Thread by @JYSexton

The myths we've been told about authoritarianism and fascism have allowed it to grow here in America.

Authoritarians are inherently insecure, obviously incompetent, enabled by corporations and biased media, and can take hold anywhere and at any time.

themuckrake.com/main/authorita…

The American myth many of us were raised on, this story of history as proof of exceptionalism and framing America as protagonist, hides the truth: we've been a hotbed of fascism and have enabled fascism around the world.

We have to start unknotting truth from fiction in a hurry.

These fictions have allowed fascist movements to grow and gain power in the United States because we're in denial about our history and our present. People are in denial of where we come from and what is possible in this country.

Unfortunately, we're getting a crash course.

This societal crisis is exactly the type of opportunity an authoritarian like Donald Trump not only bungles and makes worse, but will use as a means to gain power. What we're watching with Fox News is ideological erasing and shifting of history in realtime.

If we're going to make it through this crisis and survive with our democratic institutions and society intact, we have to recognize the danger that has been brewing and festering. We can't hide behind American myths of exceptionalism anymore. We have to get serious and fast.

This article is part of an ongoing effort to get this information out. My book on this topic AMERICAN RULE comes out in September, but this is a critical moment where education and reckoning with what's actually happening are absolutely essential.

penguinrandomhouse.com/books/611439/a…

I’ll be posting more articles and lectures to get this stuff out. This moment of crisis and quarantine demands we educate and prepare ourselves. The myths are being laid bare every single day. We have to reckon with how truly ubiquitous and dangerous they are.