@AP @peterprengaman 1 / THREAD. Let me try to help. I'm a social scientist, so I'll stick to the "least common denominator" in definitions. Bolsonaro espouses far-right totalitarian ideologies and his program has signs of an important shift to authoritarian ruling.
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@AP @peterprengaman 2 / THREAD . The previous @wakelet collection contains material before the 1st round of the presidential elections. Whether his government, once elected, will implement his violent and hyper-authoritarian campaign points, such as suppression of civil rights, is still a question.
@AP @peterprengaman @wakelet 3 / THREAD. Many commentators and political scientists are betting on an inevitable shift to authoritarian ruling, uncontrolled violence and possibly (but not certainly), an erosion of democracy into totalitarian ruling.
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@AP @peterprengaman @wakelet 4 / THREAD. "Fascism" refers to both the ideology that advocates a specific type of totalitarian ruling, and it is far-right, and to a governance system based on those principles. Bolsonaro is not an educated man, quite the opposite. He is an angry, very authoritarian layman.
@AP @peterprengaman @wakelet 5 / He says, on record, horrible things, is a complete homophobe, claims he will beat up gays if he sees them in public, that he won't give an inch of land to indigenous populations or quilombolas and that he will destroy the "left" (any civil rights movement).
@AP @peterprengaman @wakelet 6 / He claims he will pass laws that will frame any social movement as a terrorist movement, and that his opponents should either keep quiet or leave the country. Will he do this? It is impossible to predict.
@AP @peterprengaman @wakelet 7 / "Nationalistic Populism" certainly describes Bolsonaro better according to all definitions available. Latin America doesn't have a good experience with Nationalistic Populist governments, which tend to degenerate into dictatorships.
@AP @peterprengaman @wakelet 8 / Bolsonaro has huge and fanatical (angry, violent) public support. That is another factor that weighs in defining him as a "nationalist populist leader".
@AP @peterprengaman @wakelet 9 / His program is loose and makes specialists concerned. If his economic policy is implemented, the result may be mass upheaval. The fact that the Workers Party has a very high rejection rate and faces criticism from intellectuals doesn't help.
@AP @peterprengaman @wakelet 10 / Most of us, intellectuals, have reasons to predict the worst. We recommend voting in the opposition, not because we particularly like it, but because Bolsonaro is a risk we cannot take. He will win the elections, though. There is no doubt about that.
@AP @peterprengaman @wakelet 11 / The Congress has changed, too. The Workers Party has shrunk. I see no solid efforts to build an opposition or resistance. And if left to his own resources and his base, Bolsonaro will destroy Brazilian democracy.
@AP @peterprengaman @wakelet 12 / WARNING: any comment that does not follow the rules of debate, being civil, polite, well structured, no rhetorical question, no insults, etc will be just blocked. I don't waste time discussing with anyone who doesn't conform to those rules, which are a tradition.
