On the 75th anniversary of V-E day, deepest respect for the heroes who won the last war against fascism, and prayers that the current one can be won without so much horror and loss. May we be as resolute and courageous as our forefathers were.
The new fascist adversary has many familiar trappings of the old: concentration camps, brutal suppression of dissent, racial supremacy theories, militarism, imperialism, constant threats and intimidation. Once again, the adversary twists the laws between nations into a weapon.
And once again, too much of the Western elite embraces the adversary's fascist ideology, with promises they can smooth out its rough edges and use authoritarian power for humanitarian ends. Some have long dreamed of finding a successful authoritarian state to embrace as a model.
Some say we can only compete with the fascist adversary by abandoning sloppy capitalism and democracy to adopt their disciplined ideology. Our grandparents heard this argument a century ago, too. Fascism was the train to the future; one climbed aboard or got left behind.
But the new fascist adversary is a tougher opponent in many ways. For one thing, they have carefully studied their defeated predecessors and are determined not to be overthrown in the same ways.
The new adversary has turned our amazing new information technology into an instrument of oppression and subversion, rather than the irresistible force for liberty and enlightenment we hoped it would be. Authoritarianism went viral, not liberty.
The new fascists have vastly greater influence over Western political and cultural elites than the old ones did. The pockets of far too many of our leaders are heavy with the adversary's coin. They have great leverage over many of our vital industries.
Newspapers, websites, and broadcasts in the free world quietly adopt the speech codes of the fascists, or openly submit to their authority, to a degree our grandparents would not have tolerated. The old enemy concealed his concentration camps. The new ones can be seen from orbit.
The adversary is highly adept at flattering the intellectual vanity of our elites and turning their obsession with international bureaucracy and multilateral institutions against them. They easily infiltrated and subverted those institutions. Many are now beyond hope of reform.
Thus do dungeon keepers enjoy a seat of honor at human rights councils; the most oppressive censors the world has ever known have a strong hand in shaping the Internet; the planet's worst polluters are embraced as wise allies by environmentalists.
Worst of all, the new fascists are very good at persuading the political, cultural, and business leaders of the free world that opposing them is too difficult and expensive. Our leaders are convinced our beliefs are too fragile to defend, the enemy's goods to valuable to refuse.
Our elites fear and respect the fascist adversary FAR more than they fear or respect their own people. They routinely insult their own citizens in terms they would never dream of using against the adversary. They think we have less leverage over them, and less will to use it.
The second great war against fascism is underway. As before, the adversary's early successes are daunting. This war will be longer, more subtle, and hopefully much less bloody. The new adversary thinks we are no longer the same people who defeated the old. Prove them wrong. /end
