So I see the term fascist being thrown around against conservatives frequently on sites like Reddit and I just chalk it up to people on sites like that not really knowing what the term means.
HN to me is different. I fully expect people to understand and mean what they say here.
So I'd like to know from a fellow HNer what exactly do you mean by calling "these" people fascists and who exactly are these fascists? Do you literally believe these people whoever they may be are actual textbook definition fascists? If so, why?
It's a strange hyperbole isn't it. Same as when people are accused of being "hateful" and "spreading hate" just for voicing a dissenting opinion on some controversial topics, without any hate involved at all.
There are literal fascists within the alt-right, and the conservatives as a whole have failed to distance themselves sufficiently from them.
“If there's a Nazi at the table and 10 other people sitting there talking to him, you got a table with 11 Nazis.”
Nick Fuentes is a fascist. He has complimented Hitler and Putin - even saying the media comparing Putin to Hitler “as if that wasn't a good thing.” He holds a variety of other repugnant views which are tightly associated with fascism and Nazis.
When Ye and Nick Fuentes (an actual fascist) have dinner with a leader of a party, and that party didn’t immediately abandon that leader, they all qualify under the 11 Nazi’s category. See also: no abandonment or even major pushback against the leader saying “very fine people” were chanting “blood and soil” at Charlottesville etc.
[edit] also in the context of social media moderation, most people moderated hold extreme views, so when talking about conservatives who have been moderated, they are more likely to be fascist. Same as how of moderated left users, they are more likely to be Stalinist’s or other extreme groups when compared to the left population as a whole.
The difference is, sometimes when conservatives have complained about moderation, the examples given were of prominent alt-right fascist adjacent figures being banned. Christian Nationalists and White Nationalists are fundamentally fascists, but some of them are defended in cultural wars by a good chunk of conservative voices. E.g. Alex Jones received conservative op-Ed’s in his support when he lost a lawsuit.
The Nazis went from a fringe political movement to a solid minority voice (with 20% of the seats and about 33% of the vote). Then came the Reichstag Fire and heavy repression of opposition - getting them to 44% of votes in a “free” election. And then came the Enabling Act and there were no more votes.
What this saying means ultimately is that enabling fascism via silence makes people anti-democratic. It does not take many people passively sitting out of the way for authoritarian regimes to take power - and they are only removed by the bullet box not the ballot box.
I will note I can’t find the providence for this saying actually existing in post WW2 Germany and it is likely a modern invention. It is nonetheless a true sentiment of some of the soul searching German and other fascist ruled societies made after WW2.
> a political philosophy, movement, or regime (such as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition.
Lets take Trump, since you asked for a specific example. Certainly this criteria applies to Trumpists be definition, libs of TT, etc:
[x] America first (nationalism)
[x] Attempts to discredit elections and strong arm state officials (centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader)
[x] Build the wall (severe economic and social regimentation, racist)
[x] Muslim ban (severe economic and social regimentation, racist)
[x] Undermining the free press (forcible suppression of opposition)
[x] January 6th (forcible suppression of opposition)
[x] Telling the Proud Boys to "stand back and stand by...Somebody's got to do something about antifa and the left" (forcible suppression of opposition, racist)
Pretty hyperbolic. When I think of a dictatorial leader, Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Pol Pot, NK's Kims, Putin come to mind.[0]
Did Trump (or any US leadership past or present) wield that kind of violent and absolute power over government and people?
> severe economic and social regimentation
Again, I think of NK, China's treatment of Uighurs, their Covid lockdown policy, etc.
The left and right have different ideas on what is good for the nation and they have some commonalities too. I think this is healthy. What's not healthy is demonizing the other side because of different perspectives and beliefs.
Ironically, this demonizing of other groups is actually more akin to fascism (not calling anyone fascist, just pointing out the irony in this case) as that is the strategy used against the opposition by real fascists. E.g. Hitler towards Jews.
On Reddit, the language used against anyone not aligning with the Left is downright scary and dehumanizing. [1]
[0] Dictator: a ruler with total power over a country, typically one who has obtained control by force.
HN to me is different. I fully expect people to understand and mean what they say here.
So I'd like to know from a fellow HNer what exactly do you mean by calling "these" people fascists and who exactly are these fascists? Do you literally believe these people whoever they may be are actual textbook definition fascists? If so, why?