Whatever your political leanings, no matter who you voted for, there is just no disputing the fact that Donald Trump's rise to power and the way he has behaved is literally the textbook definition of fascism.
I am not trying to incite a flame war here. I am not suggesting we remove him from power or anything. After all, he was elected in a fair and open election and through the proper procedures laid out in the framing of government.
But being a student of history and having the kind of mind that I do, one that can easily spot patterns and make connections, I feel it necessary to share my observations. That’s all these are. Just observations.
“Fascism” is a term that has a negative connotation in our world today, similar to the feeling that is inspired by the word “Communism.” Both describe ideologies and both have historical context that creates the negative connotations surrounding the words.
The purpose of this article is not to compare Donald Trump with any of the fascist leaders of history, most notably Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini. To do so would be overly opinionated and distinctly unfair considering the fact that Mr. Trump has yet to even be inaugurated.
The purpose of the article is to show that Donald Trump’s actions and rise to power fit perfectly with the so called 14 Characteristics of Fascism. So perfectly, in fact, that I felt inspired to write about it.
So now with the disclaimers out of the way, let’s begin.
The 14 characteristics of fascism were developed by an Italian thinker by the name of Umberto Eco in his 1995 essay “Ur-Fascism.” Eco was a novelist, literary critic, philosopher, and professor who lived and wrote in the 20th century and actually died as recently as February of this past year.
Having grown up in Mussolini’s Italy and having lived through the height of fascism in Europe, he wanted to quantify what the term actually referred to as it became lost in translation. While in the 40s it meant “standing up to injustice, the moral duty for every good American,” in his essay, Eco says he hears it more now in regard when it’s “used by American counter-culturalists to refer to a cop who did not approve of their smoking habits.”
He writes that fascism is “…a fuzzy totalitarianism, a collage of different philosophical and political ideas, a beehive of contradictions.” And if there’s one thing anyone can agree on, it’s that Donald Trump is indeed a beehive of contradictions.
So without further ado, here are the fourteen features of Fascism and how they relate to Donald Trump, his running mate, and America in general.
1. The cult of tradition. “One has only to look at the syllabus of every fascist movement to find the major traditionalist thinkers.”
This has more to do with Trump’s running mate than it has to do with him. Pence is a staunch Christian, born and raised on a farm in Indiana. He seems like the stereotype of what Thomas Jefferson envisioned and wanted for America. What America used to be. Christianity, among most religions, is deeply concerned with tradition and will often fight progressive change in any form.
2. The rejection of modernism. “The Enlightenment, the Age of Reason, is seen as the beginning of modern depravity. In this sense, Ur-Fascism can be defined as irrationalism.”
There are countless examples of the rejection of modernism from the Trump campaigns denial of climate change (though he has since altered his position), to the claims made regarding illegal voting. Claims that have no evidence to substantiate them. Such claims and denials can only be described as irrational.
3. The cult of action for action’s sake. “Action being beautiful in itself, it must be taken before, or without, any previous reflection. Thinking is a form of emasculation.”
Trump is a man of action. This is advantageous in some ways and debilitating in others. He chose to campaign and attend rallies rather than prepare for the first debate, and Hillary Clinton handed him a loss. While a President should never waver when the need to take action is appropriate, neither should he simply act without thought.
4. Disagreement is treason. “The critical spirit makes distinctions, and to distinguish is a sign of modernism. In modern culture the scientific community praises disagreement as a way to improve knowledge.”
Trump does not welcome disagreement. Quite the contrary, as can be seen due to his reaction to the burning of the flag at Hampshire College before Veterans Day. While burning the flag is inherently disrespectful to both a country that has provided a quality of life nearly second to none, and to men and women who put themselves in danger so that we might continue to enjoy this quality of life, burning the flag is protected by the first amendment due to a Supreme Court Case settled in 1989.
Burning the flag is like saying the ‘n’ word in front of, or to a black person. Sure it’s legal. Sure it’s protected by the first amendment. But it’s just in such bad taste. You just don’t do it. An yet, below is a tweet Trump sent out reflecting his own opinion.
Nobody should be allowed to burn the American flag - if they do, there must be consequences - perhaps loss of citizenship or year in jail!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 29, 2016
5. Fear of difference. “The first appeal of a fascist or prematurely fascist movement is an appeal against the intruders. Thus Ur-Fascism is racist by definition.”
While I shy away from calling Donald Trump “racist” (I don’t like labels and think they try to oversimplify complex concepts), Donald Trump is by no ways tolerant of people who differ from him, especially in terms of opinion. And Eco characterizes prematurely fascists movements as picking scapegoats and uniting the people against intruders. Need I say more?
6. Appeal to social frustration. “One of the most typical features of the historical fascism was the appeal to a frustrated middle class, a class suffering from an economic crisis or feelings of political humiliation, and frightened by the pressure of lower social groups.”
This one is “yuge”. This is what this election hinged on. The frustration of a shrinking middle class, especially of those feeling the pressure from previously marginalized groups experiencing upward social mobility.
