(August 22, 2021 at 12:01 pm)Neo-Scholastic Wrote:(August 22, 2021 at 9:00 am)Spongebob Wrote: Let's just start with this, Marxism is definitely not what the Christians and Republicans think it is.
And fascism isn't what Democrats say it is either....so right back at you. :-)
And you cannot talk about Marx without invoking the Hegelian dialectic...and Hegel is the last philosopher I want to discuss.
I beg to differ. Why don't you explain. I'll offer the definition from MW:
Definition of fascism
1often capitalized : 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 leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition
2: a tendency toward or actual exercise of strong autocratic or dictatorial control
I assume you take issue with this because progressives have called out the Trump regime as fascist. Let's see how he compares:
Trump and most of the Republican faithful are definitively nationalists. Slogans like "America First" are nationalistic and are embraced by Trump, et al.
Trump was definitively autocratic. Remember his comment "I alone can fix it". In fact, Trump himself made such claims often and almost always referred to himself as the "best" of whatever topic was in discussion. This actually beyond authoritarianism and becomes narcissistic.
Trump wasn't a dictator, but he was certainly headed in that direction and was taking steps to become one after he lost the election. His claims of election fraud and deep state conspiracies were all signs of an authoritarian. He was replacing government officials with yes men. These are common moves among authoritarians. Trumps attempts of force Georgia election officials to manufacture votes is also an example and he has threatened dozens of people in his own party, some long time loyalists who disagreed with him only perhaps one or two issues. He called out William Barr when Barr told him the truth about election fraud. So Trump definitely attempted to oppress people.
Trump certainly fits the definition of fascist and by extension all of those Republicans who continue to support him do as well. I'm not claiming that all Republicans are of course, but it definitely appears to be the new flavor for them. And I'm pretty sure some of the most popular Republicans from history would be appalled by this shift in the party.
Why is it so?
~Julius Sumner Miller
~Julius Sumner Miller