It is not just closing someone's Twitter account. It is closing down democratically-appointed people's accounts, while seeking to impeach & prosecute them, depriving them of a platform from which to defend themselves, and moving to outlaw their broader movements. It *is* fascism.
You may want to split hairs about precise definitions, and of historical parallels and the pitfalls of drawing them. But fascism was never so clearly defined by its theoreticians, or since, by historians.
They will use the law, violence, and war to further their interests, against their opponents, against democracy and against their populations.
That makes the case, as far as I am concerned, and the rest is for the birds, so to speak.
*This* is what clumsy historical parallels looks like.
It is invoking history in order to legitimise doing what the fascists did, to pass oneself off as an "anti" fascist.
It is not what is doing the banning that needs precise definition. It is what is being attacked that needs to be defined and defended. There is a frenzied witch hunt going on to establish a mythology that somehow, closing down debate and democracy is liberation.
That mythology is being used and will be further used to close down anyone who disagrees, at all, on any basis, not just in the USA, but throughout the world. Because if you question the viability of wind turbines, you were aligned to the insurrection of Jan 6, 2021.
That's not *my* dramatically lumping together necessarily distinct movements or arguments. It is what is already being said by the likes of Guardian journalists, who will see any alleged "link" as the "nexus" of political movements. Go read Monbiot's timeline!
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The difference is one of estimations of the competences of governments vs. individuals, and to whom the benefit of the doubt goes to.
Hawks presuppose governments because they are the governments. Thus they are forced to belittle people and sceptics, and this becomes the debate.
There was a brief moment, back last March, where it looked like the PP would be abandoned, and that government competence would not be taken for granted. Instead, the government were bounced into promising "three weeks to flatten the curve". Here we are, ten months later.
"... British conservatives are still in power and still getting away with it. They will only change, if they ever change, when they receive their overdue punishment."
Do not underestimate anti-Trump hysteria. They have tasted blood. And they're not full.