7. The obsession with a plot. “The followers must feel besieged. The easiest way to solve the plot is the appeal to xenophobia.”
People think in stories. Our lives revolve around the narratives we tell ourselves. Trump understands this on some level and had no shortage of yarns to spin the campaign trail. Whether it was the “rigged system” or his now infamous “…they’re bringing drugs, they’re bringing crime, they’re rapists,” line, Trump had no shortage of narratives. To be fair, Hillary Clinton certainly had some of her own, what with the “Russian email hacking of DNC servers.” It’s always the Russians.
8. The enemy is both strong and weak. “By a continuous shifting of rhetorical focus, the enemies are at the same time too strong and too weak.”
This can be seen in Trump’s rhertoric surrounding ISIS. They are a huge problem, but I can deal with them. They’re getting stronger, but I will take it to them. Or with his rhetoric surrounding Hillary Clinton. She herself is physically weak, “she doesn’t have the stamina”, but she has the system on her side and all her Wall Street Backers.
9. Pacifism is trafficking with the enemy. “For Ur-Fascism there is no struggle for life but, rather, life is lived for struggle.”
I don’t really know what this means or refers to besides maybe the fact that Fascists love conflict and will make up reasons for it. Like Hitler claiming the German people needed "lebensraum" (living space). Trump may be a confrontational person but so was Steve Jobs and he gave us the iPod.
10. Contempt for the weak. “Elitism is a typical aspect of any reactionary ideology.”
Hillary Clinton attempted to highlight this aspect of Trump's personality in the debates when she brought up how he made fun of the disabled reporter or veterans with PTSD who have trouble returning to everyday life.
11. Everybody is educated to become a hero. “In Ur-Fascist ideology, heroism is the norm. This cult of heroism is strictly linked with the cult of death.”
The cult of heroism and death is generally linked with the idea of dying for one’s country being a noble aspiration; a notion prevalent across the world in the 20th century and even today. It was taken to the extreme by the Japanese during World War II, who would hold ceremonies and parades for soldiers who had agreed to become Kamikazes. I have yet to see too much rhetoric from Trump surrounding such topics.
12. Machismo and weaponry. “Machismo implies both disdain for women and intolerance and condemnation of nonstandard sexual habits, from chastity to homosexuality.”
These examples, however. are incredibly prevalent. From the row that developed between him and Megyn Kelly, to the Rosy O’Donnell and Beauty Queen comments, and the infamous Apprentice Tapes that surfaced. He and his running mate have also not made it a secret that they are intolerant of those with nonstandard sexual predilections.
13. Selective populism. “There is in our future a TV or Internet populism, in which the emotional response of a selected group of citizens can be presented and accepted as the Voice of the People.”
This is easily seen by pundits on either side of the political spectrum. If you listen to NPR, you’ll spend your evening in the car agreeing with yourself and feeling a kind of righteous indignation. If you listen to the Howie Carr show, you’ll become enamored with all his witty, depreciating nicknames for people like “tall Deval” (Charlie Baker) or “Mittens” (Mitt Romney). Whatever outlet you tune into becomes an echo chamber for your own opinions. This is a concern with having Steven Bannon as a senior adviser. Bannon's brainchild, Breitbart News, could easily pick up stories that fit the agenda and amplify them.
14. Ur-Fascism speaks Newspeak. “All the Nazi or Fascist schoolbooks made use of an impoverished vocabulary, and an elementary syntax, in order to limit the instruments for complex and critical reasoning.”
Donald Trump uses short phrases and emphasizes certain words so it’s incredibly easy for anyone to understand. “We need to build a wall.” “She doesn’t have the right temperament.” “CHINA.” “They’re laughing at us.” “It’s gonna be great.” “Believe me.” “Drain the swamp.” “Lock her up.” Shall I go on?
So there you go. I hope you can all now see why I think Trump’s ideology is the textbook definition of fascism. That being said, I am still willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.
Great men are often eccentric. Winston Churchill used to take air baths, meaning he’d stand naked in his office and people would have to inform him of critical information. Ronald Reagan guided us through the Cold War and debatably bankrupted the Soviet Union, though many thought he was a warmongerer. Napoleon crowned himself Emperor twice, but created a system of meritocracy when appointing generals and stabilized the region after the bloody French Revolution. Ivan the Terrible united Russia, though he was terrible.
What I’m saying is we need to be aware of what Trump is, and what he potentially stands for. We don’t know whether he will become a Ronald Reagan or an Ivan the Terrible. All we can do is wait and see.
That’s the point of this article. To spread awareness so if the colors don’t rhyme, we don’t hesitate. If things start happening that make us uneasy, we have to speak out. No matter what happens, no one should lose their voice. At the end of the day, we are all Americans and we all want generally the same thing.
I personally refuse to be a bystander. I refuse to let 2016 become three paragraphs on page 324 of an American Freedom textbook published in 2092, where some kid reads about 2016 and asks himself “how could people let that happen?” So if you're a liberal, keep and open mind. And if you're more conservative, do likewise. But we're Americans. Remember what America stands for and keep in mind what we want our future to be.
