Americanism versus Fascism

As a student in Lakeland High School in the 1960s I was required to take a course on Americanism versus Communism. I didn’t mind the course, though it required that I get up an hour early and sit in an auditorium listening to a lecture by an ill-prepared teacher try to explain why American democracy was better than communism. And I still believe that it is. It is also better than Fascism, though we were not required to take an Americanism versus Fascism class. I think such a course should have been required.

Speaking of Communist authoritarianism, I believe it’s important to distinguish China’s authoritarian government from China’s people, about whom I have many happy memories form my time in that country. J. D. Vance doesn’t get this distinction as was shown by his recent insulting remarks against the Chinese. His comments were not only insulting, but also crude and stupid. On top of this, they served the Chinese government’s purpose by helping them promote the idea that American is an evil and dangerous enemy to China. My god, J. D., what were you thinking?

Back to my main point. Why isn’t Americanism versus Fascism taught in our schools? The short answer is that a lot of super-wealthy Americans with Fascist leanings would like us to remain ignorant about how they have slurped up so much of our nation’s wealth. They want to use this wealth to bend political leaders to their will. And do so at our expense. Understanding Fascism means understanding how Germany’s corporate interests lined up behind Hitler as he rose to power. That is something people like Trump and Musk want us to remain ignorant about.

The essence of Fascism is rule by those who use money and threats of violence to support selfish bullies. It is a simple formula, one used by ordinary thugs like Al Capone. How would it be to have someone with Capone’s character in the Oval Office? I’m afraid we are now finding that out.

 

  

Al Capone: Prototypical Fascistic Thug

Abraham Lincoln expressed the meaning of Americanism in his Gettysburg Address in which he embraced the ideal of a government “of, by, and for the people.” Not the rich people, not the white people, not the native-born people, but all the people. I believe Trump would try to ban Lincoln’s inspirational address because of its implicit DEI message. That is, if he ever read and understood it, neither of which is likely to be the case.

When Trump approached the vicinity of the Gettysburg battlefield during the 2020 campaign, he chose to focus not on Lincoln’s famous speech, but on his own bizarre misrepresentation of Pickett’s Charge, saying, “Never fight uphill, me boys.”  Like most fascists, Trump is not a fan of Lincoln nor of the ideals expressed in the Gettysburg Address. His approach to governance is like Al Capone’s approach to mob thuggery.  The only important thing is the power to force everyone to submit to the leader.

Fascism on a national scale is always strengthened when the leader can scare the populace by claiming that others – Haitians, Mexicans, immigrants, and so on – are “not like us” and therefore a threat to us.

Standing beside the thuggish Trump is Elon Musk, “the world’s creepiest billionaire.” His usefulness to Trump comes from his access to wealth and his control of a big chunk of social media. Fascists, like Communists, seek to control a nation’s media and its institutions of education as a way of convincing people that their outrageous lies are actually solid truths. Our nation is being led down a dark and undemocratic path by our Fascistic leaders. I’m not sure a course on Americanism versus Fascism could have prevented the rise of people like Trump and Musk, but I’m pretty sure it would have helped.

So, come on, Governor DeSantis, let’s let Florida take the lead in teaching Americanism versus Fascism in high school! Oh wait. Never mind. I forgot who I was talking to.

 

The Swamp

I want to offer here my understanding of the meanings of some of the words sed in this Neo-Trumpian era. Like “wasteful spending,” for example. Trump ally Elong Musk recently used this phrase when considering the federal budget. But he was not talking about $640 toilet seat covers sold by Pentagon contractors. He made it clear that he sees public spending wasteful when it goes to help the public. You know, spending on things like Social Security, Medicare, and Obamacare. That’s where people like Musk and Trump want to cut spending – on programs that don’t help enrich their lucre laden friends.

 

By the way, aren’t Musk and Trump an odd couple? They both seem to have the same desire, a desperate longing for public approval. Given this, how long should we expect them to remain allies?  I expect that before long they will clash over some issue, like “who is smarter?” (Musk), or “Who is better at getting gullible people to believe his bullshit?” (Trump). In any case, I’m guessing the betting markets are already taking wagers on when these two will turn against each other.

The issue of what kind of spending is wasteful is likely to affect all of us. Ordinary Americans are bound to suffer, while the corporate rich, i.e., The Swamp continues to flourish and expand. Our cry from the heart for 2024 should be, “We fought the Swamp, and the Swamp won.”

 

Fake news is a phrase rarely heard before the Trmpian era. It should mean disinformation. But for Trump it merely means any news or information that doesn’t praise him. Was Fox News forced to pay a 787-million-dollar settlement to Dominion Voting Systems for lying in support of Trump’s election fraud claims? Yes, it was, and official court records prove it. This is the kind of damming truth that Trump likes to call “fake news.”

And what does “convicted felon” really mean? Perhaps, you thought this phrase referred to an unsavory character. But no, not in Trump World. For Trump a convicted felon is a fine individual, a person of presidential or ambassadorial timber.

And then there’s the Bible. Most Americans see it as a book of inspired scripture. Bur for Trump the Bible is a political prop, particularly useful for getting voters to think you believe in its message of love and forgiveness.

And the so-called deep state? That’s just Trump’s phrase for those institutions of American democracy that don’t quickly crumble under Trumpian bullying

Finally, it isn’t clear to me why Trump is so admiring of America-hating creeps like Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un. My best guess is that he envies the way they can push their citizens around without having to bother with democratic constraints. Maybe they remind him of the thuggish types who loomed so large in his New York real estate world.

I do not post this item to disparage or upset my Trumpian friends who might see it. Not at all. I simply want them to understand why so many of us consider this self-aggrandizing blowhard to be a threat to American democracy.