Andy here, speaking only for myself, with a few reflections on the past week. Admittedly, I had not taken the comparisons between Trump and "fascism" too seriously, but Wednesday was a bit of a wake-up call. I'm not saying I didn’t know “this is who Trump is!”
Thanks for thinking so deeply on this! I definitely agree on the concerning calls for additional policing and concern around the copious usage of "traitor", "terrorist", etc. I've always been uncomfortable with the language of "terrorist", but you really captured it so succinctly - it's just a racialized way to designate a group as legitimate targets of state violence.
That said, I don't think what we're seeing today can really be boiled down to economic interests and some sort of "capitalist bourgeois - fascist" alliance. I definitely think all of the actors in the violence are acting in their own self interest, but rather than economic interest, I think they're acting to preserve their own racial status first and foremost. In any case, "business elites" don't act as a uniform bloc, especially not about racial issues. Trying to argue that "capital is on the side of the fascists" ignores that, at the core, what we're seeing are two starkly different visions of who deserves to hold status and power in America - what race are they? Are they immigrants? Are they educated? These are all independent attributes from capital ownership.
take seriously the idea that fascism is a pro-business movement “wearing a popular mask.”... except when the pro-business movement adopts leftist language and claims to have leftist goals? And when big tech conspires to censor dissenting voices?
I kinda feel that 'ideology' is blinding you from seeing that this was a peasant revolt, and the *actual fascists* are now seizing power using leftist language, which you're helping with. Ideology is a real trip huh.
Thanks for thinking so deeply on this! I definitely agree on the concerning calls for additional policing and concern around the copious usage of "traitor", "terrorist", etc. I've always been uncomfortable with the language of "terrorist", but you really captured it so succinctly - it's just a racialized way to designate a group as legitimate targets of state violence.
That said, I don't think what we're seeing today can really be boiled down to economic interests and some sort of "capitalist bourgeois - fascist" alliance. I definitely think all of the actors in the violence are acting in their own self interest, but rather than economic interest, I think they're acting to preserve their own racial status first and foremost. In any case, "business elites" don't act as a uniform bloc, especially not about racial issues. Trying to argue that "capital is on the side of the fascists" ignores that, at the core, what we're seeing are two starkly different visions of who deserves to hold status and power in America - what race are they? Are they immigrants? Are they educated? These are all independent attributes from capital ownership.
take seriously the idea that fascism is a pro-business movement “wearing a popular mask.”... except when the pro-business movement adopts leftist language and claims to have leftist goals? And when big tech conspires to censor dissenting voices?
I kinda feel that 'ideology' is blinding you from seeing that this was a peasant revolt, and the *actual fascists* are now seizing power using leftist language, which you're helping with. Ideology is a real trip huh.