When I wrote of Trump's election success, I suggested that we were moving into a post-truth era. That has proven to be accurate. Sadly, what I didn't see was such a strong move towards fascism within the United States itself, covered by political manipulation and half-truths.
Until recently, there was a poster available for sale in the
Washington DC Holocaust Memorial Museum gift shop. Perhaps not surprisingly, it
has been removed from sale. The poster sets out key signs of fascism. It
suggests that fascism is:
- Powerful and continuing nationalism
- Disdain for human rights
- Identification of enemies as a unifying cause
- Supremacy of the military
- Rampant sexism
- Controlled mass media
- Obsession with national security
- Religion and government intertwined
- Corporate power protected
- Labour power suppressed
- Disdain for intellectuals and the arts
- Obsession with crime and punishment
- Rampant cronyism and corruption
- Fraudulent elections
A country that once embodied the values of democracy has
lost its way. I expected that a Trump government in the United States would
cause considerable grief in countries such as Ukraine and Gaza. What I hadn't
expected was a decent into fascism within its own borders.
