Thread by @rory20s

Let’s talk about infestation, shall we. And Fascism, let’s talk Trump.

A LIE isn’t just the opposite of the thruth, it’s also chaos, it infests the institutions we believe in, it undermines all certainties.
A pathological lying president infests all parts of society with chaos.

Chaos is needed to rebuild a new regime. This is advocated by Bannon. “I want to bring everything crashing down, and destroy all of today’s establishment”
In this sense Trump is a means to the goal. In addition Trump backs the idea of building a new stronger society. #MAGA”

Fascism is a political ideology, based on an extreme form of populist nationalism, with at its core a mythical belief in the rebirth of society. There are various forms of (generic) fascism: Mussolini's fascist Italy & Adolf Hitler's national socialist Germany are the best-known.

Fascism honors the display of power and the use of force to the extent that it is aimed at overthrowing the existing social order. Fascism strives for complete control over social life and social and cultural organizations.

Fascism strives for a revolutionary recovery of the nation. Fascism wants the nation's return to the natural order.
It is averse to democracy. Fascism is authoritarian and strives for a totalitarian, single-headed and charismatic leadership in the form of a political dictatorship

Characteristics of fascism aren’t easy to define, says Madeleine Albright. "But one of them is that the leader identifies himself with a large group that he says he represents. He then excludes other groups. It's us versus them. A fascist leader increases that division even more”

There are several steps used by fascist leaders to achieve division, to overthrow existing society and to enlarge the supremacy of the group they represent: “the people”.
They often declare to represent “the will of the people.”

HATE makes blind. It’s an infestation of your way of thinking, everything you perceive is infused with your feelings of hate, it causes an inability to process positive impulses & reality.
Hate mongering is used by Trump to seperate “us” from “them”.

Racism is an infestation of rational thinking.
To feel good, a racist needs to look down on others & make sure others are treated worse than himself. He has an indomitable need to feel superior, something he can’t live up to within his own race.

Racists admire eachother which sustains & enhances their
feeling of superiority, it makes them believe they are important within their own race.
Sentiments of racism are used by Trump to create COLLECTIVIZATION & DEMONIZATION OF “THEM”

A person suffers the most from the suffering he fears. FEAR is an infestation of the mind, it paralyzes, it causes irrational behaviour. Sowing fear is used by Trump to infest your mind with the necessity to defend yourself against a danger invented by him: “them”
SELF-DEFENCE

Human beings need to belong to a group, they choose a group that accepts and loves them. This gives them comfort and a feeling of safety and strength. Trump abuses this notion by infesting your mind that it’s better to belong to “us” than to “them”
DIVISION

He proclaims his group is superiour, the strongest & the only ligitimate group; that only he can guarantee safety & prosperity; that he’s the best leader ever and that he represents “the will of the American people.”
The COLLECTIVIZATION OF “US”

As proof of the supremacy of “us”, privileged rights need to be ensured. Everyone who criticises us or disagrees with us, is a traitor and must be punished. Trump acts on this many times a day & incites others to do the same. PROMOTING SUPREMACY

The threat of “them” (the other, the critics, refugees) is major, they are out to harm “us”, to profit from us, to abuse us. Smothering this threat is only possible with giving “them” fewer rights and define them as inferior.
DISCRIMINATION

Trump infests the mind of his supporters with the idea that VIOLENCE is not a bad idea to fight “them”. He incites to violence, doesn’t denounce it.
The use of violence to suppress or eliminate those who endanger the supremacy of “us”, is a means to overthrow existing society.

Trump isn’t alone ofcourse. Several ultra-right politicians share the ideal of establishing the Fascist idiology; an authoritarian regime & complete control over social life. You know who they are.
And, since 2008, ultra-right nationalist movements have grown significantly.

So who or what is the infestation?
And are these expressions of “othering”, discrimination and supremacy limited to US domestic politics?
What does it imply when a US politician asserts that America is the greatest nation the world has ever known?

What does it imply when a US Administration demonizes foreign countries or leaders and says their only aim is to destroy US interests, that they exploit the US, that they’re a threat to US superiority and must be punished?
What does the US support of Brexit really imply?

What does it imply when the current US government is actively engaged in turning countries against eachother, driving the EU apart?
What’s Bannon’s goal in Europe, apart from creating chaos and division?

The ultimate question however is, do we want Fascism to be the prevailed domestic/world political system?
And if we don’t, what are we going to do about it? We’ve been at this crossroads before. Have we learnt how to fight it?
So many questions.........