Jared Yates Sexton Profile picture
Jun 11, 2021 25 tweets 9 min read Read on X
Honestly, I don't know how to stress this enough.

The GOP's assault on education and history is a fascist attack based in Nazi ideology and is obsessed with power, control, and the protection of murderous white supremacy.

We're in incredible danger.

1/

jaredyatessexton.substack.com/p/the-war-over…
Yesterday, as a political measure, the state of Florida, pushed by the GOP, banned the teaching of "critical race theory," or the investigation of systems of power, racism, and oppression.

This isn't innocuous. It is a literal replaying of Nazi totalitarianism.

2/
Underneath all of it is the concept of "Cultural Marxism," or the idea that there is a secret conspiracy by communists, Jews, and liberal traitors, to destroy the culture of the country and unseat systems of power.

It is paranoid, fascist, and can be murderous.

3/
Hitler created his power base on this very conspiracy theory and presented it as an existential threat to Germans.

The "poison" of cultural Marxism, he claimed, was making people question the state and was priming them for a revolution. It required extreme measures.

4/
What we're not often taught is that Nazis controlled Germany not just through speeches, but a total domination of culture.

"Degenerate" art and culture was outlawed and determined as anything that made people question Germany's greatness or white supremacy.

5/
To solidify control, the Nazis banned degenerate art, claiming it was part of a conspiracy against the Germans, and instead replaced it with culture that reaffirmed their identity and purpose.

It was supposed to be patriotic. It was controlling, and radicalizing.

6/
What resulted was a cult of personality and a suicidal devotion to the state and Hitler.

All dissenting opinions were outlawed and cultured devoured itself, creating a madness that made fascism, warmongering, and genocide possible.

7/
A prime part of the Nazi totalitarian plan involved the takeover of education, claiming it was "indoctrinating" students, they took it over in totality and, predictably, made it an aggressive engine of actual indoctrination.

They captured generations of citizens.

8/
Actual information and history was taken from students and it was replaced with propaganda and religious worship of the state and Hitler.

This takeover was meticulous, aggressive, and one of the main reasons fascism was able to gain its foothold and power.

9/
But we don't need to start in Germany. In America, in response to the Russian Revolution, the original Red Scare created the same paranoia and made possible widespread violence and aggressive indoctrination, in media, in education, everywhere.

10/
Fear of "cultural Marxism" in America, the same conspiracy theory that made Nazism possible, spread through the United States, creating race massacres, lynchings, and a general oppression that hurt people of color, women, LGBTQ, as well as unions and leftists.

11/
The incident more people are familiar with is the second Red Scare, or McCarthyism, which was a proto-Qanon movement that took over the GOP and allowed the Right to destroy FDR's New Deal coalition via spreading conspiracy theories and paranoia.

12/
The second Red Scare was able to create a silent oppression with America where citizens were so afraid of being spotlit as a traitor or part of the communist conspiracy that they often had to hide who they were and what they believed.

It was soft totalitarianism.

13/
Of course, the Civil Rights Movement created a crisis in America that revealed what hid behind the soft totalitarianism.

Again, as white supremacy was challenged, the paranoia, violence, and oppression was forced to rear its head and expose the fascism underneath.

14/
The struggle for Civil Rights was turned into yet another communist conspiracy as the Right came to believe the marches and protests were secret communist operations that meant to destroy America.

It was, yet again, the same fascist conspiracy theory.

15/
Southern leaders and white supremacists were quite open during Civil Rights in their belief that Black Americans were being manipulated by Russia and that it was all a giant communist conspiracy.

Even question white supremacy was considered treason.

16/
The violence against Civil Rights protesters was considered self-defense, America defending itself against communist infiltration and an insidious plot, again by Jews, communists, leftist traitors, and people of color being manipulated into joining.

17/
If this sounds familiar, it should.

Black Lives Matter was treated as a conspiracy, a manufactured movement that was being directed by shadowy forces and ultimately focused on destroying America's foundations, creating distrust, and ultimately leading to the end of the US.

18/
What we're experiencing RIGHT NOW is the same Judeo-Bolshevik conspiracy theory that animated the Nazis and fascists.

It's a different version, an update, but it is the animating force of the GOP and the Right.

It operates exactly the same way and demands action.

19/
The focus now is George Soros and other "Jewish puppetmasters."

This is ultimately what's at the heart of the anti-CRT, anti-"woke" movement.

It is a fascistic, antisemetic conspiracy theory meant to provoke violence and oppression.

20/
By capturing the education system, the Right intends to forcefully reassert white supremacy as benevolence, or the idea that white people have exploited and murdered people of color out of good intentions and in the pursuit of progress.

