This is the inevitable destination for fascism. All roads lead to hate, bile, and death, regardless of the respectful discourse and benign curiosity we may encounter on the journey.
My recent commenter makes this clear:
“The hero ice agent did society a huge favor when he shot that ugly psychotic dyke bitch in the face. What could have been the icing on the cake is if he shot her bull dyke wife in the face as well”
A few days after the November 2024 election, when Trump won again, I posted a screenshot I took myself of Nick Fuentes tweeting, “Your body, my choice. Forever.” I wrote a heated essay telling everyone in my life who voted for Trump that they could make a quiet exit. The same went for people who would be “sitting on the sidelines to see which way the wind blows.”
Needless to say, this was greeted with some colorful responses. My favorite came from a childhood friend: “That is NOT what MAGA is about. That guy and his disgusting tweet is the complete opposite of what you think it’s about.”
But people like Nick Fuentes don’t beat around the bush. He saw that election as a validation of his hatred, and as permission to say it all out loud.
That’s what we’re seeing right now in America.
We’re watching the worst that America has to offer being given permission to flaunt its most bitter poisons out in the open.
Fuentes’s comment, and the one in my image, are the ideology of MAGA and fascism unmasked. They are the inevitable destination at the end of every road these people take.
The words of my commenter today are not an outlier. They are a forecast of where we are going. Today, he feels comfortable saying this out loud in a Facebook comment. Left unchecked, this sentiment becomes state policy tomorrow.
So what can we do about this?
I would submit to you that we’re already doing a lot. By my estimation, this regime already knows it’s on its last legs. They expected the people of the United States to roll over and accept the end of democracy. But we’re not doing that. We’re fighting back, and I believe we are winning.
I’m as frustrated as all of you by the daily onslaught of news. But if I’m being honest, I’m much less concerned now about Trump being successful at anything, than I am concerned with how we allowed ourselves to get here in the first place.
Because I see a lot of people making the same mistakes again already. They are paving the way for all of this to continue longer than necessary, and perhaps even continue with the next guy.
That’s because all roads to fascism end with policies that reflect this guy’s comment.
They are paved with well-meaning people trying to have respectful discourse about it, because most people learned how to recognize fascism only after the damage is complete.
But death is the end result of fascism, not its first move on the board.
It makes rational arguments first. It “asks questions” and gets reasonable people to do the work of bringing early fascistic dialogue into the national discourse.
We have learned to see polite conversation and respectful debate as something to protect at all cost, regardless of the topic.
We see statements of hate for what they are, and rightly reject them (most of us anyway), but when presented as a simple curiosity, or merely a “difference of opinion,” we lose the perspective required to see where that ultimately leads.
Some questions are truly people trying to understand complex topics.
But some questions are are load-bearing beams in a structure that ends in open cruelty. And once that structure is visible, continuing to give credence the beams is no longer innocence. It’s participation.
I’ve seen several people who are “just asking questions.”
I’ve seen people calling for all of us to “discuss this respectfully.”
No.
Politeness, respectfulness, and curiosity are the foundational support fascism uses to complete the structure that supports its true form.
I am asking you to withdraw all legitimacy to people doing this.
