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So @shadihamid said something really questionable about whether researchers couldn't oppose what they study, then walked it back, and now my feed is full of people dunking on the 10/25 @TheAtlantic article he was upping.
Here's a thread on that article. https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/10/americans-have-lost-sight-what-fascism-means/616846/
Here's a thread on that article. https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/10/americans-have-lost-sight-what-fascism-means/616846/
There is an important argument in the piece: China is doing most of the things that we think make fascist regimes really bad, and we need to be careful that the comparisons we draw between the US and China don't obscure that.
The problem is that 1) the desire to scold liberals and leftists for calling Trump (and Cotton) a fascist overshadows this point and 2) Hamdi remains far too sanguine about the resilience of American democratic institutions.
Yes, countries that achieve +10 scores on the POLITY dataset (consolidated democracies) remain democracies sans coup or invasion is an observation, not a law. POLITY IV also rated Hungary in 2018 as a 10, so ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
So, a few comments. Let's start with the term "fascism." If I google "fascism definition" the first hit I get is Merriam-Webster's ( https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fascism):
The second hit I get is the Wikipedia entry, which opens with a definition derived (with a link) from the Merriam-Webster definition ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascism ).
So Hamid is correct, more or less, in the "common usage" sense, when he writes:
He's also correct that if you went looking for a contemporary government that had a lot of these characteristics, you could do worse than to point to the PRC. This is, IIRC, a point that @WonkVJ makes repeatedly on @UnDiplomaticPod.
I can't speak for other people, but when I talk about Trumpism as a form of fascism I am *not* referring to Merriam-Webster's first definition.
I am talking about what I expect an indigenous fascism to look like in 21st century America.
I am talking about what I expect an indigenous fascism to look like in 21st century America.
Call it "Democratic Fascism" or "Electoral Fascism" or "Post-Fascism."
These days I mostly talk about "reactionary populism," but it's... really not all that important.
These days I mostly talk about "reactionary populism," but it's... really not all that important.
Trumpism is
Opposed to liberal democracy;
Demagogically nationalist;
Neopatrimonial rather than legal-rational in its approach to governance and authority;
Opposed to liberal democracy; Demagogically nationalist; Neopatrimonial rather than legal-rational in its approach to governance and authority;
Prone to glorify violence & intimidation against opponents; and Centered on a promise to restore a nostalgic vision of the past by exorcising the corrupting effects of leftism, socialism, multiculturalism, and globalism.
I also don't think Democratic deconsolidation in the United States (which is *already happening*) is likely to look like the fall of Weimar Germany. We have plenty of experience with our own authoritarian and less democratic arrangements (see https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/posteverything/wp/2018/01/22/dont-call-trump-a-totalitarian-hes-bad-enough-without-exaggerating/).
Anyway, it's not like Trump and the GOP don't *show and tell* when it comes to their plans to make elections in this country progressively less free and fair.
FWIW, opposition coalitions can still prevail in mature electoral-authoritarian regimes. What happens next depends on whether they engage in the kinds of structural reforms that help reconsolidate democracy.
What's really odd about the piece, though, is that the word "socialism" never appears in it.
What do I mean?
The inspiration for the article is that the @nytimes published a piece of propaganda from a member of Hong Kong’s Executive Council.
What do I mean?
The inspiration for the article is that the @nytimes published a piece of propaganda from a member of Hong Kong’s Executive Council.
We can debate, as Hamdi allows, whether the informational value provided by giving space to overseas authoritarians who *don't* regularly make their case to Americans...
... is categorically different than running an op-ed from a US Senator calling for the government to unleash the US military on Americans.
But, okay, let's stipulate it's bad to call Republicans fascists.
But, okay, let's stipulate it's bad to call Republicans fascists.
We're about 48 hours from election day.
Joe Biden, the center-left standard bearer of the Democratic party - the main coalition that ranges from the US center-left to the progressive left – is running on calls for national unity.
Joe Biden, the center-left standard bearer of the Democratic party - the main coalition that ranges from the US center-left to the progressive left – is running on calls for national unity.
He doesn't regularly call Republicans, to my knowledge, fascists. In fact, he speaks in the language of an inclusive civic nationalism.
Donald Trump, the reactionary populist standard-bearer of the Republican party – the main coalition of the right – well, look, if you're still reading this, I don't need to spell this out.
It's not just Trump, either. It's the entire GOP.
It's not just Trump, either. It's the entire GOP.
Is this whataboutism? Maybe. But maybe not. Because if the Democrats manage the trifecta, one of the biggest dangers is falling into the complacency of 'radical centrism' and concluding "it's all good."
Pointing out that GOP efforts to deconsolidate democracy – now with extra help from the federal judiciary – are miles away from what the PRC is doing to Hong Kong doesn't help matters.
Ironically, the growing omnishambles of US democracy makes life easier for authoritarian & totalitarian regimes (see https://www.amazon.com/Exit-Hegemony-Unraveling-American-Global/dp/0190916478/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1EHOGTX46RC4N&dchild=1&keywords=exit+from+hegemony&qid=1604029685&sprefix=exit+from%2Caps%2C139&sr=8-1)
There's no tradeoff between confronting domestic backsliders and standing up for democracy abroad. Quite the opposite.
/end
There's no tradeoff between confronting domestic backsliders and standing up for democracy abroad. Quite the opposite.
/end