Parsing Out Dystopia: American Fascism

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There is no shortage of news and analysis from all political extremes on how January 6, 2021 was either a wake-up call for halting American fascism (the liberal narrative) or a proclamation for the resurgence of American originalism (the conservative narrative).  In the first case, the Capitol rioters (or insurrectionists) are as unpatriotic as anyone can be.  In the second case, those who attacked the Capitol building as the House and Senate were certifying the 2020 election results are true patriots, attempting to stop a stolen election, and unjustly pursued by the law.

You can say one of these narratives is true and one is false.  But that doesn't change the fact that both sides believe they are right and the other is not only wrong, it is dangerous.  We have seen all this before.  The parallels in history are more than coincidental.

There is a dithering old man as head of state.  He seems incapable of pulling together the disparate political forces in the public at large.  Meanwhile, an upstart leader uses his passionate significant plurality to intimidate and prevaricate the voters at large.  The half-senile elderly man is, of course, Paul von Hindenburg of Germany.  The upstart is Adolf Hitler with his loyal brownshirts.  

But, just as easily this could be a comparison of Joe Biden and Donald Trump.  Of course, Trump has already been president once.  Nevertheless, he is the upstart in 2024 due to the fact he lost the 2020 election which, in turn, has aroused his mobster rage and his reckless, medieval minded base.

“If you don't fight like hell you're not going to have a country anymore,” Trump told supporters just before they rioted in his name ("I'll be there with you") last January 6.  Like his base, he points toward “the Radical Left” as stealing the power of whole country, as the evil specter of socialism, as the godless heathen of postmodern thinking.

Attacking the far Left of the political spectrum is what Hitler did so successfully in his own power grab at the end of the Wiemar Republic.  Hitler soon controlled all of Germany and his authoritarian fascist regime held absolute power without ever attaining a democratic majority of support.  William L. Shirer, whose epic The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich still (mostly) holds up in its accuracy in spite of being publishing in 1959, the year of my birth, could have written the following paragraph in 2022.

“At the crest of their popular strength, in July 1932, the National Socialists had attained but 37 per cent of the vote.  But the 63 per cent of the German people who expressed their opposition to Hitler were much too divided and shortsighted to combine against a common danger which they must have known would overwhelm them unless they united, however temporarily, to stamp it out.”  (page 259)

This 37 percent figure is pretty close to a recent Washington Post poll which indicted: “The percentage of Americans who say violent action against the government is justified at times stands at 34%, which is considerably higher than in past polls by the Post or other major news organizations dating back more than two decades.

“The view is partisan: The new survey finds 40% of Republicans, 41% of independents and 23% of Democrats saying violence is sometimes justified.”

It seems America is near the same point as the Wiemar Republic was prior to Hitler's ascendancy to power.

Retired Major General Paul Eaton has stated that it is a real possibility that the US military could support a coup after the 2024 election.  The connection between presently and formerly serving military personnel and violent supremacy organizations is well-established.  A large number of those who volunteer of our armed services do so out of a love for guns and violence and harbor at least mild authoritarian leanings.

That bastion of hardwired antiquated thinking, Marjorie Taylor Greene, recently sounded like a Hitler wannabe: "Ultimately the truth is it's our Second Amendment rights, our right to bear arms, that protects Americans and give us the ability to defend ourselves from a tyrannical government."  She has suggested that we should have a “national divorce” between liberal and conservative states but what she really means is that it is time for conservatives to start shooting against what she calls “Communist Democrats.”

Hitler leveraged the popular fear of communism in the Wiemar Republic to aid his power grab in January 1933.  Greene's frequent use of the same word, communist, is leveraged by her to stoke the exact same fears, even though the American Left adheres to socialism, which is not the same as communism at all.  Hitler exaggerated the power of communism to his benefit.  Greene and other Trumpists are clearly doing exactly the same thing.  Demonetization of the other side requires the use of absurd words that do not truly apply.

They are playing on the genuine fears of a significant number of Americans.  By using the word “communist” and by advocating “second amendment rights” they have come full-circle back to what Senator Barry Goldwater said many decades ago: “Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice.”  His call to the radical Right in 1964 shows that Trump's so-called base has not evolved since then.  Millions of Americans in this country want America to be just as it was 60 years ago.  

This rampant primitive obsession of the American Right is motivated out of fear and anger.  I already discussed how rapid technological changes are inevitably creating a world that Right-wingers find threatening.  I have also pointed out that these people are traumatized by the rate of change and the inevitable tide of the future emerging into the present.  For these reasons, a Black man being elected president and gay persons being allowed to legally marry is an abomination to them.  They see no recourse other than violence to this infestation of infidels.   

If Trump loses in 2024, the military may well support efforts to give him the reins of power.  As I have stated before, I believe this country needs a draft.  The late-great Senator Eugene McCarthy (a pacifist) said in my presence once, that he supported a national service draft.  The US military needs civilians from all walks of life to reflect the diversity of the United States, he said.  Under an all-volunteer system you get a predominance of “hawks” - personnel naturally inclined to aggressive, authoritarian worldview.  America's armed forces are filled with dedicated, reasonable people.  But, I fear that the jarheads and armed violence enthusiasts (second amendment rightists) are becoming something more than a plurality within the lower ranks.

Whether or not a military coup is likely, the point is that we are witnessing a greater fascist tone in public discourse than ever before.  These people are fed up with decades of liberalism  which has brought us gay and transgender rights, wokism, abortion, the removal of Christianity from the public sphere, and so on.  They are afraid of what might happen next.  They are angry with what has already happened.  They find the inevitable changes wrought by technology (which they don't really see or understand) will overwhelm their preference for the world as it was before 1964.  For all these reasons they are traumatized and they are acting out in traumatic fashion.

All this trauma feeds into a desire for a different world.  This is the primary reason so many Americans believe in Trump's Big Lie.  They have found a symbol in Trump (though Trump mistakenly thinks it is all about him personally).  They feel if Trump is back in office their worldview will be protected.  It will not.  

Technology is the ultimate reason for their frustrations and fears.  Yet they are just as addicted to these forces of change as anyone else.  The root cause of all this makes Trump, as large a force as he might be at the moment, irrelevant to what will happen next.  The hardwired radical Right like Greene and Matt Gaetz sense their impending irrelevancy so they want a separate planet to live on.  They mistakenly believe Planet Trump will be their salvation.

Nevertheless, they are prepared for violence should they not get their way.  As Gaetz recently stated: “We have a Second Amendment in this country, and I think we have an obligation to use it." It is "not about hunting, it's not about recreation, it's not about sports." Rather, it is about "the ability to maintain an armed rebellion against the government if that becomes necessary."  

Remember Trump's original appeal to “the second amendment people” when talking about his 2016 opponent.  That is typical Trump.  A thinly veiled call to action in a passive-aggressive style.  It deeply resonates with the radical Right that has seemingly taken over the Republican party.  Of course, the Bernie Sanders socialist wing of the Democratic party only serves as fodder for Trump's base.  Precisely as the “communists” served Hitler's aim for power.

64% of Americans believe that US democracy is at risk of failing.  That tells me that there is great concern across the political spectrum for this unruly surge in anger against the results of the 2020 election.  Those opposed to Trump feel he is a threat to democracy.  Those supporting Trump believe Trump is the only salvation for their brand of democracy.  Two-thirds of the GOP believes Trump's Big Lie.  Trump has wrested control of one of our political parties from sober people.  The consequences could be catastrophic for America.

It cannot be stressed enough, however, that Trump is clueless (as are his supporters and even his detractors) as to why he has been able to do this.  It would shock Trump, a narcissist, how little the rage he tapped in to has to do with him.  Rather, it is inspired by the festering anger welling-up in many Americans in reaction to decades of progressive policies from voting rights to legalized abortion to gay marriage.  These Americans were tired, scared and frustrated about all this since before Obama was elected president.  Programs like Obamacare just fanned the rising flames of anger.

