this post was submitted on 29 Aug 2024
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Implying that he didn't go full fascist about...checks notes...8 years ago?
What did that entail?
https://www.faena.com/aleph/umberto-eco-a-practical-list-for-identifying-fascists
Read the 14 points. Notice how Trump aligns almost inarguably with all of them.
What happened as a result? The weakening of our institutions, the consolidation of power for the wealthy, the diminished voice of the people, amongst so many other things.
\8. Those on the other side of the political spectrum rarely attribute strength to the progressive side. Perhaps in numbers only, and only tacitly.
\14. This is actually the first I've seen of the political right being accused of reinventing language. Language craft is a gold medal I would have awarded the political left without hesitation.
\4. Also would have more strongly correlated with political left spaces, if my own experience is anything to go by.
Counterpoints:
8 - The left is the mainstream media, the coastal elites, the woke mob, the invasion of immigrants, etc. These are all powerful forces that must be stopped.
14 - “fake news”, “the woke mind virus”, demonization of “CRT”, “LGBT”, “DEI”, etc. Also note Trump’s vocabulary - he speaks like a middle schooler.
4 - maybe, sometimes. But the mob-like mentality of Trump’s supporters cannot be ignored.
And just because progressives share some aspects does not mean that MAGA doesn’t. MAGA is fascism, dude.
I'm still trying to grapple with progressive language taxonomy.
How did the term fascism all of a sudden become revived linguistically to simply mean "conservative". Back to point #14 on the reinvention of language.
"Tankie". This one is fun. Is it derived from video game language "tank"? Someone or something who can soak up a lot of hits? It doesn't sound derogatory because of this, but rather congratulatory. Are progressives using this term because of its association with military tanks (and hence, militaristic fascism)?
Enshittification - Noteworthy to me how this has come to only be used in progressive left spaces. Rightists, despite also observing the gradual worsening of tech, for whatever reason do not have this word in their lexicon. I am familiar with Cory Doctorow btw, and have been to some of his talks.
Conservatives use fascist to describe their opponents just as much as leftists. Doesn’t change the fact that Donald Trump is a literal fascist.
Harris and Biden are complicit in Genocide. It can't get more Fascist than that. You guys are doing the pointing Spidermen meme now.
No, they don't. I also tour a number of conservative online spaces and I have never seen them use the term fascist to describe anyone.