How Will American Fascism Look?
Published at 07:33 on 9 November 2016
First off, not the same as German or Italian fascism. Those movements happened against the background of a growing tide of left-wing sentiment that worried the capitalist class and the traditional conservatives to the point they believed it was worth supporting fascism (in part under the mistaken belief they could control it). There is no strong socialist or anarchist movement in the USA; therefore, American fascism is happening under a different set of historical and political circumstances.
That said, these are still very dangerous and very uncertain times. Some things to keep an eye on:
Armed Private Militias
Both Hitler (SA) and Mussolini (Blackshirts) had organized paramilitaries acting under their command. Those militias played a key role in those leaders rapidly acquiring dictatorial powers. The right-wing militia movements in the USA are not centralized and under Trump’s official control. For many of their members, Trump wasn’t even their first choice of a Republican candidate. Therefore any sort of automatic widespread allegiance is far from a given.
Pay attention if Trump starts appealing to such groups directly in his speeches. Even an informal chain of command would be very worrisome.
Radical Islamic Terrorism
It’s here, it’s part of the world, and it’s not going away. There’s really nothing that can be done to absolutely prevent terror attacks from happening, so expect occasional attacks to continue. Such attacks could well serve as pretexts for “temporary” emergency measures to be enacted. In this way, terrorism could help serve as a replacement for the missing left-wing militancy.
Furthermore, the leopard will not be able to change his spots. Trump will continue to open his mouth and stay stupid and inflammatory things. And it may well go beyond mere words. If Muslims start getting singled out for officially mandated discriminatory treatment, the motives for terrorism will be radically increased.
The Business Class
There is no powerful socialist, anarchist, or labor movement for the business class to want to crush. This removes an aspect of utility for Trump to them. Moreover, Trump’s anti-globalization and anti-immigrant stance threatens their profit maximization. Finally, the markets like certainty, and Trump represents anything but certainty. So there’s definite room for a wedge to be driven between Trump and the business class.
On the other hand, there is still some utility in Trump to the business class, because he also and paradoxically promises deregulation. Hitler made a bunch of left-wing proposals to seduce the working-class vote, then turned around and stabbed the working class in the back once he got power. Trump’s the biggest liar in the campaign, so he could easily have just been lying about being anti-NAFTA and anti-TPP. Time will soon tell on the latter.
Urban Unrest
Like Islamic terrorism, it’s here, it’s part of the world, and it’s not going away. Plus, the biggest spark for urban riots is and has always been the brutality of local police officers. The Federal government has very little to do with local government agencies, so even if Trump wanted to fire all bad cops (and had a magic way of smoking them out), he would not be able to. “Keeping America safe from riots” is is another potential motive for “temporary” emergency measures. (And recall what I said earlier about the leopard not being able to change his spots.)