Timothy Snyder: On fascism and fear
There is a reluctance to use the word ‘fascism’ in American political punditry.
That reluctance might help explain this observation from Timothy Snyder, one of the world’s leading experts on European history and the Holocaust.
“It should seem odd that media calls to step down were not first directed to Trump. If we are calling for Biden to step aside because someone must stop Trump from bringing down the republic, then surely it would have made more sense to first call for Trump to step aside (emphasis added).”
Snyder is Professor of History at Yale University and a permanent fellow at the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna. He is the author of On Tyranny.
By fascism I just have in mind (1) the cult of personality of a Leader: (2) the party that becomes a single party; (3) the threat and use of violence; and (4) the big lie that must be accepted and used to reshape reality: in this case, that Trump can never lose an election…
Meanwhile, those higher up in corporations might like the ratings Trump brings, or like Trump himself. And so it is easiest to keep things personal — give Trump time, on the self-deluding logic that he will discredit himself, and focus on Biden’s age rather than his achievements. For reporters it can feel like the work is being done when only Biden is at the receiving end of criticism — whereas, in fact, the ground has been shifted by fascism, or by the inability to confront it.
And so fascism spreads and settles in our minds during this, the crucial period between Trump’s first coup attempt and his second (emphasis added).
Number 10 from On Tyranny, Believe in truth, is relevant.
To abandon facts is to abandon freedom. If nothing is true, then no one can criticize power, because there is no basis upon which to do so. If nothing is true, then all is spectacle. The biggest wallet pays for the most blinding lights.
Read Timothy Snyder’s essay on fascism in America. Today.
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