The F-word is, unfortunately, appropriate. (Not that F-word. I’m referring to fascism.)
A recent Substack reported the findings of a historian who spent 30 Years Interviewing Nazis. He Identified twelve warning signs of fascism–all of which are present right now in Trump’s America.
Laurence Rees has published The Nazi Mind: Twelve Warnings from History, identifying twelve warning signs– twelve psychological and political conditions– that had allowed a cultured, democratic nation to descend into fascism and genocide.
The first condition was the prevalence of conspiracy theories. Rees contends that conspiracies are the foundation on which every other element of fascism is built. In Germany, it was the “stab in the back” myth, the insistence that Germany’s army had been betrayed by politicians and Jews. In Trump’s America, conspiracy theories are practically a governing philosophy. They include claims that the 2020 election was stolen, that COVID death counts were fabricated, that immigrants are “poisoning the blood” of the country, that the “deep state” has targeted him personally…not to mention QAnon…
The second was the growth of “us versus them” thinking–what Americans call identity politics. Nazis divided the world into Aryans and Jews, Germans and enemies. Christian nationalists divide us into “real Americans” (White straight male “Christians”) and everyone else.
Third, fascism requires a leader who is a hero figure, a “singular person who alone can rescue the nation.” The cult of personality was a structural requirement. Until very recently, the GOP cult has exalted Trump as such a figure; we can only hope that his recent, increasingly demented actions are beginning to break through that image.
Four, the corruption of youth. In Germany, it was Hitler Youth– a movement to indoctrinate the young before they could develop intellectual defenses. We have Trump’s efforts to whitewash history, defund public education, attack universities, reject science, and elevate Turning Point.
Five, the embrace of violence. I need not elaborate, other than to note that Trump pardoned every January 6 defendant on his first day back in office. And then there’s ICE…
Six, elite complicity. In Germany, the political and financial elites thought that they could control Hitler. In today’s America, along with the billionaires who bribe the administration to pad their bottom lines, there are the Republican members of Congress–people who swore oaths to defend the Constitution– actively supporting the administration’s “defiance of court orders, its attacks on judges, and its purges of government employees,” trading their constitutional obligations for political survival.
Seven, suppression of free speech and the press. Need I elaborate? Trump has waged the most aggressive assault on press freedom in modern American history. The essay documents 76 federal actions against journalists, 13 lawsuits filed by media organizations, 215 anti-media posts by Trump on social media, and 170 reported assaults on journalists in the United States in 2025 alone, 160 of them at the hands of law enforcement. Trump cut funding to NPR and PBS, and his FCC has opened investigations into ABC, NBC, and CBS. Voice of America, Radio Free Europe, and Radio Free Asia have been gutted. Etc.
Eight, purging opponents. The Nazis systematically eliminated anyone who threatened the leader’s power. Rees says this is a core feature of the fascist state. In addition to the trumped-up (pun intended) prosecutions of Trump “enemies,” he has fired inspector generals, decimated the federal civil service, and turned the once-independent DOJ into an obedient lapdog.
Nine, extinguishing the rule of law. That includes appointment of corrupt judges. I need not elaborate…
Ten, a perpetual search for enemies. Hitler understood that bonding people together requires giving them someone to hate. If the leader lacks enemies, he must create them. Immigrants are Trump’s primary enemies, and he uses white supremacist language that echoes Hitler’s. Human Rights Watch documents racial and ethnic scapegoating as a “defining characteristic” of Trump’s second term. Of course, there are other enemies–Federal judges who rule against him, media outlets that report critically, Democratic “traitors”, “deep state” operatives…
Eleven, the escalation of racism. Making bigotry more acceptable, little by little. In Germany, by the time the killing began, the victims had been dehumanized through years of incremental escalation. The Trump administration’s attacks on DEI, on immigrants of color, on Muslims, on transgender Americans–its executive orders normalizing attacks that would have been unthinkable not long ago–follow that blueprint.
