The fact that Trump is highly comparable to past fascists isn’t new information, nor unbelievable. However, there are still many that either don’t know what defines a fascist, what the problems of fascism are, or simply don’t believe that Trump shares those qualities.
It’s important that we all know how how to politically label our president and what that label could mean for us. It’s because of this that I recently found an article by Dr. Lawrence Britt, and it hit me like a truck. Britt compiled this list by analyzing many fascist regimes in our history, and found that every regime shared these characteristics. The scary part, and the part in which Trump’s fascism is undeniable: Trump fits under every single point.
“Powerful and Continuing Nationalism – Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.”
While we don’t have Swastikas everywhere we look, we can look almost anywhere and see one specific slogan: Make America Great Again. This slogan that Trump created represents harmful beliefs and focuses on improving and being proud of our country.
This shows extreme nationalism and a want to unify people under a symbolic slogan.
We can see the slogan on hats, shirts, signs, and more apparel, and it’s only a way of spreading nationalistic beliefs and hate.
“Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights – Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of “need.” The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc.”
There is absolutely no argument that this point doesn’t align with Trump. He has managed to convince many people that certain groups such as Muslims and Mexicans are enemies, and we need security against them. He’s convinced people that certain human rights aren’t necessary (such as basically any right that doesn’t directly help the white middle-class). Also, he convinces people that death penalties and longer incarcerations are okay and even needed. He literally fits into every part of number 2.
“Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause – The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial , ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, etc.”
Trump’s administration has managed to encourage people to rally together against the “threat” of Muslims, refugees, and Mexican immigrants. To him they’re an enemy, and he encourages all of his patriotic followers to attack, abuse, or at least vote against those groups of people.
“Supremacy of the Military – Even when there are widespread domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized.”
This has been true in America for a while now, and isn’t about to stop with Trump in office. The military is given benefits and aid that they sometimes don’t even need, while some of the lower-class in America suffer. It’s somehow okay for Military families to receive free college and benefits everywhere, but using food stamps after working a 12 hour shift and asking for cheaper college by “ordinary” people is looked down on. While there should be some recognition for military service, there’s definitely over-glorification happening, and it’s not about to get any better with Trump.
Rampant Sexism – The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Divorce, abortion and homosexuality are suppressed and the state is represented as the ultimate guardian of the family institution.
Here, ladies and gentlemen, we have another that no one can argue with. Between “grab ‘em by the pussy”, saying he’d date his daughter if he weren’t related to her, banning funding or any programs that so much as mention abortion, looking down on and encouraging hate towards homosexuality, and many other instances of blatant sexism, don’t even try to fight this one.
“Controlled Mass Media – Sometimes to media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation, or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in war time, is very common.”
This is a problem that seems to be recently brought to light more and more. There have been journalists arrested since the inauguration, and Trump has never been shy about attacking media outlets for bringing his bigotry to light. Between tweets and arrests, Trump has no issues controlling the media, and it will most likely only get worse.
“Obsession with National Security – Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.”
Fear has been Trump’s tactic since the start. By using the slogan “Make America Great Again” he’s convinced people that America must get better or horrible things will happen, as well as using a fear of minority groups to light fires under racists.
Fear is what makes people hate Muslims and Mexicans, and it’s what he’s used this entire time.
“Religion and Government are Intertwined – Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the government’s policies or actions.”
Trump has outwardly claimed that he’s a Christian, and has used religious beliefs in making his decisions and statements. Homophobia is just one the many examples. By presenting homophobia as a horrible thing, he’s going with religious opinions. Not to mention the fact that most of his following is made up of Christians.
“Corporate Power is Protected – The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.”
This one is pretty obvious since Trump is a business aristocrat, and he put himself into office. He is the business/government relationship and he creates the power elite.
“Labor Power is Suppressed – Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are either eliminated entirely, or are severely suppressed.”
This one hasn’t been as obvious in his campaign and administration, but you can see it in who he appointed for secretary of the Department of Labor: Andrew Puzder. The man is a fast food executive that has touched on the idea of automating restaurants to cut down on labor, and has also been accused of underpaying workers.
Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts – Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education, and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts and letters is openly attacked.
Trump has made it no secret that he believes the arts are inferior to any other type of learning environment. He’s suggested that he plans to stop national funding for the arts, and has made it clear that he is a businessman and that business is one of the few noble pursuits. Also, he appointed Betsy DeVos for Secretary of Education. DeVos pushes for private education instead of public, and could quite possibly work to take away opportunities to quality education for those who can’t afford private grade school education.
This could be Trump’s way of limiting education in America.
“Obsession with Crime and Punishment – Under fascist regimes, the police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses and even forego civil liberties in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations.”
Though we have yet to see an extreme version of this, the police have definitely been in the spotlight for getting away with unjustifiable injuries and murders based on race. Though Trump isn’t necessarily to blame for these atrocities, he definitely hasn’t been opposed to the actions of these police officers, and has even justified their actions through blaming those who were injured or killed.
“Rampant Cronyism and Corruption – Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders.”
Though America has laws against appointing family members to leadership positions, it’s obvious that Trump’s family members, especially his children, have been interested in taking a step up in politics. Though they can’t work with him, they’ve definitely done some simple jobs for him to help with the transition, which could potentially lead to bigger problems.
“Fraudulent Elections – Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections.”
Even though it’s been proven that Trump lost the popular vote, he has still attempted to manipulate the media in lying about it. He’s also has been accused of knowing about Russian election hacks before the election, making the election a little more fishy than we originally expected.
As we can see here, Trump matches in one way or another to every single shared trait of a fascist government. Welcome to the next four years America, it’s gonna be a wild ride, and a hard fight.
