Peter1469
05-07-2017, 05:38 PM
What 'Fascism' Talk Really Accomplishes (http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2017/05/07/what_fascism_talk_really_accomplishes_133812.html)
In English, words have meaning. What happens when people abuse the language? Here is an article that discusses that topic.
The allegation that Donald Trump’s presidency reflects the rise—or resurgence—of fascism in America has little basis in fact. But it is a sure way to amplify the scorn for Republicans gripping many on the left and the resentment of media and academic elites roiling many on the right. Such talk magnifies polarization and further debases American political discourse. It distracts from Trump’s actual flaws and the serious challenges the nation faces. Yet intellectuals won’t let it go away.
A month after the election, Michael Kinsley—a columnist for Vanity Fair, a contributing columnist for The Washington Post, and one of America’s most respected center-left voices—told them they were right. Explicitly linking the president-elect to European fascism and Nazism of the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, Kinsley maintained (https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/donald-trump-is-actually-a-fascist/2016/12/09/e193a2b6-bd77-11e6-94ac-3d324840106c_story.html?utm_term=.d7741377d6c0) that “Donald Trump is a fascist” because he “sincerely believes that the toxic combination of strong government and strong corporations should run the nation and the world.” Kinsley appeared not to notice that his vague definition easily embraced the party and the president who teamed up with insurance companies in 2010 to ram through the Affordable Care Act over the united, and still ardent, opposition of Trump’s political party.
To qualify as fascism, governing ideas and conduct would have to include (https://www.britannica.com/topic/fascism) a militarily aggressive and expansive nationalism, disdain for liberal democracy, commitment to embodying natural hierarchies in law, and subordination of individuals to the collective good.
Trump fails every prong of this test. He has expressed a determination to scale back America’s role in the world, not mobilize. He wants to subject immigration and visitation to the rule of law, not to rule over other people. Far from disdaining liberal democracy, Trump distinguished himself by bringing his case to the people and taking their legitimate concerns seriously; and while he has lashed out at adverse judicial judgments, he has obeyed them without hesitation. Trump ran against elites and he appointed successful men and women to his Cabinet to assist in dismantling the sweeping and intrusive regulation through which Washington elites seek to govern. Instead of subordinating individuals to collective goals, President Trump intends to make America great again by releasing the people from government tutelage to pursue their private interests.
These are just snips. Read the entire article for context.
In English, words have meaning. What happens when people abuse the language? Here is an article that discusses that topic.
The allegation that Donald Trump’s presidency reflects the rise—or resurgence—of fascism in America has little basis in fact. But it is a sure way to amplify the scorn for Republicans gripping many on the left and the resentment of media and academic elites roiling many on the right. Such talk magnifies polarization and further debases American political discourse. It distracts from Trump’s actual flaws and the serious challenges the nation faces. Yet intellectuals won’t let it go away.
A month after the election, Michael Kinsley—a columnist for Vanity Fair, a contributing columnist for The Washington Post, and one of America’s most respected center-left voices—told them they were right. Explicitly linking the president-elect to European fascism and Nazism of the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, Kinsley maintained (https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/donald-trump-is-actually-a-fascist/2016/12/09/e193a2b6-bd77-11e6-94ac-3d324840106c_story.html?utm_term=.d7741377d6c0) that “Donald Trump is a fascist” because he “sincerely believes that the toxic combination of strong government and strong corporations should run the nation and the world.” Kinsley appeared not to notice that his vague definition easily embraced the party and the president who teamed up with insurance companies in 2010 to ram through the Affordable Care Act over the united, and still ardent, opposition of Trump’s political party.
To qualify as fascism, governing ideas and conduct would have to include (https://www.britannica.com/topic/fascism) a militarily aggressive and expansive nationalism, disdain for liberal democracy, commitment to embodying natural hierarchies in law, and subordination of individuals to the collective good.
Trump fails every prong of this test. He has expressed a determination to scale back America’s role in the world, not mobilize. He wants to subject immigration and visitation to the rule of law, not to rule over other people. Far from disdaining liberal democracy, Trump distinguished himself by bringing his case to the people and taking their legitimate concerns seriously; and while he has lashed out at adverse judicial judgments, he has obeyed them without hesitation. Trump ran against elites and he appointed successful men and women to his Cabinet to assist in dismantling the sweeping and intrusive regulation through which Washington elites seek to govern. Instead of subordinating individuals to collective goals, President Trump intends to make America great again by releasing the people from government tutelage to pursue their private interests.
These are just snips. Read the entire article for context.