Finally, twelve: Killing at a distance and mechanisms of mass harm. “Gas chambers replaced face to face executions. Bureaucratic language replaced honest descriptions of murder. The system was designed so that no single person felt fully responsible for the outcome.” In Trump’s America, we have deportation flights carrying people elsewhere. Strikes on boats in international waters. Executive orders revoking legal status for entire categories of people. Distant–and effective.
Read the whole thing.
Rees may have to add more after Trump is through. As I’ve read in several posts and podcasts, the goal is to replace Trump with Vance. The most recent Turning Point USA event featuring JD Vance was a complete bust. I don’t think they filled 25% of the arena.
I hope I can remember where I saw a quote from a politician (Nazi) about Club America but the point is to scare the shit out of leftwing students going school. This program has to be blocked in every Red State because it’s the Hitler Youth program that will cause a future Civil War.
From my journalist perch, CBS and Trump are buddies now. The first interview after Charlie was executed, Erika went to be interviewed by Bari Weiss. Bari said this was an “open and shut” case against Tyler. She got another stripe from her Zionist leaders.
The red states are literally building black boxes around their government. The press will not get past the gatekeepers. Freedom of Information Act is now a joke. Anybody who questions the government’s version of events is a “conspiracy theorist. If you don’t their lies, you’re an enemy of the state.
Propaganda is huge in the fascist city, county, state, and federal government. “Don’t believe your lying eyes, believe us.”
Smart people were saying the US had become a closed society a decade ago. It’s full fascism now, and will head quickly into what looks more like a Politburo, but not with Trump. It will be with Vance and Ohio may become the epicenter of what the Politburo wants.
We watched Nuremberg this weekend. It can happen here.
I left the GOP when trump won the NH primary is early 2016. I was headed out the door a couple years before than, but kept hoping the obvious fascistic bent was “fringe” or temporary. Those denying the republican party under trump is fascist are either unaware of what fascism is ( as they are communism, Marxism, etc) or lying.
In case you want more information regarding the t*ump/MAGA administration as a fascist regime, read “On Fascism” by Timothy Snyder. MAGA checks every box, in order, with warnings for Americans and our institutions. “Do Not Obey In Advance” in particular, referring not only to branches of our government (ie Congress and SCOTUS), but for institutions such as law firms, universities, and individuals.
Another excelent source of knowledge is the podcast “On Autocracy” by Anne Applebaum via the Atlantic.
Both Applebaum and Snyder have studied Fascism extensively and Applebaum lived in a country as it devolved from a democracy to an authoritarian state. Both are worth your time.
Case in point in Red States, they are all pushing Club America and now they are introducing “Charlie Kirk Acts.” Keep an eye on Braun closely. They want emphasize our Judeo-Christian roots in our government formation. Can’t wait to read what’s in these laws, but this is TPUSA now, and the Red States are using the death of Charlie as a catalyst. These are the wishes of the Billionaire Zionist donors to TPUSA like Bill Ackman. While they may be able to hide the curriculum from the people, their laws are different. Watch very closely what they are passing in each of these states.
https://apnews.com/article/charlie-kirk-laws-free-speech-1ef2e977c5cec05c8b521c38dce57443?
Point 4: “Corruption of youth….before they could develop intellectual defenses.” And what about non-youth Trump supporters who should have developed intellectual defenses? Still a mystery.
Point 6: Republican members of Congress who are complicit. Think Todd Young, and remember him when he’s up for re-election. TODD YOUNG: VOTE NO!!!
Scary stuff! Maybe the war with Iran will be his Waterloo.
“The first condition was the prevalence of conspiracy theories. Rees contends that conspiracies are the foundation on which every other element of fascism is built.”
I recently received an extremely questionable E-mail; I’m paranoid to the point that I won’t print the complete E-mail address source but why I find it questionable. You may tell me if you believe I am paranoid; I have been in the past. An ad claiming to be related to my ssa; sender names will not be in order, sgraziano separated by @ to sanford and hawley and .com. It was dated in March and contained an option to connect me to my ssa; I deleted then permanently deleted the post originally because of the name hawley. I googled sgraziano and found a restauranater who supplied Epstein with young girl victims; googled sanfordandhawley listed as suppliers of building materials but didn’t Google hawley any further. Last Tuesday, April 14, the the entire E-mail, still with the March date, reappeared on my E-mail list. I SPAMED it, deleted and permanently deleted it and am keeping my fingers crossed.