But these politics are the mere window-dressing of the heart of the matter.  Technological change is on autopilot.  No single person or group of persons controls the future of technology (not even so-called Big Tech).  This loss of control is not obvious to anyone but it is certainly one of the most fundamental factors driving heightened anxiety among conservatives and traditionalists.  Trump just accidentally stepped into this perfect storm.  He is not aware of any of the real reasons people support him.  His radical Right supporters, clinging to their guns and their fundamentalist religion, their only source of power, think they understand their fears and angers for all the wrong reasons.  Trump just happens to be the perfect rebel of conservatism in this complex web of fearful symmetry.   
 
Regardless, American democracy is in crisis for all the reasons I just mentioned.  The latest issue of The Atlantic features one of the best articles I've read on the mechanics of our current crisis.  Entitled “January 6 Was Practice,” it offers a glimpse inside the minds of those who believe the Big Lie as well as what the GOP is doing at the state level to ensure winning at all costs in 2024, particularly if they lose the presidency.

According to the article, believers in the Big Lie believe there were 141 million registered voters on November 3, 2020.  Donald Trump received 74 million votes.  No one disputes that number, which leaves only 67 million votes for Joe Biden.  Where did the other 14 million votes Biden receive come from?  (The 141 million number is incorrect to begin with.  It was much larger but the believers don't accept that.  It isn't part of their narrative so it must be false.)  Beyond this, the Big Lie narrative goes, the January 6 rioters were actually peaceful.  All the violence was attributable to ANTIFA “provocateurs.”

An interesting fact is that a much higher percentage of those involved in the January 6 riot (or insurrection or whatever it was) came from counties Biden won.  In fact, protesters on January 6 were much more likely to come from counties where the white majority was in decline (mostly won by Biden) than where that majority was stable (mostly won by Trump).

Polling indicates that the more extreme the wording of the question asked regarding the Big Lie and the threat of the far Left, the more the radical Right supports it.  The Atlantic reports: “In the June [2021] results, just over 8 percent agreed that Biden was illegitimate and that violence was justified to restore Trump to the White House.  That corresponds to 21 million American adults.”  These millions of Americans are referred to as “committed insurrectionists.”

Perhaps surprisingly, only 25% of these people are members of militia groups like Proud Boys or Oath Keepers.  Which means the actual number of Americans willing to use “their second amendment rights” as Trump, Greene and Gaetz proclaim is probably much larger.  Certainly enough to destabilize our society.  Which makes these people potentially the greatest terrorist threat in America today.
 

The Atlantic interviewed several of these 21 million.  It is fascinating and frightful reading.  According to one: “Constitutionally, the head of the executive branch can't tell an American citizen what the f#ck to do.  Constitutionally, all the power rests with the people.  That's you and me, bro.  And Mao is right that all the power emanates from the barrel of a gun.”  Here is the ultimate sign of dystopia.  The radical Right quotes a Communist leader while simultaneously proclaiming a right to use violent force because of supposed communism.

There's more.  “Oh Lord, I think we're headed for it [Civil War].  I don't think it'll stop.  I truly believe it.  I believe the criminals – Nancy Pelosi and her criminal cabal up there – is forcing a civil war.  They're forcing the people who love the Constitution, who will give their lives for the Constitution – the Democrats are forcing them to take up arms against them, and God help us all.”

As chilling as this is, it has all been said before.  Hitler's first radio address to Germany on February 1, 1933 included these choice comments: “All around us are symptoms portending this breakdown. With an unparalleled effort of will and of brute force the Communist method of madness is trying as a last resort to poison and undermine an inwardly shaken and uprooted nation...Germany must not and will not sink into Communist anarchy...We must overcome the demoralization of Germany by the Communists.”

Hitler, like Trump and the radical Right, demonized the opposition and used intimidation and violence by his army of brownshirts to eliminate all opposition in his historic power grab.  Trump is now in the process of doing the same.  He will tap into the 21 million plus Americans to ignite violence against his opposition.  He will simultaneously proclaim himself and his supporters as the victims and the true protectors of god-fearing American values.

Perhaps the greatest similarity between Hitler and Trump lies in the purge of threats from within his own party.  Shortly after coming to power the German dictator ordered the silencing of hundreds of Nazi party officials in what history calls “the night of the long knives.”  Trump is doing something similar right before our eyes – because the radical Right has enabled him to get away with it.

