The bitterness of the defeated South tended to express itself in the study of history.
—Robert O. Paxton
I feel I got in early on the sort of palliative care highlighted in the above epigram.
The history of the Weimar Republic—leading into the overthrow of German democracy—rhymes so well with the unfolding disaster of Trumpism that it is impossible to ignore. (Those who don’t remember history are doomed to repeat it, and all that.) Nonetheless, over the last few years, I have had some sympathy with commentators who have claimed that using the word fascist wasn’t appropriate or was at least risky: not because it wasn’t true, but because of its limited purchase as a line of attack.

Historian Robert O. Paxton says in this fascinating profile, “the word was used with such abandon — ‘everyone you don’t like is a fascist,’ he said — tha…
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to The Future of Everything to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.