Quote:
Originally Posted by CliffFletcher
You have to be pretty naive to think flinging the term around is politically effective. George W. Bush was called fascist. So was Stephen Harper. And before them Reagan and Thatcher. The word “fascist” has been so thoroughly abused that all it accomplishes in political dialogue today is to earmark the person using it as a committed (and excitable) supporter of the left. It doesn’t move the needle politically or change the minds of any persuadable voters.
It also blinds the people misapplying the term to the differences of the emerging populist movement. Soberingly large numbers of single, non-college Black and Hispanic men support Trump. Most Trump supporters do not believe the declining share of white people in America is a bad thing. Most are not bothered by people in their community speaking a language other than english.
https://www.pewresearch.org/politics...2024-election/
The main cleavage emerging in politics in the West today is educational attainment, along with gender (which is itself a consequence of diverging educational outcomes). The fuel of the movement is deep distrust of institutions. That was not true of 20th century fascism - teachers and bureaucrats were among the most enthusiastic supporters of the Nazis.
Political terms aren’t like movie franchises. We can make new ones up now and then to reflect contemporary politics rather than going to the well of familiar 20th century culture over and over again. |
Sorry, to be clear, you’re throwing the word “naive” around while:
- suggesting fascism hasn’t existed for 50 years
- suggesting anyone who uses the word “fascist” is a excitable supporter of the left
- suggesting fascism has a concrete definition (you couldn’t produce)
- rejecting expert opinions on fascism in favour of your personal armchair
- suggesting we can make new political terms up, after suggesting “neo-fascism” was just “couching it” and being unable to process any definition or evolution of fascism past WW2
Never change lol