06-08-2021, 12:37 AM
(06-07-2021, 11:26 PM)Dill Wrote: Excellent question, but I would say no, just based on the details given, Trump's history so far, and the kind of resistance he would eventually meet. It's not just about seizing power.
Mussolini was a fascist before he seized power. Seizing it did not make him one.
Stalin was not a fascist before seizing power. Seizing it did not make him one.
I'd need to hear more about the ideology binding Trump's followers to him. Some of THEM clearly were/are fascist, but that's not enough to make the regime fascist or a majority of his followers, and not Trump himself.
And I'd need to see where Trump went with his coup. I'm thinking initially he'd still claim legitimacy by appealing to the U.S. Constitution and the principle of free and democratic election--which the "criminal" Biden thwarted. With his increase in power, that might fall, step by step, to the wayside, to be replaced by some form of Fuehrerprinzip (which can only work with mass assent from his followers and probably most of the "deep state" as well.) That is an important threshold, but I don't think it achievable in the current U.S.
Also, there would be considerable resistance to his recapture of power. How would he handle that? Just brute repression doesn't get him over the line. He needs, e.g., a party and a paramilitary steeped in an ideology of sacrifice for the state, and for him above all. He needs to restructure the state's repressive apparatus to reward loyalty to him, not to the Constitution. Also probably not achievable.
A true fascist takeover of the U.S. would not be as easy as some think. An authoritarian takeover of some sort--or at least the attempt--is not out of the question, however, if the mass of people who believe the election was stolen and their country has been handed over to agents of globalism continues to expand.
Addendum: Hitler and Mussolini were veritable historical scholars compared to Trump. Enough to fill them with grand imperial designs and to interpret themselves as modern incarnations of Prussian and Roman precedents, marking empires on maps and planning heroic battles of world-historical import. Trump has an admired precedent/model, kind of, in Putin. An oligarch consolidating private gain. Sure, Trump wanted a big military parade after he saw one in France. But has he ever imagined directing armies in world historical battles? Presiding over a 21st century reprisal of D'Day, in uniform? Not sure Trump has a fascist imagination. Surely that is a requirement, though.
Fair enough.
By this definition https://www.dictionary.com/browse/fascism
noun
(sometimes initial capital letter) a governmental system led by a dictator having complete power, forcibly suppressing opposition and criticism, regimenting all industry, commerce, etc., and emphasizing an aggressive nationalism and often racism.
Every box but one is checked. He has claimed total authority in the past and throwing out democratic election results and taking power would put him in the dictator category. He has forcibly suppressed opposition and his followers help him suppress criticism. His entire shtick is aggressive nationalism and he dabbles with the racism. He cares about money more than anything but himself so if given more time I'm sure he would be interested in exerting more control over certain areas of the economy to enrich himself, especially something like social media so he could force feed you with his propaganda.
But you are right though. I guess I will just have to call him a half-ass fascist. Like almost everything else he does other than being a conman, he was a failure.
