The term “fascist” is famously lacking in a definition that can account for usage. Long ago George Orwell wrote: “I have heard it applied to farmers, shopkeepers, Social Credit, corporal punishment, fox-hunting, bull-fighting, the 1922 Committee, the 1941 Committee, Kipling, Gandhi, Chiang Kai-Shek, homosexuality, Priestley's broadcasts, Youth Hostels, astrology, women, dogs and I do not know what else.” The confusion probably stems from the Russian communist's open policy, after their revolution, of characterizing any opposition to communism as “fascism.”
There should be general agreement that fascism is closely related to statism. As Mussolini said: “All within the state, nothing outside the state, nothing against the state.” But this doesn’t help in characterizing Donald Trump.
In America it seems clear that the Republican party and Donald Trump are anti-statist -- pledged to reduce government regulation, reduce taxes, and reduce the role of the state. And under Trump, unlike his predecessors, they actually take steps in that direction. And yet many educated people who are aware of history continue to refer to Donald Trump and the Republicans as fascist. There must be something to it beyond anti-communism. But no one contends that Republicans are antisemitic, and Trump, at least, seems to be fanatical about avoiding military conflict.
So what element of fascism applies to Trump and some Republicans? I think it relates to nationalism -- “America First.” Looking for a similarity between Trump and Hitler, there is this: Hitler loved the German people. His biggest mistake may have been not loving those German people who were Jewish yet identified strongly as German. But perhaps that was necessary for his rise to power. Still, apart from Jews, he certainly thought that Germans were terrific -- a Master Race, in fact. Mussolini’s fantasy was that the 20th century Italians were the worthy heirs of the Roman Empire.
The Russian commies hated the Russian people; they conceived of themselves as “international socialists,” leaders of a movement to which national identity was irrelevant. Of course, Stalin wasn’t a Russian, and the commies who seized power in 1917 included very many Jews in top positions, who had good reason to despise Russians.
The American elite of the 21st century, unlike the elite of just a few decades ago, despise the American people, whom they think of as “deplorables.” Despite elite control of the media, the entertainment industry, the education establishment from grade school through university, along with substantial elements in both political parties, more than half of the population voted for Trump. This has certainly increased the contempt of the educated elite for the people.
Trump obviously does not despise the American people. (Nor does he believe that European civilization has been a disaster for the world.) Trump may be a rich man, but his behavior is often familiar to working class people -- deplorables. Black and Hispanic Americans have been patronized by the elite, but no one thinks the elites like or respect these groups on whose votes they have depended, especially when their political preferences diverge from the elite. Trump does seem to like them, and they appreciate it. The elites despise masculinity, which Trump embodies and praises. The deplorables have more need of masculinity and appreciate it more.
When the Democrat establishment, and the elites behind them, seek ways to appeal to the people, they are handicapped by their difficulty in disguising their contempt. One evil woman used the term “deplorables,” but how many spoke out to condemn her choice of terms, other than those whom she intended to include? And what sort of understanding of men can we attribute to those who chose Tim Walz as an embodiment of masculinity?
Hitler and Trump: both leaders are similar only because they did not despise the people they wished to lead. Despite enormous differences in political programs as well as in family background, life experience, and personal behavior, they do have something in common that distinguishes them from the commies and the elite class in America. Probably this similarity is not recognized by those who call Trump “Hitler,” but what else do they have?
Image: AT via Magic Studio