During the 2016 election, the poster to the right made the rounds on the internet. This poster was sold at the Holocaust Museum in their gift shop.
The Early Warning Signs of Fascism gave us 14 warning signs that fascism was taking hold of a government, putting human rights in jeopardy.
As the 45th President of the United States, Donald J. Trump took an unprecedented amount of executive power when he declared a National Emergency to free up funds to build his border wall. This prompted immediate action by numerous government watchdog groups who filed lawsuits against Trump’s authoritarian, unconstitutional action. In other words, Trump is being sued for his fascist power grab.
Fascism in the United States
Even before Donald Trump, there were signs of fascism rising in the United States. In fact, much of our history can be called fascist. While we can only cover so much in a single article, let’s try to break this down a bit.
Fascism in American History
US history is riddled with fascist ideologies and laws. In fact, it was reported that Adolf Hitler’s genocides were inspired by our own genocide of indigenous peoples. Our condemnation of Nazi Germany is hypocritical only because we do not spend equal time in history classes identifying and condemning our own fascist history.
- Nationalism
- Trump declared himself a nationalist
- Right-wing pundits attempt to redefine nationalism
- Disdain for Human Rights
- Enemies as a Unifying Cause
- Feminists called Feminazis
- Black people, Civil Rights Leaders, and Black Lives Matter
- Mexicans, Hispanics, Latinos
- Immigrants, both legal and undocumented
- Muslims and the Muslim ban
- Jewish people
- Democrats
- The Media
- Hillary Clinton
- Barack Obama
- Military Supremacy
- Military members are indentured servants
- War for profit and political power
- Endless foreign wars
- Use of terrorism fears to maintain support
- Lying to justify war (Iraq and WMDs, for example)
- Controlled Mass Media
- Most media is corporate owned and maintains corporate interest
- Fox News is Trump TV
- Free Press is under attack by 45th President
- Attempts to remove press from White House (Jim Acosta, CNN)
- Calls for “retribution” against media the government (Trump) does not like
- Sedition Act of 1918
- Obsession with National Security
- Post-9/11 justification of lost liberty (Patriot Act)
- Homeland Security
- Formation of ICE (Gestapo)
- Border Walls
- Separation of Families at the Border
- NSA (National Security Agency)
- Trump’s Fake National Emergency
- Muslim Ban
- Japanese-American Concentration Camps in WWII
- Religion and Government Intertwined
- Corporate Power Protected / Labor Power Suppressed
- Corporate Money in Government
- Demonizing of Unions
- Tax cuts for the rich
- The dismantling of “general welfare” programs
- Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts
- Obsession With Crime and Punishment
- War on Drugs to target political enemies & minorities
- Nixon
- Bush Sr.
- Clinton
- Bush Jr.
- Trump
- Prohibition
- 13th Amendment & Loss of Rights (watch Netflix documentary)
- Rampant Cronyism and Corruption
- Money in Politics
- War Profiteering
- Oligarchy
- Fraudulent Elections
- Bush Jr v Gore
- Bush lost the popular vote
- Later revealed he also lost the electoral college
- Supreme Court, not the people, chose Bush Jr
- 2016 elections
- Russian interference
- Wikileaks
- Roger Stone
- Paul Manafort
- Florida
- Georgia Governor’s Race 2018
- Suppressing the Black Vote throughout history
- Gerrymandering
- Electoral College
Clearly, fascism has always been present in the United States. But has it increased under Donald Trump? Or has it reemerged in response to reduced fascism during eight years of Obama leadership? What is your position?