This Is What Fascism Looks Like
I’m having a very hard time processing the election-fraud narrative and upcoming invasive rallies in Washington, D.C. It’s no exaggeration to say it’s damaging my relationships, along with my mental & physical health. I was born in Georgetown, and though never a true resident of the Federal District, I grew up visiting often, have family & friends living there and nearby, and continue to visit when able.
It’s a swamp, no doubt literally and figuratively, and the seat of one of the most wanton and far-reaching empires in human history. It’s also a majority-Black city, the site of many historic events in the struggle for human equality & justice, and now, the intended site of a fascist revolt.
There is no practical question now, after the release of the recording of the President’s direct attempt to subvert the 2020 Presidential election results, as to whether the United States of America is undergoing an attempted ‘soft’ coup with fascist modes. In conjunction with underhanded backroom-dealing and thinly-veiled threats against fellow Republican Party members in the State of Georgia, the President has implored his followers and supporters to travel across the pandemic-stricken nation to either: pressure the Congress and Vice President to overturn the results of the election and keep him in power, or; perform a hard coup d’état and seize power through violence and occupation of the seat of national governance.
This is fascism.
I do not believe it is hyperbole to say so. I still think there is a 5% or less chance that the President’s supporters, most of whom are woefully misled or cowards when faced with actual danger or incitement to literal violent revolt, will follow through with a hard coup. And as far as I understand, the legal basis for overturning the results through the Congressional count is specious at best, and procedurally impossible according to most Constitutional and Federal law experts.
This. Does. Not. Matter. Being called to violent reaction by the most powerful man in the world is the damage. Even if 10,000 or fewer ‘Patriots’ attend the rallies planned for January 5th & 6th, and even if one-tenth of one per-cent of those return home as or more radicalized than when they came — this is fascism. Even if the results stand, the fact is that there is a political sector, media mechanism, and solid core of citizens who venerate autocratic methods of maintaining power. Below are some examples of what modern American fascism looks like, encouraged openly by the President and tacitly or explicitly supported by elected Republicans.
This is fascism.
This is fascism.
This is fascism.
This is fascism. This is fascism. This is fascism.
I’ve been nauseous for weeks over what might happen in the coming days. I’ve lost sleep and sunken into paralytic bouts of depression. I’m ashamed and guilty that I won’t be in the streets with my neighbors, friends, and regional allies. Ordinary people who, despite conflicting calls for both inaction and mobilization, will nonetheless do their best to reduce the harm from and share on-the-ground updates about the fascists who are nakedly excited to beat, maim, and execute their perceived political enemies in the streets of our nation’s capital city. I’m doing what I can to support anti-fascists remotely, at cost to my own trauma-addled psyche, and preparing to help with the fallout and planned militant fascist actions in Richmond and around Inauguration Day.
The historical analogies have been overplayed, but if you wondered what you’d do during a coup, during the Nazi takeover, during the antebellum period — look at what you’re doing now. Ask me what you can do, because there’s a lot. Talk about these issues in frank terms, and dig into some courage to face your family, friends, and neighbors about where they stand on accepting political violence and maneuvers that degrade our democracy.
It’s a new year. We can hope it’ll be better than the last, or we can make it so.
Solidarity to all anti-fascists.
