Editor,
As a European historian by profession, fascism is not a term I use lightly. I know what it means. To be fair, in some ways Mr. Trump doesn’t fit the mold. Nevertheless, I am struck, and more than a little alarmed, by how many of fascism’s major tenets Donald Trump seems to espouse.
There are numerous variations on the theme, but most forms of fascism include some version of demagogic authoritarianism, extreme nationalism, militarism and a celebration of violence, racism and anti-intellectualism.
Mr. Trump is at heart a bombastic authoritarian, whose commitment to participatory democracy seems at least questionable. With little in the way of a perceivable program, he wants us to just let him do it, assuring us that it will be “great.”
His extreme nationalism and xenophobia are evident in his contention that our great nation has been driven to the edge of the abyss by “the other” — the Chinese, the Mexicans, the Muslims — enemies everywhere.
We are told that America can only be resurrected internationally through a righteous militaristic crusade based on the simple doctrine of “kicking ass and taking the oil,” supplemented by the use of torture, including water-boarding and “much worse,” while killing the families of terrorist suspects.
The celebration or at least the acceptance of violence as a legitimate domestic political tool is evidenced through his wish to “punch people in the face” and his claim that it is acceptable for people to be “roughed up a bit.”
Mr. Trump’s racism is also demonstrated by his exaltation of racial purity, where we see him ridiculing the disabled and scoffing at women who don’t achieve his definition of a “10.” He wears his anti-intellectualism and ignorance as if it were a badge of virtue.
I will not compare him to Hitler because I do not believe him to be genocidal.
But he bears at least some resemblance to second-string fascists like Ante Pavelic, Father Tiso, or Juan Peron, whose right-wing populism helped to drive their nations to ruin. Mr. Trump has gained the supported Marine Le Pen and David Duke. He quotes Mussolini, and is admired by Vladimir Putin — a rogue’s gallery of racism and oppression.
I think we can all agree that racism, violence and bigotry are not “refreshing” and that they are certainly not what we are about in America.
This country rightly spent a great deal of blood and treasure helping to defeat the scourge of fascism.
I believe we owe it to those who sacrificed in this great cause to reject the fascism “lite” of Donald Trump.
Dr. Bernd J. Fischer
Oak Harbor
