egowave:egowave:i really want to emphasize that if anything, this is the beginning of a fascist...

[dragonlady7]

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egowave https://egowave.tumblr.com/post/639615403387142144/i-really-want-to-emphasize-that-if-anything-this :

egowave https://egowave.tumblr.com/post/639594733284605952/i-really-want-to-emphasize-that-if-anything-this :

i really want to emphasize that if anything, this is the beginning of a fascist movement in the united states and not the end of one. people often look at what fascists did once in state power in order to define what fascism is. this a flawed approach and ignores the characteristics of the fascist movements in their infancy, which is far more analogous to our current situation. both the italian fascist party and nazi party were formed in opposition to liberal democracy and parliamentarian politics. they were necessarily against the existing state and drew a great deal of support from this, because people were frustrated with capitalist liberal democracy and felt that it was inert, corrupt, and ineffective. once in power both italian fascists and nazis never actually destroyed the capitalist state and instead molded it to their own interests while working with capitalists, but the opposition to traditional politics and establishment politicians is a key aspect of the early ideology of fascist movements.

some people in the notes are mad that i didnt mention white supremacy. white supremacy is inextricable from fascism- but this is a post not a dissertation, and its a post about only one characteristic of fascism which is frequently overlooked and should be paid attention to because its happening in front of our eyes. this is a serious development in american right-wing thought that mirrors the historical development of european fascism even before they had totally consolidated their racial politics. look at what right wingers are saying. this is an actual shift from general reactionary and white nationalist politics to fascist politics

theres a lot of talk about forming a new party– again, a significant development that points to a more organized and pointed fascist movement. the nazi party was a new party formed against the other political parties of the weimar republic. of course the republican party is racist (so were the 20th german conservatives) but theyre still bound by general rules of political respectability and at the end of the day, their interests are the interests of the state and they dont want radical right-wing change that would destabilize the state. just look at the reactions from republican politicians about DC right now. a new party would be able to be as openly white supremacist as theyd like, and while im sure theyd be just as supportive of capitalism as the GOP, they would not have to conform to the usual trappings of american politics

some people also took issue with me saying that this is the beginning. i say this for specific reasons about the history of fascism and not to diminish the right wingers that already exist or the history of american racial and colonial violence. the united states is a reactionary country founded on violence, but fascism did not exist until the 20th century and i dont think the united states should be retroactively categorized as fascist. however, there is a cyclical relation between the violence committed under liberal democracies and the violence enacted by fascists. american colonialism, slavery, and imperialism influences american right wing movements today in the same way that italian and german colonialism influenced italian and german fascism. and in the same way, i would not characterize german colonialism as fascism, even though they used the same tactics in their colonies as they did in concentration camps. (the first german concentration camps were actually in africa, not europe) i mean that this is the beginning because it demonstrates specific ideological characteristics of fascism that were not as prevalent before. this is the eruption of a growing american fascist (or whatever youd like to call it because maybe fascism isnt the exactly right term for the united states) consciousness, much greater than small groups of disorganized reactionaries and racists (Your picture was not posted)

Comments

[sabotabby]

I think anyone who's been paying attention is going to be nodding along. We don't study the early bits of fascism enough because it makes the mainstream right wing uncomfortable.

[dragonlady7]

we can only hope that all the "you're overreacting" moderates have noticed, now, that we weren't. It's a lot to hope.