@scottygirl2014 asked me this ⤵️
Answer: “Fascists always deny what they are and ascribe their own features and their own totalitarian politics to their enemies.”
Quotation is from Prof. Finchelstein (h/t @jasonintrator )
I’ve heard people call this (Trump calling people what he is) "projection."
healthline.com/health/project…
The fascist technique, OTOH, is deliberate.
C'mon. Trump knew HRC wasn't Putin's puppet. The very idea was ludicrous. She was critical & disdainful of Putin👇
politico.com/story/2016/07/…
Because Steve Bannon, Trump's former advisor, has been in Brazil coaching Bolsonaro (the Brazilian Trump) to do the same thing.
foreignpolicy.com/2018/10/05/bol…
Bolsonaro suggests criminals should be shot without a trial.
He calls indigenous people “parasites.”
He calls refugees from Africa and the middle east “the scum of humanity.”
Fascists, by the way, know they’re not supposed to say ‘fascist’ or even the modern equivalent ‘nationalists.'
The label 'fascist' reeks of Hitler & Mussolini.
('Nationalism' means 'fascist' but doesn't sound as bad)
He also said, “we’re not supposed to use that word.”
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
It’s easy to see why the technique of calling other people what you are is effective.
People tend to believe what they're told, so it confuses them.
Calling liberals 'fascists' undermines rational discourse: There is no good way to answer when someone else engages in the third-grade-playground name-calling: “I know you are but what am I?”
It also undermines representative democracy by denigrating all politicians.
I think it's important to recognize that the technique is being done deliberately, and that it’s powerfully effective.