21/

jaredyatessexton.substack.com/p/white-suprem…
And, it is yet another front in the GOP's war to dismantle democratic institutions considering they are historically unpopular and that white supremacy and hypercapitalistic exploitation are in crisis and in danger of being unseated.

22/

jaredyatessexton.substack.com/p/the-intentio…
But make no mistake.

This isn't about CRT.

It's about walling off information, about instituting "patriotic," white supremacist education that ensures people don't understand systems of power and promoting militaristic self-destruction within the population.

23/
Things are...escalating.

We've been watching this for years and trying to warn people that fascism is growing and festering in the US.

It CAN and HAS happened here. This time it is an insidious new strain and it's only growing with every passing day.

24/
Again, I cannot stress this enough. This is an incredibly dangerous moment, and people need to recognize it immediately.

Denying it and pretending like this will solve itself only gives these people room to grow and spread.

This is a five-alarm fire. Raging.

25/25

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Jared Yates Sexton

Jared Yates Sexton Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @JYSexton

May 3
You’ll notice that Congress is a complete traffic jam, a black hole of legislation, until it’s time to pass a weapons deal, approve a new war, pump money into a market as it’s about to collapse, fund law enforcement, or restrict the people’s rights.
There’s a reason for that.

Neoliberalism transferred trillions from the working and middle classes to the rich, allowing the elite to co-opt our government and turn the state into its own piggy bank and enforcer.
The Neoliberal consensus has plunged us into a deep, deep crisis, and it’s past time to pay attention. Representative government has been effectively stolen, and until that changes it’s only going to get worse.
Read 4 tweets
Apr 28
Every single protester I’ve talked to has been impressively informed. Like, jaw-droppingly so.

On the other hand, takes like this are not only lazy but indictments of a political class that has continually performed “principles” and are now projecting their own guilt. Image
I cannot believe how many people are piling onto this “the protesters are doing this because it’s trendy” bullshit.

They’re literally risking their education, their careers, they’re being assaulted and having sniper rifles trained on them.

What is wrong with you?
The truth is that the cynicism of centrist liberals is such a heavy burden as they’re navigating a political landscape with real consequences. They don’t want to change anything while appearing on the “right side” of morality.

And so they have to play these awful games.
Read 5 tweets
Apr 25
If we’re going to defeat rising authoritarianism it’s going to take a democratic movement that demands a better future.

People always ask me what they can do, so I put together an explainer. History tells us how we win. It’s time to pay attention. Image
Authoritarianism tells us we are powerless and alone. That the battle is already lost.

But it’s brittle. Vulnerable. There are so many of us and we are now living in a time where we can band together and defeat this thing and realize the world we deserve. Image
Our system, by design, is intended to make us feel powerless. But that’s to curb the power of democratic, collective action.

It’s on us to recognize that fact and to create something together that breaks the hold of authoritarian rule by the wealthy. And we can do it. Image
Read 4 tweets
Apr 16
What’s happening right now is that the Right is loudly expressing their bigotry and desire to crush what little of “the Left” exists and the Center is simultaneously appalled by their openness but trying quietly and institutionally to crush what little of “the Left” exists.
One of the reasons things seem strange right now is because the American understanding of actual politics versus our conventional “Red/Blue” narrative is so limited that most people are living in a mystified state that obscures the actual struggles and fault lines.
When you work in institutions (I was in academia for 16 years) you start to get a real glimpse at performative cowardice and hollow principles. And you understand exactly how the song and dance works and what the Center offers and really values.
Read 7 tweets
Apr 4
Authoritarianism is systemic abuse and feeds off crushing the human spirit.

It assaults us with unthinkable atrocities and means to convince a better world isn’t possible. Resistance begins with rejecting this and fighting for what we deserve.

jaredyatessexton.substack.com/p/its-meant-to…
Image
People want us to believe authoritarianism exists at the point of a gun, but it’s a disease of despair.

Authoritarians bombard us with abuse meant to destroy our spirit and convince us the reality of life is violence.
There are only three ways authoritarianism wins. It entices you to put on the armband and participate, it crushes you as opposition, or it convinces you to look away as it takes control.

This is the reality that was hidden from us post-war. And we must recognize it.
Read 9 tweets
Mar 30
What has been systematically created is a zero-sum society where the ruthless are rewarded and a deep distrust of one another is instilled, creating the perfect environment for corporate dominance in which solidarity is prevented and democratic energy contained.
This goes beyond work. In our politics, in our communities, in our relationships, in our discourse, a sharp cynical edge reigns, preventing intimacy and grace and above all collaboration and imagination.

It is a deep, deep wound. And we must heal from it.
America is far from the first country to suffer this. Neoliberalism has systematically spread this trauma around the globe. But it has infected us and created a fetid environment that’s perfect for dominance and oppression. Healing is the only way forward.
Read 5 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us!

:(