From The Atlantic:  “Since the 2020 election, Trump's acolytes have set about methodically identifying patches of resistance and pulling them out by the roots.  Brad Raffensperger in Georgia, who refused to 'find' extra votes for Trump?  Formerly censured by his state party, primaried, and stripped of his power as chief election officer.  Aaron Van Langevelde in Michigan, who certified Biden's victory?  Hounded off the Board of State Canvassers.  Governor Doug Ducey in Arizona, who signed the state's 'certificate of ascertainment' for Biden?  Trump has endorsed a former Fox 10 news anchor Kari Lake to succeed him, predicting that she 'will fight to restore Election Integrity (both past and future!)' Future, here, is the operative word.”

In fairness, there is nothing unconstitutional about what Trump and his brownshirts are doing.  Article 2 is clear that the executive branch shall be elected by electors, not by popular vote.  Further, each state may select their electors “in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct.”  In other words, the states can choose electors however each state decides.

There was nothing unconstitutional with the way Hitler seized power within the Wiemar Republic either.  The acquisition of power is not really the issue.  Rather, the issue resides with what is done with this power after it is obtained.  Hitler used a constitutional loophole to establish his dictatorship after he was elected.  Thankfully, the US Constitution has no such loophole. But, clearly Trump's brownshirts seek to abuse the power, whether he is duly elected or not.

Senator Lindsey Graham proclaimed that, as far as he was concerned, the purpose of politics is "winning."  Of course, Graham is one of Trumps biggest ass-kissers.  This is a dangerous thing to say.  Because, while every political party wants to win, the purpose of elections in America historically has been about representation of the people, not about winning.  It is easy to see how far the radical Right is willing to take things, even unto violence to get there way, regardless of how the American people attempt to vote.

When we vote in a presidential election our vote is actually for the electors of the Electoral College, not for the person seeking office.  With few exceptions, the state electors cast their vote for the person who received the most popular votes within that state.  But what Trump has set up in 2024 is unprecedented.  Regardless of how the popular vote goes in, say, Michigan, the states electors will be chosen by Trump in advance.  The state legislature will only recognize Trump's electors regardless of the actual popular vote.  Hence, it is all about Trump winning and not about the consent of the govern at all.

I have blogged before about how the narcissistic Trump “projects” his malice onto others before he acts.  It is part of the same maniacal personality that he shares with Hitler.  He accuses the Democrats of stealing the election because he himself is trying to steal it.  He did not have the infrastructure in place in 2020.  Now he does.

The consequence of all this is that, like Hitler, Trump is rigging the system.  Unlike Hitler, however, there is no constitutional way for him to become a dictator.  By stealing the 2024 election he will create instability within the moderates and the Left that today primarily exists on the Right.  This will create a “legitimation crisis” and the center-left voters will likely become volatile themselves.  The radical Right is armed to teeth against this.

If Trump succeeds in stealing the election there could be more violence in this country than we have seen since the War Between the States.  Trump could then take a page from Hitler and declare a national emergency and we could see martial law.  At that point it will be up to the US military as to what happens next.  

2024 will be the year of rebellion against the future in favor of a return to the past.  Ultimately, this will fail.  Trump will fail.  But chaos seems just as inevitable as the fact that you can't stop the technological future.  This country seems to be in for its greatest test. Whether or not it will survive is problematic.  Either way, a second Trump presidency will mean American relevance in the world at large will likely fade.  The technological future will move on with or without us.

The automatic reaction to such a dystopian outcome is that Trump and his medieval minions will be responsible for all this.  Unfortunately, that is not true.  The responsibility will equally lie with the majority of people who will not support Trump, just as it did with the 63 percent of Germans who did not vote for Hitler so long ago.  

Returning to Shirer's account of Hitler's rise: "No class or group or party in Germany could escape in its share of responsibility for the abandonment of the democratic Republic and the advent of Adolf Hitler.  The cardinal error of the Germans who opposed Nazism was their failure to unite against it." (page 259)

Winston Churchill (among others) said: "Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it."  This cuts particularly deep right now, when we have already given Trump a try and seem to have learned nothing at all.