But I hate to underestimate the dark side of the force.

  • jmichigan_frog [he/him]
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    4 years ago

    Maybe worth opening a thread/struggle sesh about this, but I'm still skeptical on the value of analyzing the Republican party through the lens of fascism. The Republicans haven't made a pivot toward economic populism (lol), nor have we seen a rise of mass politics. QAnon is still scattered old people on the internet treating politics as a TV show, not a participatory struggle. Trump has fascist instincts, perhaps, but he and his cronies are too dumb/lazy to build any para-political infrastructure that would be necessary to negate bourgeois democracy.

    IMO they're just far-right capitalist authoritarians who rely on the masses being passive/splintered. Has modern capitalism not moved beyond the need for fascism, considering how gutted the revolutionary left is? Change my view.

    • Phish [he/him, any]
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      4 years ago

      I think it really depends a lot on what comes after Trump. These people have proved they can be corralled and influenced pretty easily. They're like those people who take on the traits of whoever they're dating. If the next republican leader ups the fash they'll all follow suit.

      That said, I can't imagine what's in it for the GOP if they continue down that road. Obviously too much disruption is bad for business.

        • shitshow [any]
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          4 years ago

          Seriously, Y'All Qaeda might have a temporary setback if Trump dies or loses, but thinking they will turn around know and become reasonable is insanity. They're showing us the world they want to run and what they will do to protect it. IMO nothing short of an extreme change in America's social and economic framework can stop the rise of fascism here.

        • Phish [he/him, any]
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          4 years ago

          Nobody is saying there's no reason for the GOP to continue their current trajectory, I just think they'll pivot if they lose this election. We're likely to see the economy improve pretty significantly after the pandemic and there's a good chance climate change doesn't really start to impact governmental behavior that dramatically for a while. I think you're definitely right about where things are headed in the long term, but I'm talking more in the immediate future.

    • shitshow [any]
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      4 years ago

      I hate to be the "read this article" guy, but Umberto Eco's Ur-Fascism nails it on the head. Functionally, there is no difference between mask off fascism and "just far-right capitalist authoritarians who rely on teh masses being passive/splintered".

      Fascism has no coherent ideology, it only has aesthetics. At the GOP matches every single one of Eco's 14 points.

        • shitshow [any]
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          4 years ago

          It really is incredibly short and still full of info.

      • jmichigan_frog [he/him]
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        4 years ago

        Ty for the recommendation, I'll check it out! I realize I'm using a very "historicist" definition of fascism, but aesthetics > ideology seems to make sense.