I have been unable to access my SS account since Trump’s inauguration; a few weeks ago received an new SS Statement to contact with the same results. My paranoia is evident in the fact that I am afraid to print out the full SS account or statement…lol Does this sound like a possible conspiracy part of “The Fascist Playlist”?
I have seen many articles that portray ICE as our version of the Gestapo in Germany. I don’t think that is correct. The Gestapo was a military unit run by and for and filled with sociopaths. It was well organized and trained. In my opinion ICE is comparable to the Brown Shirts, a volunteer organization, full of rage, untrained, and unemployable. The only difference between ICE and the Brown Shirts is that ICE gets paid to beat people up and kill them.
JoAnn,
Social Security will never contact you via email. Have you established a “Login.gov” account to access your Social Security account? If you go online to access your account, you’ll probably be shown several choices. If it isn’t a .gov url, don’t go there.
Peggy; of course that is the site I used on all attempts to access the original account I set up under President Biden, I have had no reason to access the account till the order came after Trump’s inauguration. The SS Statement came under Trump’s administration telling me to cancel the account I cannot access to read or to cancel. The same lack of access under Trump’s New SS Statement post. My friend in California has the same problem which she and her bank discovered after someone accessed her SS Account and shut down her bank account for two months. Her bank ended her automatic payments and informed her there was no access for her SS checks or other deposits. SS set up an appointment for her but as of last week she was still waiting for her bank statement to come in the mail as she is also blocked from banking on line. We are no longer living in the real world we once inhabited and could run our own lives. We are in dangerous financial situations no matter our economic level.
EDU. mmmm, didnt teach much about the why? how WW2 started. make the noise and war machine take foreward lead. (in technicolor)instead of why? i remember the vets of WW2 in park playing checkers and in full blown discussion about,why. amazing how our democrcy has survived until now. we the people who follow the magats march,they seem like a buncha spoiled kids who flaunt a gun. how many died defending this way of life. and whos gonna be the hypocrite who shits on those graves of those who gave all. theres a dislike from me to those who stand at the parade ground waving red white and blue while they spit on our country. the divide is wide,and running through it is a sludge of neglect. failure to focus on what we,the America most of the world came to respect in defense of their own democray. theres only one. and we have watched it flake off like dried paint on a old sun bleached wall. the military today seems more like a mercinary faction for bibi and the saudis. trumps demon seeds are making war for profit. and will set the landscape for those only privleged to walk it. ice will be the brown shirts,to gestapo. watching DW.com and euro news. read the other side holding their breath. putin is massing nuces into bellarus. thanks to Hungry to recognize the facist tide and turn it. hopefully its a domino affect. Italy and few others are making noise to avoid more hostilities with near by neighbors,thempope id finally taking sides,and speaking out about,who…maybe vance will turn on
trump. maybe the warmongers derelict of duty republicans will turn over.if the billionaires want that.
What should one say about Democrats embracing conspiracy stories about Israel, Wouldn’t that also be a symptom of fascism.
The trump fascist regime implementation of control tactics is accurate but not totally effective yet. We are not in a totalitarian state and still have the capacity to think, though it’s not always good to believe everything you think. Sometimes were wrong and running those thoughts through the democratic wash cycle helps clarify what is. Rocking the boat and creating uncertainty and chaos is a fascist strategy to quell and control the opposition. We still have freedom to think, speak out and protest and the big one, voting, is still on the table.
Something that’s different than WWll is that the current Pope has an American background and the perspective of learning from history. It’s interesting to see two authoritarian men with different agendas battling it out in public media for influence over the masses. Good versus Evil? Public admonishment of evil from a world voice is helpful.
The step that worries me the most is trump’s attempts to take over the Federal Reserve and the Central Bank, that would be the crown jewel for him. I would hope Congress and the Supreme court would assert their power to protect the currency that runs through the US, but I’m not counting on it.