Is describing the current political situation in the USA as fascism accurate and useful?
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Thanks, all. I think not accurate, but useful.
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Thanks, all. I think not accurate, but useful.
@evan how is it inaccurate?
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@evan how is it inaccurate?
@GroupNebula563 I think it'd be more accurate to define it as a weakened democracy with a fascist ruling party. Many checks on power still exist and are holding, such as an active opposition party, critical media, engaged citizens, and independent courts. That said, I think it's fine and useful to call it "fascism".
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@GroupNebula563 I think it'd be more accurate to define it as a weakened democracy with a fascist ruling party. Many checks on power still exist and are holding, such as an active opposition party, critical media, engaged citizens, and independent courts. That said, I think it's fine and useful to call it "fascism".
@evan fair enougj
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Thanks, all. I think not accurate, but useful.
@evan How is it useful?
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@evan fair enougj
@GroupNebula563 I think a lot of those checks are activated *because* it's being called fascism. If we wait until all the lights are snuffed out, there's no point calling it anything.
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@evan How is it useful?
@mpjgregoire I think it's useful to identify structures of fascism in the current USA government: emphasis on the military, authoritarian leader, integrated industrial policy, government dominance of media, anti-human-rights agenda. These are tendencies that fly directly in the face of the USA's liberal traditions, so if we want to keep those traditions, we should be aware of how their opposites can interweave and self-reinforce.
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@mpjgregoire I think it's useful to identify structures of fascism in the current USA government: emphasis on the military, authoritarian leader, integrated industrial policy, government dominance of media, anti-human-rights agenda. These are tendencies that fly directly in the face of the USA's liberal traditions, so if we want to keep those traditions, we should be aware of how their opposites can interweave and self-reinforce.
@evan @mpjgregoire I was about to click on “not accurate but useful” and then I asked myself “how is that different from any other form of lying for political advantage?”
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@evan @mpjgregoire I was about to click on “not accurate but useful” and then I asked myself “how is that different from any other form of lying for political advantage?”
@timbray @mpjgregoire That's an interesting question. Maybe it's more like calling a shirt green when it's actually chartreuse. You're giving a first approximation that's easier to understand. I think we would often say that this is *imprecise* rather than *inaccurate*.
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@evan To be more accurate, you should use "ur-fascism"", that is a generalization coined by Umberto Eco to describe fascist-style movements around the world. This is because fascism has a precise historical mean: it is the movement founded by Benito Mussolini in Italy in 1915.
@andreabont That's a good word!
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Thanks, all. I think not accurate, but useful.
@evan Hmmm... I didn't see the poll in time to vote, but it's pretty clear to me that what's going on is at least attempted fascism, if not incipient fascism. Have a look at Umberto Eco's list of core characteristics and tell me you can’t find an example of each one in the actions of the current US administration.