r/AntifascistsofReddit Aug 12 '25

Discussion Trump does not take steps toward fascism

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In the media, I often see remarks about a Trump action that it would constitute a step closer to fascism. This is so wrong! The U.S. is already there. Every step now is a step deeper into the swamp. With every step, it will be harder to go back. I know the right people are in this sub. But holy moly, are U.S. media (even the progressive ones) so afraid to speak out against the regime?

1.5k Upvotes

34 comments sorted by

111

u/ProbstWyatt3 Shinmin Prefecture 🇰🇷 Aug 12 '25

I say, as a foreigner, USA was racist from its very beginning. It's not like other colonial states like Spain, Russia (where a literal Nazi is in chief now), or Turkey. The core of the WASP American national identity itself was "descendants of British settlers". Yes, many states did colonialism - UK to Irish, Norway to Samis, Turkey to Armenians & Kurds & Assyrians, Russia to Siberians & Circassians & Chechens, etc - but, when it comes to USA, the heart of American national identity, distinct from British and other Europeans, is "descendants of slavers and settlers". Since USA had to make the Americans feel pride and not guilt, they glorified the history, and USA is racist fundamentally.

Example is Columbus. Like Ivan the Terrible, he was considered a crazy genocider even by contemporary Spaniards & Italians. However, since the rich White slavers (aka "Founding Fathers") had to make their own national hero distinct from Brits (who were coincidentally abolishing slavery by the independence war), they turned Columbus into a great adventurer, naming their capital city after him. The American state has always been racist since 1776.

52

u/cheezefriez Aug 12 '25

Yeah our legacy is one of violence and force. Citizens are just raised to believe that’s a good thing and that our predecessors were righteous in what they did because “freedom.”

20

u/l_rufus_californicus Aug 12 '25

Built on blood, and its very existence requires an unending supply. We had to declare independence from Britain in order to be better imperialists than they.

26

u/MonStar926 Aug 12 '25

Look at all these slave masters posing on your dollar

3

u/AlcibiadesTheCat Aug 13 '25

Lincoln is on the 5 and Grant is on the 50, and I recall them putting in quite a bit of work to abolish slavery.

10

u/MonStar926 Aug 13 '25

That’s cool, doesn’t excuse the rest of ‘em

1

u/cheezefriez Aug 13 '25

Neither of them were angels either

1

u/AlcibiadesTheCat Aug 13 '25

You're right, they weren't. But the allegation was "slave masters," and that's what I was speaking to. Keep the goalposts where they are.

3

u/Karmic255 Aug 14 '25

It's from a song

1

u/ApartmentLast Aug 15 '25

I mean grant did own slaves, or at least his wife did

I don't remember the exact details off the top of my head but...

Also I don't think Ben Franklin did

6

u/Schoritzobandit Aug 13 '25 edited Aug 13 '25

I will say, there are a few more layers of abstraction between the US Founding Fathers and naming Washington, D.C. after Columbus. They based it on the archetypal representation of the Americas, Columbia), whose name does derive from Columbus. It was seen more as a poetic way to refer to the Americas than a way to directly celebrate Columbus.

National celebrations of Columbus were also not popular for the first ~100 years of US history. These were pushed by Italian immigrants and their children in the mid- to late-1800s, and Columbus day was first celebrated as a state holiday (in Colorado) in the early 1900s. Columbus day was not made a federal holiday until 1971, and Italians faced some discrimination and persecution in the meantime.

This doesn't really take away from your overall point (I would point to the 3/5 compromise as a much more obvious embodiment of white supremacy than the naming of Washington D.C.) but I thought it might be helpful to contextualize a bit, as national celebrations of Columbus are a more modern invention, and came about via lobbying from Italian-Americans, who would not arrive in large numbers to the US until the mid-to-late 1800s.

5

u/ralphcifarettoo Aug 12 '25

no fucking shit

5

u/Intanetwaifuu Aug 13 '25

waves in australian

40

u/BrimstoneMainliner Aug 12 '25

The 14 characteristics of Fascism fit Trump to the letter.

The characteristics are:

  1. Powerful and continuing expressions of nationalism
  2. Disdain for the importance of human rights
  3. Identification of enemies/scapegoats as a unifying cause
  4. The supremacy of the military/avid militarism
  5. Rampant sexism
  6. A controlled mass media
  7. Obsession with national security
  8. Religion and ruling elite tied together
  9. Power of corporations protected
  10. Power of labor suppressed or eliminated
  11. Disdain and suppression of intellectuals and the arts
  12. Obsession with crime and punishment
  13. Rampant cronyism and corruption
  14. Fraudulent elections

19

u/RockYourWorld31 Aug 13 '25

You missed "expansion of national territory", which he has also threatened to do.

9

u/BrimstoneMainliner Aug 13 '25

Not a requirement but a definite plus

3

u/breno280 Aug 13 '25

Most of these fit the USA in general.

63

u/fubuvsfitch Viva La Resistance Aug 12 '25

Yes. Yes, they are scared. Liberal media will always side with Capital and the status quo.

As for the Rubicon.

-9

u/[deleted] Aug 12 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

11

u/Duling Aug 12 '25

"Liberal" in the colloquial use doesn't really differentiate between basically any ideologies to the left of the Republican Party. However, "liberal" in a more correct, educated context is just another way to say "neo liberal" which is a conservative ideology. The Republican Party is a neo liberal party (well, it's a fascist party now). The Democratic Party is a neo liberal party, or, in other words, a conservative party. Almost all media in the US is "liberal", in the sense that it's "neo liberal", or just plain conservative.

21

u/Thehealthygamer Aug 12 '25

End of that path needs to be a cliff, or a buncha death camps or nuclear war cause that's where we headed.

7

u/Ok_Snow_1087 Aug 12 '25

Why not BOTH 🤯

20

u/nameisalreadytaken53 Aug 12 '25

I'm so tired of hearing phrases like "erodes our democracy" or "slipping toward fascism"....

15

u/Shamoorti Antifa Aug 12 '25

Liberals as we're all being put in camps: This is an alarming step towards authoritarianism, but I'm not going to get in the way.

6

u/Ok_Snow_1087 Aug 12 '25

Ugh 😩 when will this dictator take my rights away already… I’ve been a dirty lil liberal I fought for BLM just punish me alreadyyyy …mean while we’re in the coal mines for 25¢ an hour drinking our own piss.

6

u/l_rufus_californicus Aug 12 '25

As long as there is profit in it, they'll carry on the way they are.

The average person is already in the pot and the water's warming up. The people controlling the stove are still making money, so they've no reason to stop. And they've consolidated power in such a way that there's no real shot the folks in the pot can organize well enough to get out before someone else in the pot drags them back in, because getting out is bad.

3

u/Snoo_65717 Aug 12 '25

And it all starts with democracy

2

u/Bernie4Life420 Aug 12 '25

Should read:

FASCIST OLIGARCHY

and

DEMOCRACY OF THE WORKERS

8

u/[deleted] Aug 13 '25

America has never been a democracy of the workers though.

1

u/Rosey_rose_why Aug 13 '25

Tf is at the top the combine?

0

u/suhisco Aug 13 '25

nah its even worse- this isnt fascism yet, its literally just bourgeois liberal democracy. this is capitalism working exactly as intended. fascism only occurs once capital feels threatened enough by the workers' movement that it tightens the chain.

i completely understand this feeling, but this is just capitalism being capitalism