American Proto-Fascism

In the 1930s Nazi ideology was quite popular in many western nations, including the United States Of America. At the time there was an American Nazi Party and their propaganda slogan was "America First", the same that's now used by the Trump 2020 campaign.

_{source: Twitter}

I don't know why anyone in their right mind would be in doubt about whether Trump is a proto-fascist. I still don't believe he's an actual fascist or Nazi, because that would indicate he would hold some greater ideology, something I simply don't believe he's capable of as he lacks the conviction and intelligence for that, and his only ideology is that of his own self-interest. Donald Trump fights for Donald Trump, nothing and no one else. But if you've heard his 4th of July speech in front of Mount Rushmore, there can be no doubt left in your mind that this man is a proto-fascist who tries to capitalize on the culture war that's currently dividing the country into two opposing camps, with one side demanding racial equality and justice, and the other side fighting to conserve American tradition, including the symbols of its racist past. It should be clear who's side Trump is on and has been since day one in office.

Just like Hitler in the 1930s, Trump has made "the left" the nation's mortal enemy, and just like historical fascist regimes he defends some mythological and idolized version of the nation and its culture in this latest speech. Just like the fascists of the past he focuses on symbolism instead of reality, and just like Hitler and Mussolini he presents himself as a "man of action" because fascists value action over intellect; anti-intellectualism is another predominant feature of fascism and feeds in to its appeal to emotion over rationality. Trump neatly combines those points by announcing that he'll build a park with statues of "the greatest Americans that ever lived" by executive order. He uses the powers invested in him, not to solve the many real problems facing the nation's middle class and poor, but to further fan the flames of the already heated culture war. He further embellished his image as a man of action by promising that he'll use law enforcement to stop the "new far-left fascism" of the rioters and looters (by which he means the protesters) who deface the statues of America's past heroes, and trample on American culture; with another executive order he plans to convict these rebellious spray-painters to prison for up to ten years. Ten years! A man of action indeed...

At no point does Trump address the real purpose of the protests. He can't do that because that would muddy his emotional narrative with factual reality, it would devalue the appeal to blind patriotism needed to rile up his anti-intellectual audience. What's most disturbing is that this actually works; he received standing ovations for all the irrational and fascist propositions he made, and the audience blindly follows him into the internal war he so desperately needs to have any chance in the upcoming elections. In my opinion that's his only goal, to extend his period in the Oval Office in order to soothe his narcissist self now that his position as POTUS is under threat. Now I could go on for a long time comparing this awful and ominous speech to the characteristics of fascism and fascists, but I'm going to refer you, dear reader, to this article: Umberto Eco Makes a List of the 14 Common Features of Fascism. Eco grew up under Mussolini's fascist regime and compiled this list of features. Just open that article and compare Eco's 14 points with Trump's speech. And while you're doing that, keep in mind Trump's past defenses of white nationalism and his open racist remarks about immigrants and, most importantly, keep in mind that fascism is the extremist reaction against a perceived far-left threat; that's why fascism in itself isn't a real ideology but just a reactionary conservative movement against progressive forces that utilizes exaggerated, apocalyptic language, mythology and symbolism.

Let me reiterate that Trump himself lacks the insight, intelligence or conviction to have devised this heinous strategy all by himself, and that not all of his followers are neofascists and racists; most of them (I hope) are just feeling lost, neglected and disenfranchised by the politics of neoliberalism and neoconservatism, they see the nation devolve into disorder and chaos and crave for a strong leader who will set things straight again, just like the Germans did in the 1930s. "America First" is the perfect slogan for those lost souls and anyone who can provide them with an enemy who's responsible for all this chaos and promises to defeat them, will gain their support. These are dangerous times and developments, even more so when you realize that it's not just Trump; this speech was written by a team of writers in the West Wing, who are led by Stephen Miller, a known white supremacist and a senior political advisor to Donald Trump:

In November 2019, the Southern Poverty Law Center acquired more than 900 emails Miller sent writer Katie McHugh at Breitbart News between 2015 and 2016. The emails became the basis for an exposé that showed that Miller had enthusiastically pushed the views of white nationalist publications such as American Renaissance and VDARE, as well as the far-right conspiracy website InfoWars, and promoted The Camp of the Saints, a French novel circulating among neo-Nazis, shaping both White House policy and Breitbart's coverage of racial politics.
_{source: Wikipedia}

If you're up to it, here's the speech in full. I must admit that I had a hard time listening to all of this fascist bullshit, but we have to suffer through it to remind ourselves what we're up against here. This is no joke; "vote blue no matter who" has to be seen in light of this horrible person and the party that platforms him. I myself wouldn't have voted for Joe Biden just a month ago, as he represents a return to the status quo that made Trump big to begin with, but recent developments, especially after the murder of George Floyd and the consequent righteous protests, have changed my mind; this president has got to go and not be allowed another term in office. It's never nice to be wrong, but I was wrong and everyone who said from the beginning that Trump needs to be defeated no matter what were right. I stand corrected.

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