Fascism resembles heroin. At first those tempted by the drug seem to enjoy the experience. Then the horrible reality begins to hit and the whole experience gets exposed for what it is: a shallow and squalid indulgence that ends very badly.
Fascism: brief high … inevitable crash
Watched with the benefit of hindsight, the Nuremberg rallies carry the chill of great evil. I suspect the participants thoroughly enjoyed themselves at the time. It is fun to be part of a great crowd, to feel that you are all working together in a common purpose, and to listen to a powerful speaker voicing new ideas. It is a lot less fun to be stuck on the Eastern front in the cold watching young men shot and waiting to see when it will be your turn, or to sit at home waiting for the letter from officialdom commiserating with you for your loss.
Those enthusiasts for making Germany great who were thrilled by Hitler’s exciting rhetoric ended up witnessing the total defeat of their country and widespread destruction of its homes and cities. They then had to explain to their children why they stayed silent whilst the death camps operated. Many of those children ended up completely shocked and horrified to discover that parents who they loved dearly could have contributed in any way to such appalling events.
Because of the particular horror surrounding the Nazis’ meticulous demonisation and industrial slaughter of Jewish and Roma communities, it is never a great idea to make casual accusations about the actions of modern politicians resembling fascism. I’ve always tried very hard to resist doing that. But present-day echoes of the early stages of 20th-century fascism seem so clear now that it is no longer realistic to downplay the risks of that terrible period of history being repeated. Much of what is happening before our very eyes bears a close, chilling similarity to events in Germany in the 1930s.
Chilling similarities to the 1930s – a checklist
Mass participation in rallies where a charismatic leader whips up enthusiasm for the nation? Check. Increasingly aggressive attempts to control or suppress voices of dissent? Check. Preference for outright lies over scientific fact? Check. Demonisation of outsiders? Check. Promoting the idea that a woman’s place is to be a compliant bearer of children? Check.
Contempt for those who defend the rule of law, genuine free speech and the results of fair elections that don’t go the way you want? Check. Aggressive ambitions to seize and control the resources of other countries? Check. Respect for dictators who have complete control over compliant populations? Check. Willingness to disregard the rights of or even to dismember ‘small’ countries in order to get your own way? Check.
Springtime for Trump?
At the moment President Donald Trump is enjoying a honeymoon period at home as he surrounds himself with acolytes who share his warped ideas about what constitutes the best interests of greater America. All those macho noises about turning Gaza into a Riviera, denying abortions to women who desperately need them and making the Ukraine supply dirt cheap minerals to the one great power are going down a storm in some quarters.
Opportunities for the people of the States to hear alternative points of view about the likely consequences get fewer by the day. Scientific institutions that publish facts that Trump doesn’t want to accept are being closed down by Elon Musk at an astonishing rate. Anyone who raises their voice risks being aggressively demonised and losing their job.
Those who promote these actions repeat with great frequency the claim that they will Make America Great Again. Just as those who try and sell heroin to young people tell them it will be a cool experience and a bit of harmless fun.
The reality – Trump’s policies weaken an already weak America
The truth is that these are not the actions of a powerful country that is secure in its position in the world and confident that it can out compete against other nations via the quality of its technology, the brilliance of its scientific minds and the skills of its workforce. They are the product of weakness. They are an expression of the fear that the US is losing its dominant position in the global economy and becoming weaker.
The US has the largest trade deficit of any country and truly astonishing levels of debt. Imposing tariffs to shut out foreign competition won’t cure that. It will simply guarantee that US industry is less efficient than the international competitors that are taxed out of selling into its markets. It will drive up the cost of components used by American manufacturers and increase prices in the shops. Raising the price of imported goods and disrupting businesses also pushes up inflation and costs jobs.
All those sacked government workers who were supposedly wasting money end up unemployed and that damages the economy further. Many of their jobs were of critical importance and won’t stop being so because Elon Musk thinks differently. A few more rockets being sent in the direction of Mars and a few pence off the price of ‘gas’ is unlikely to compensate for higher prices in the shops and factories laying off workers because other countries are imposing retaliatory tariffs.
Economically crazy far-right political theories end up causing huge damage, as the world should have learned after the 2008 crash (a catastrophe triggered by Reagan and Thatcher’s deregulation of finance), and as the British should have learned from Liz Truss.
Other countries won’t just stand by and watch
On the world stage Trump’s antics are putting a lot of world leaders onto the backfoot as they try to figure out how a great democratic country with a strong tradition of free speech and scientific enquiry could allow itself to become captured by people who prefer their own fantasy politics to reality. That won’t last.
It is only a matter of time before nations recognise the danger of having a deeply deluded man trying to boss everyone else around and begin to organise an effective fight back. Instead of being the moment when America stepped up and reclaimed its rightful place as the one true global power, it is in truth the last desperate attempt of US reactionaries to cling onto an era that has passed.
The USA is one country amongst many. It is not even the sole global superpower. China is every bit as influential. We are living in a world where many different nations are capable of producing products and services that can compete very well with what is produced in the States. Few of those countries are going to stand idly by for any length of time and allow themselves to be steamrollered by a deluded bully.
Trump risks leaving the US weaker, poorer and friendless, and its citizens coping with inefficient businesses shut out from key markets whilst prices rise. It is not impossible that that will drive the country further down the rabbit hole of extreme nationalism, sexism and loss of respect for truth and freedom. It is also not impossible that enough people will wise up to what is happening before it is too late.
When the drug starts to do its damage there is really only one solution: dump your dealer, stop taking the drug, and stop deluding yourself. Before it is too late.
