Donald Trump continues to defy all expectations. His surprising popularity has been analyzed
every possible way, and it seems to rise in almost inverse proportion to the
condemnation he receives from every quarter.
The question for me is whether Trump is truly the
neo-fascist that he appears to be, or whether he is masquerading as one in a
cynical but clever ploy to gain the nomination.
He has been compared with Il Duce (Benito Mussolini of the ‘glory’ days
of the short-lived Italian empire in the 1930s) because of his huge ego and his
smug proclamations. Indeed, the continuous
smirk on his face and his puffed-up demeanor are amazingly similar to those of
Il Duce.
Calling Trump a fascist is not really an exaggeration. Fascism has the following
characteristics: a fanatical demagogue
as a leader; a maniacal embrace of nationalism; a set of enemies that are
blamed for the current perceived downfall of the state (e.g. immigrants,
Muslims, blacks, media, political correctness, liberals, tax laws); a belief
that a strong leader can ‘solve’ economic problems through central control; a
belief that a nation can recover its past glories by adopting an aggressive, unyielding
position on global affairs; a strategy of economic growth by large
infrastructure projects and military build-up.
It is difficult to discern what Trump’s platform and plans
are, but his appeal to ‘angry’ Americans seems to parallel the classic fascist
pattern. The big difference between
Trump’s rise and those of Hitler and Mussolini is that the economic conditions
are far less dismal today than the late 1920’s.
The ‘anger’ that is accepted as a given in today’s political
environment is somewhat of a strange phenomenon. Clearly our political process is
frustratingly dysfunctional. However,
the country is not in any great economic or social distress when compared to
the rest of the world. So why the almost
palpable anger?
For the average white American, there are certainly
unsettling trends – the increasing diversity of our society, the changing
sexual and gender mores, the decrease in traditional religious affiliation, the
erosion of American influence in world affairs.
But these trends and circumstances do not really impact
people in a very direct way. The
everyday of our lives is no worse for these changes. Our economy, though not robust, is still
functioning fairly well and indeed performs better than that of almost any other
nation on earth. We still have all of
the freedoms, opportunities and pleasures that make the U.S. an incredible place
for most of its citizens. Very few of
the people who are so angry are in any type of distress, other than psychic.
I believe the anger is a manufactured entity, a Frankenstein
created by right-wing media, bloggers and politicians that is now out of
control and about to destroy its master, the Republican Party. Let’s hope and
pray it doesn’t also destroy the whole country.
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