Americans now promoting or dreaming of fascism as a model for the US need to spend time in a fascist country: to witness how such governments lie to their citizens, steal from them, punish, imprison and kill critics and opponents, and aggrandize power to their own interests.
I’ve spent much of my career covering fascism and authoritarianism from China to Russia to Zimbabwe and beyond. There’s no need even to study the history books - though it would help - because these govts are alive and well today. Americans who praise their leaders - see Trump 2/
3/ Or do their PR - see Tucker Carlson - are either ignorant of the facts or envious of their power and control or perhaps both. Nothing of fascism is consistent with American principles of government. That this has become a partisan issue is deeply alarming.
4/ But it’s part of a larger trend. I watched with alarm as, in 2016, it became acceptable to dismiss or deny foreign interference in a US election if it suited one party, and then in 2020, it became acceptable to solicit and abet such help. (See Giuliani).
5/ We should not have been surprised then that a sitting president would imitate a fascist by attempting to steal an election. And now even an honest accounting of that attempt has become a partisan issue. So to my fascist-curious fellow citizens, please spend some time there.
6/ Meet the victims of the oppression, or their families and friends if - as is often the case - they’re no longer around. See how the system operates. Don’t believe their propaganda or the Americans willing to amplify it. The reality is far more disturbing.
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