597-a84250c7f7d4
Thanks!
Nor should we ignore that Hitler was admired globally - imitators sprang up everywhere. In Australia Robert Menzies was an admirer just as today the Dutton led Liberals are falling in behind Trump. We have an election in 2025 and irrespective of what one may think of Labor we cannot afford to go down that road.
Yes, I am seeing way too much evidence of govts just rolling over.
Terrible frightening & brilliant piece
Thanks for this, a brutal, brilliant, and necessary reminder of Paxton's anatomy. The academics' refusal to call it fascism, because, they insist, it doesn't exactly match the template of Hitler's rise to power--where's the militias, the street fights, the communists who threaten the bankers?--actually accomplishes the normalization of fascism. A terrifying prospect, because what will they say when Stephen Miller tells Secretary Noem to crack down on the professors who denounce or ridicule the boss?
Thanks, James. I get particularly concerned about the way Corey Robin dismisses the fascist label (and I noticed MaxSpeak doing the same thing to today, if you know him). Corey is a great analyst with deep knowledgee so I don't dismiss his concerns lightly, but it still seems to me a real blind spot.
The combination of Trump and Netanyahu and Putin and Modi and Xi Jinping and and and… we’ve got a lot of work to do!
Yes, the dots are joining aren't they. It isn't hard to imagine a settlement in Gaza and Ukraine on Netenyahu and Putin's terms, for instance, and a turning up of the heat on China. Australia couldn't be worse served by the duopoly we have.
I’ve just spent the past couple of weeks walking a pilgrimage trail in Japan. All of the Americans I met were tertiary educated (‘elites’?) retired or soon-to-retire people who told me they were briefly escaping a country they no longer recognised. These were NOT sneering ‘libs’ looking down on the ‘little people’ but down-to-earth, unpretentious but deeply thoughtful folk who were genuinely worried about what is happening to their country.
I truly wonder what they do. Oddly, the chance of violence in the shortterm is lessened by the realtive scale of Trump's victory, but I suspect that will just be a false sense of security. For many Americans, it will be a frog-in-water situation.