I think we have to bow to TangoXrayActual's age here and agree that these right-wingers have always been there. The difference is that the Internet and social media have given them an unprecedented new platform to spread their lies on.
And this is nothing new either. In Nazi Germany Hitler used a private plane to be able to appear in up to 10 or 12 rallies a day during his political campaigns in the 30's and once in power he made sure every German home could buy a cheap "Peoples radio" (that of course was pre-set to only German radio) so everyone could be reached by his propaganda.
The far-right have always been quick to use any new technical innovation to spread their propaganda.
But that said I still would differentiate between actual fascists and the Republican party.
Actual fascists have a set ideology that amongst other things praises the nation, the use of military force to reach the nations goals and they are willing to make actual sacrifices to build their ideal nation state.
The American Republicans are actually devoid of all such ideology. They pay lip service to the nation but they are not willing to make any sacrifice what so ever to strengthen it. They will gladly support the use of military force - as long as their sons or daughters are safe far behind any front lines and the expenses for any wars are not bourn by themselves in any way.
This is not fascism - and real fascists know this and they despise the "ordinary" right for their unwillingness to commit to the CAUSE that for real fascist is everything.
But they are happy to use the ordinary political right to gain power and that is always how the far right have come to power - with the support of the ordinary political right who always believe they can control the fascist and use their populism to achieve their own financial goals which are much more limited.
Because the ordinary political right don't have any further goals then to rig the financial system of the nation to benefit themselves and their donors. The accumulation of personal wealth is the only thing the ordinary right actually believes in or cares about - everything else is just window dressing.
They will gladly sow hate and fear against people of colour or Jews or Muslims, LGBT-persons or rail against abortions but they don't actually care about any of these things - it's just a way to get the votes so they can continue to enrich themselves.
The problem is not that the ordinary right is immoral as the fascists, it's that they're completely amoral - that is they lack all moral conviction and are therefore completely OK with seeing fascists come to power - as long as their own financial gain is secured.
Both Mussolini and Hitler was financially supported by rich industrialists and their political representatives in the political right who in them saw dependable pawns they could work with.
They laughed at them and considered them vulgar fools in private, just as the fascists heaped scorn on them in private, but both groups thought they could use the other to benefit themselves.
And in the end they both did - to a point.
While everyone else of course had their lives destroyed by the wars the fascists started when they came to power.
No, I don't believe ordinary Republicans are fascists - they lack any true conviction to that or any ideology. They're simply poisoned by greed.
But they are dangerous because they will gladly accept fascism - as long as they believe it serves their own financial interest.
And history shows that true fascist gladly works with the ordinary right - as long as they need them.
Trump is clearly not a fascist - he lacks any deeply held conviction about anything else then his own overblown ego.
But that's his weak point - he will believe anyone who says what he wants to hear and Steve Bannon knows how to praise him in the right way.
And Bannon might very well be a true fascist - he's clearly espoused fascist views on a number of occasions.
And even if ordinary Republicans haven't embraced him with open arms they're not revolting either. They're willing to accept anything as long as the money keeps rolling into their pockets.
So the question is - how far will Trump be influenced by actual fascist ideology and how much is just window dressing? Will he actually press for a registry for Muslims? Will he ban them from entering the US? Will he try to crack down on the press? Will he try to rule as a despot or accept the limitations of his office?
And how far are ordinary Republicans willing to go along with these things?
My guess is they will accept everything as long as the money keeps flowing their way - that's what the right historically have done when faced with fascism.
But that doesn't really make them fascist.
Just amoral enablers of fascism - but that's not much better, now is it?
0
@Deadling
I think we have to bow to TangoXrayActual's age here and agree that these right-wingers have always been there. The difference is that the Internet and social media have given them an unprecedented new platform to spread their lies on.
And this is nothing new either. In Nazi Germany Hitler used a private plane to be able to appear in up to 10 or 12 rallies a day during his political campaigns in the 30's and once in power he made sure every German home could buy a cheap "Peoples radio" (that of course was pre-set to only German radio) so everyone could be reached by his propaganda.
The far-right have always been quick to use any new technical innovation to spread their propaganda.
But that said I still would differentiate between actual fascists and the Republican party.
Actual fascists have a set ideology that amongst other things praises the nation, the use of military force to reach the nations goals and they are willing to make actual sacrifices to build their ideal nation state.
The American Republicans are actually devoid of all such ideology. They pay lip service to the nation but they are not willing to make any sacrifice what so ever to strengthen it. They will gladly support the use of military force - as long as their sons or daughters are safe far behind any front lines and the expenses for any wars are not bourn by themselves in any way.
This is not fascism - and real fascists know this and they despise the "ordinary" right for their unwillingness to commit to the CAUSE that for real fascist is everything.
But they are happy to use the ordinary political right to gain power and that is always how the far right have come to power - with the support of the ordinary political right who always believe they can control the fascist and use their populism to achieve their own financial goals which are much more limited.
Because the ordinary political right don't have any further goals then to rig the financial system of the nation to benefit themselves and their donors. The accumulation of personal wealth is the only thing the ordinary right actually believes in or cares about - everything else is just window dressing.
They will gladly sow hate and fear against people of colour or Jews or Muslims, LGBT-persons or rail against abortions but they don't actually care about any of these things - it's just a way to get the votes so they can continue to enrich themselves.
The problem is not that the ordinary right is immoral as the fascists, it's that they're completely amoral - that is they lack all moral conviction and are therefore completely OK with seeing fascists come to power - as long as their own financial gain is secured.
Both Mussolini and Hitler was financially supported by rich industrialists and their political representatives in the political right who in them saw dependable pawns they could work with.
They laughed at them and considered them vulgar fools in private, just as the fascists heaped scorn on them in private, but both groups thought they could use the other to benefit themselves.
And in the end they both did - to a point.
While everyone else of course had their lives destroyed by the wars the fascists started when they came to power.
No, I don't believe ordinary Republicans are fascists - they lack any true conviction to that or any ideology. They're simply poisoned by greed.
But they are dangerous because they will gladly accept fascism - as long as they believe it serves their own financial interest.
And history shows that true fascist gladly works with the ordinary right - as long as they need them.
Trump is clearly not a fascist - he lacks any deeply held conviction about anything else then his own overblown ego.
But that's his weak point - he will believe anyone who says what he wants to hear and Steve Bannon knows how to praise him in the right way.
And Bannon might very well be a true fascist - he's clearly espoused fascist views on a number of occasions.
And even if ordinary Republicans haven't embraced him with open arms they're not revolting either. They're willing to accept anything as long as the money keeps rolling into their pockets.
So the question is - how far will Trump be influenced by actual fascist ideology and how much is just window dressing? Will he actually press for a registry for Muslims? Will he ban them from entering the US? Will he try to crack down on the press? Will he try to rule as a despot or accept the limitations of his office?
And how far are ordinary Republicans willing to go along with these things?
My guess is they will accept everything as long as the money keeps flowing their way - that's what the right historically have done when faced with fascism.
But that doesn't really make them fascist.
Just amoral enablers of fascism - but that's not much better, now is it?