First, to address some inevitable comments regarding Democrats:

Democrats are far from perfect and no one is claiming they are. This isn’t even about Democrats’ policies, effectiveness or anything else. When it comes to Democrats in this situation, it boils down to what they are not.

For all their many, many flaws and problems, Democrats are not a party captured by and largely driven by extremism. Democrats have not demonstrated they pose a clear – and increasing – threat to the country's democratic systems and status as an open society.

This is about what today's Republicans and the larger movement on the right are. They are a movement in which extremist elements are becoming increasingly bold and prominent in driving the movement. They have demonstrated a willingness to disregard democratic norms, excuse law-breaking and violence and even promote and commit violence and law-breaking themselves in support of their clearly stated goals.

In the face of this, muddying the waters and indulging in the “both sides are equally bad” trope and knee-jerk contrarianism is not only incorrect and factually wrong – it’s reckless. Accepting and treating the things coming from the right today as normal is incredibly dangerous. It’s not even close to normal – it’s terrifying.

These lazy platitudes and denial about the threat posed by such movements are a reoccurring theme in how they eventually come to power.

FASCISM AND EXTREMISM AMONG REPUBLICANS & THE RIGHT-WING MOVEMENT

There’s no question that “fascism” and “fascist” are incredibly loaded terms that are thrown around way too much and often by those who have no idea what they actually mean. But what about when it's not hyperbole?

Regardless of whether they and others acknowledge it, the modern Republican Party is clearly embracing and deploying many textbook tenets of fascism.

To be clear: Fascism is not just another word for authoritarian or vague, general oppression. While fascist movements and regimes are largely authoritarian, most authoritarian movements/regimes are not fascist.

Fascism involves the following core elements coming together (sources linked at the bottom):

• Celebration of and pre-occupation with a mythic, idealized past: There was once a time when the country and its society was at its peak and everything was more closely aligned with how it is "supposed" to be.

  • To fascists, society has since strayed far from that idealized, mythic past (something most often blamed on the left/progressivism).

  • A key aspect of a fascist movement is the battle to return society to that mythic ideal.

• Pre-occupation with tradition and traditional hierarchy: Modernity and progressive values and behavior, along with openness to multiculturalism and feminism, has ruined society and tarnished the country's core "true" identity. Fascism calls for a return to traditional behavior, values, culture and morality.

  • This includes a deeply set hierarchy aligned with what's existed throughout history: Where men of a certain stock are once again the main drivers of society and culture. Others take their "natural" place further down the hierarchy.

• Deep nationalism and "othering" of designated out-groups: The country's inherent greatness stems from its traditional or "original" culture, people, values and hierarchy. The nation is the greatest on Earth and there are strict definitions on who are true members of that nation. Any form of immigration -- especially from countries with different ethnic, religious backgrounds -- dilutes the nation's culture and (therefore) its greatness.

  • There are clearly defined in-groups (those who align with the nation's traditional "true"’ national culture and beliefs, along with fascists' political beliefs) and out-groups (those of different cultures, beliefs and values).

• Pre-occupation with a battle against out-groups depicted as posing an existential, apocalyptic threat to the nation and its society: A key mobilizer for fascists is a righteous battle against out-groups depicted as viciously wanting to destroy tradition and the clearly defined hierarchy and values they hold dear. Since the stakes of this battle are set so high, nearly every action, tactic or approach can be justified, tolerated and excused in efforts to defeat this enemy and keep them from power.

  • Some common out-groups for fascists:

    • Progressives (often given blanket label of Communist, whether it's accurate or not): Always identified by fascists as one of these enemies – and the Communist label is often given indiscriminately to the wider progressive movement and those who disagree with the fascists.

    • People expressing/supporting non-traditional gender identity and sexuality

    • Intellectuals and academic experts

    • Certain religions and ethnic groups that are not part of the traditional, clearly defined in-group

• Obsession with strength, disdain for weakness and view of most everything as a zero-sum game (ie: if one side gains something, then another side loses something): For fascists, power and righteousness stem from strength (and accompanying violence, if need be). Strength is needed to restore the proper state of society and stamp out any impediments to this essential work.

  • Tolerance of others, openness/embrace of differences/multiculturalism or overtly intellectual/nuanced beliefs and actions are seen as weakness. Progressivism is seen as weakness personified.

It’s hard to miss the prominence and presence of these things in today’s political right. Given that, is it not justified to use the term fascism, if it aligns?

That's not to say that the right's embrace of fascism is a deliberate, conscious thing. They'd never identify as fascists and it's not like they studied fascism and are purposefully emulating it.

It seems more that fascism’s tenets and worldview tend to become popular and appealing to people when a nation is faced with a certain set of conditions. Right now, it appears as if that is happening here.

In the face of this – regardless of whether people want to openly name it or acknowledge it as such – recklessly both sides-ing or pretending that what’s coming from the right is normal or fine is incredibly dangerous.

Would love to get your thoughts.

Sources: