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Nothing about anything occurring right now in the United States is “ordinary politics” and saying that anyone who disapproves of someone siding with a fascist r

Nothing about anything occurring right now in the United States is “ordinary politics” and saying that anyone who disapproves of someone siding with a fascist regime has a “defective thought process” is doing the work of the fascist regime for them.

xcv123 2y ago
[flagged]
- AnimalMuppet 2y ago
  Whether or not it objectively meets the definition of a fascist regime, you can't talk to people that way here.
  - xcv123 2y ago
    [flagged]
    - AnimalMuppet 2y ago
      Fair enough that people irritate you too much these days. I can't cast the first stone on that one...
  - angoragoats 2y ago
    I didn’t see what the post you’re replying to said before it got flagged, but if it was objecting to me labeling the government as fascist, I’ll point to “The 14 Characteristics of Fascism” by political scientist Lawrence Britt [0]. The current government clearly checks at least 12 of the 14 boxes here, and I could probably make reasonable arguments for the rest. [0] https://ratical.org/ratville/CAH/fasci14chars.html https://ratical.org/ratville/CAH/fasci14chars.html
    - AnimalMuppet 2y ago
      > The current government clearly checks at least 12 of the 14 boxes here... Well, I wouldn't go that far. But out of curiosity, which two do you think it doesn't check?
      - angoragoats 2y ago
        10. Labor Power is suppressed and 14. Fraudulent elections. But they're both more of a "not yet, at least..." for me. > Well, I wouldn't go that far. Which others do you feel are not applicable? I have concrete examples for all of the others.
        angoragoats 2y ago
        Heh, I wrote the parent comment last night, and saw this story this morning: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-01-28/trump-fires-nlrb-general-counsel-jennifer-abruzzo https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-01-28/trump-fir... So we're pretty quickly heading toward #10 being checked off as well. Regarding the last item, VP Trump said some weird things about President Musk helping with voting machines (during his speeches at the inauguration, or maybe in the days after -- I can't keep track anymore). To be clear, I don't think that rises to the level of "fraudulent elections." But it is something that I think is worth investigating further, if we as a nation care about free and fair elections anymore.
        deleted 2y ago
        [deleted]
        AnimalMuppet 2y ago
        4. Supremacy of the military. Trump has been big on wanting to be supreme over the military, but I don't think he's been as big on making the military the supreme thing in the country. 5. Rampant sexism. Sure, he's sexist, and he says sexist things. The person responsible for keeping all the people around him pulling in the same direction is a woman, though. So are some of his cabinet nominees. So while he's in this direction, I don't think he's there yet. 6. Controlled mass media. Again, he's trying (the lawsuit against the pollster in Iowa is a really bad sign), but he's not there yet, not by a long shot. He arguably is trying for this one, more than the previous two. 7. Obsession with national security. Do you really think most Americans are living in fear of "them out there"? I don't. Migrants who are here, maybe. Crime, maybe. National security? Not really, no. (Unless you lump immigration with national security, which I suppose is defensible.) 12. Obsession with crime and punishment. The police haven't been given virtually unlimited power... at least not yet. Look, I won't deny that he's trending in the wrong direction on many of these. It's worrying. (The ones I'm not arguing are even more worrying.) But I don't think he's as close as you're making it sound.

xcv123 2y ago

[flagged]

AnimalMuppet 2y ago
Whether or not it objectively meets the definition of a fascist regime, you can't talk to people that way here.
- xcv123 2y ago
  [flagged]
  - AnimalMuppet 2y ago
    Fair enough that people irritate you too much these days. I can't cast the first stone on that one...
- angoragoats 2y ago
  I didn’t see what the post you’re replying to said before it got flagged, but if it was objecting to me labeling the government as fascist, I’ll point to “The 14 Characteristics of Fascism” by political scientist Lawrence Britt [0]. The current government clearly checks at least 12 of the 14 boxes here, and I could probably make reasonable arguments for the rest. [0] https://ratical.org/ratville/CAH/fasci14chars.html https://ratical.org/ratville/CAH/fasci14chars.html
  - AnimalMuppet 2y ago
    > The current government clearly checks at least 12 of the 14 boxes here... Well, I wouldn't go that far. But out of curiosity, which two do you think it doesn't check?
    - angoragoats 2y ago
      10. Labor Power is suppressed and 14. Fraudulent elections. But they're both more of a "not yet, at least..." for me. > Well, I wouldn't go that far. Which others do you feel are not applicable? I have concrete examples for all of the others.
      - angoragoats 2y ago
        Heh, I wrote the parent comment last night, and saw this story this morning: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-01-28/trump-fires-nlrb-general-counsel-jennifer-abruzzo https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-01-28/trump-fir... So we're pretty quickly heading toward #10 being checked off as well. Regarding the last item, VP Trump said some weird things about President Musk helping with voting machines (during his speeches at the inauguration, or maybe in the days after -- I can't keep track anymore). To be clear, I don't think that rises to the level of "fraudulent elections." But it is something that I think is worth investigating further, if we as a nation care about free and fair elections anymore.
        deleted 2y ago
        [deleted]
      - AnimalMuppet 2y ago
        4. Supremacy of the military. Trump has been big on wanting to be supreme over the military, but I don't think he's been as big on making the military the supreme thing in the country. 5. Rampant sexism. Sure, he's sexist, and he says sexist things. The person responsible for keeping all the people around him pulling in the same direction is a woman, though. So are some of his cabinet nominees. So while he's in this direction, I don't think he's there yet. 6. Controlled mass media. Again, he's trying (the lawsuit against the pollster in Iowa is a really bad sign), but he's not there yet, not by a long shot. He arguably is trying for this one, more than the previous two. 7. Obsession with national security. Do you really think most Americans are living in fear of "them out there"? I don't. Migrants who are here, maybe. Crime, maybe. National security? Not really, no. (Unless you lump immigration with national security, which I suppose is defensible.) 12. Obsession with crime and punishment. The police haven't been given virtually unlimited power... at least not yet. Look, I won't deny that he's trending in the wrong direction on many of these. It's worrying. (The ones I'm not arguing are even more worrying.) But I don't think he's as close as you're making it sound.