Trump is a fascist.

[alfred russel]

Can't cut and paste where I'm at right now, but he checks off 5 out of 9 of Paxton's passions (he wrote The Anatomy of Fascism).

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2015/11/donald-trump-a-fascist.html

The test is so vague a Soviet Communist could end up with a perfect score under that system.

[Martinus]

I don't think he's a fascist.  I do, however, think that he's consciously appealing to fascists, of which there are a fair number among the right wing in US.  Ultimately, it doesn't matter that much what Trump personally believes, what matters is that he's making fascist sentiment more mainstream, and for that he should burn in hell.

Does it matter? If a populist wins power by appealing to fascists or communists, and then governs in the way his base wishes, does it matter if he personally thinks it's all a crock of shit? That person is still a fascist/communist dictator.

[DGuller]

Can't cut and paste where I'm at right now, but he checks off 5 out of 9 of Paxton's passions (he wrote The Anatomy of Fascism).

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2015/11/donald-trump-a-fascist.html

The test is so vague a Soviet Communist could end up with a perfect score under that system.

Which is not at all absurd.  I have no idea where the concept of communism being an antithesis of fascism came from, but that is the absurd notion.  There are far more similarities than differences between the two systems.

[Martinus]

I love that we first bemoan that the term "fascist" has been so devalued it essentially became meaningless and then proceed to apply the fascism "test" that makes the description essentially meaningless.

Putin, Erdogan, Orban, Kaczynski, Trump all practice (or in Trump's case, preach) some form of jingoistic right wing populism. None of them is fascist (yet).

[Admiral Yi]

When a politician explicitly calls for the state to round up 11 million people, and they call for the state register a religious minority for government surveillance, and they call for protesters to be beaten, what else can you call him?

I don't see how calling for enforcement of existing law makes one a fascist.

[Martinus]

Yeah, seriously. I guess anyone who supports over 2 million of people being locked up currently in the US prisons (as opposed to being let out) is a fascist too.

[Martinus]

If I were an American I would be more worried by the likes of Mike Huckabee or Marco Rubio, who claim that "God's laws" are above "human laws". This is much more dangerous and anti-democratic than calling for a vigorous enforcement of law against people who break it.

[DGuller]

I love that we first bemoan that the term "fascist" has been so devalued it essentially became meaningless and then proceed to apply the fascism "test" that makes the description essentially meaningless.

Putin, Erdogan, Orban, Kaczynski, Trump all practice (or in Trump's case, preach) some form of jingoistic right wing populism. None of them is fascist (yet).

Okay, then why don't you come up with a synonym for "authoritarian" that rolls off the tongue quite as easily as "fascist"?

[DGuller]

If I were an American I would be more worried by the likes of Mike Huckabee or Marco Rubio, who claim that "God's laws" are above "human laws". This is much more dangerous and anti-democratic than calling for a vigorous enforcement of law against people who break it.

It comes from more or less the same mindset.  These people feel like they should not be bound by laws they disagree with, or accept the democratic legitimacy of the president they don't like.

[Martinus]

If I were an American I would be more worried by the likes of Mike Huckabee or Marco Rubio, who claim that "God's laws" are above "human laws". This is much more dangerous and anti-democratic than calling for a vigorous enforcement of law against people who break it.

It comes from more or less the same mindset.  These people feel like they should not be bound by laws they disagree with, or accept the democratic legitimacy of the president they don't like.

What about the mindset where you feel like other people should not be bound by laws you disagree* with? Say, 11 million of other people?

*Mind you, I am not even sure most of those who accuse Trump of fascism and racism for wanting to enforce US immigration laws go as far as to disagree with those laws.

[DGuller]

Well, the problem of illegal immigration is more of a practical problem.  It's not so much that people argue that immigration law doesn't matter, but rather decades of lax enforcement created facts on the ground that cannot be ignored.

[Razgovory]

Can't cut and paste where I'm at right now, but he checks off 5 out of 9 of Paxton's passions (he wrote The Anatomy of Fascism).

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2015/11/donald-trump-a-fascist.html

The test is so vague a Soviet Communist could end up with a perfect score under that system.

Which is not at all absurd.  I have no idea where the concept of communism being an antithesis of fascism came from, but that is the absurd notion.  There are far more similarities than differences between the two systems.

Well, with any luck you'll get to experience both first hand.

[Razgovory]

When a politician explicitly calls for the state to round up 11 million people, and they call for the state register a religious minority for government surveillance, and they call for protesters to be beaten, what else can you call him?

I don't see how calling for enforcement of existing law makes one a fascist.

Trump used Operation Wetback as his model, which result in the deportation of American citizens, and the deaths of many.

[Josquius]

I wonder how much of this stuff he feels strongly about himself and how much he is just saying to appeal to the worst of people (the Republican right) and try and trick his way into government so he can pull some dodgy libertarian bollocks. 

[alfred russel]

Can't cut and paste where I'm at right now, but he checks off 5 out of 9 of Paxton's passions (he wrote The Anatomy of Fascism).

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2015/11/donald-trump-a-fascist.html

The test is so vague a Soviet Communist could end up with a perfect score under that system.

Which is not at all absurd.  I have no idea where the concept of communism being an antithesis of fascism came from, but that is the absurd notion.  There are far more similarities than differences between the two systems.

It is absurd. There may be lots of similarities between the systems in practice and they may not be the antithesis of each other, but communism is not a synonym for fascism.