Context
I do find that FB discussions of politics frequently motivates me to cross the line from posting to outright blogging. This happened again in respect of events occurring in Texas and North Carolina.
Content
In response to my comments on the previously mentioned events, I received the following query:
Mr. Rush, care to define fascism in your own words and not just as an NPC utterance or a link to some other uninformed site?
Comment
Most people who want to play definition games are looking for a way to weasel out of something that they know is indefensible, so no, I don't really care to play that kind of game with you. However, on the off chance that you're simply asking for my qualification to have a political opinion - beyond the fact that as an American citizen, I am eminently qualified to have whatever opinion I want about US politics and how the Republican Party (who I used to support) has sold their soul to an Evangelical Devil and his racist hordes, I will answer your question.
Note that the definition of Fascism is not precise in the way that I would prefer as an applied semantician, but it is certainly sufficient for identifying latter-day political sympathies and the actions resulting from Fascism's underlying philosophical conceits.
At the root Fascism is the preference for Law over Justice. The word itself is generally thought to derive from the Roman "fasces" which was a bundle of sticks that signified the power of judgement held by a magistrate. I am personally of the opinion that its deeper origin was connected to the actual execution of punishments by beating, but there is little direct evidence for that. In it's modern usage, the symbolism of the fasces is also said to indicate strength through unity.
Which brings us to the second major theme of Fascism: the violent suppression of dissent. And for some people this is the sole defining feature of Fascism, but, as mentioned earlier, it is much more than this alone. Nevertheless Fascism is marked by violence as a prominent methodology for political change.
When violence is used to suppress Justice, the Law is generally twisted in order to make it look like Justice. This is a subjective judgement that invariably favors groups with high social status and/or populist power. Fascists then seek to expand their justification through expansion of the Law in ways that specifically sanction violence against disempowered minorities.
The modern usage of the term "Fascist" has come to be almost indelibly associated with Nazi Germany and their racist persecutions. While most people would also consider Racism to be a defining attribute of Fascism, I consider it only to be a particular preference of 21st century alt-right Fascists. The Racist/Fascist combination is particularly toxic and leads inexorably to the understanding of Genocide as the only way to cleanse the State of its Corruption. In my opinion, one can be a Racist without being a Fascist (which was common during the Civil Rights era in which I grew up), just as one can be a Fascist without being a Racist (e.g. the Koch brothers and their friends in the modern Corporate Plutocracy). The Trumpistanis bring both of these groups together in the Racist *and* Fascist rhetoric of their Glorious Leader, Fuckface von Clownstick.
That's Donald Trump, in case you didn't Spot The Reference.
Conclusion
At the root Fascism is the preference for Law over Justice. And so, the election in 2020 has become about just one thing: Repudiating Fascism. If you think it's about anything else, then you are ignoring what is actually happening in America on behalf of your favorite cause. Stop it.
Vote for Biden.
And Vote your opposition to everyone who has supported Trump and everyone who has silently enabled him. This is the only choices available if you still consider the purpose of American government is
to form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity