Defending Democracy from Facism

 I have not written on this blog for a while and like everyone else I have needed time to absorb and grieve the election results, but now it is time to write.

I was raised in a society that on 4^th of July celebrates its democracy and calls itself the greatest democracy on earth.  My father served in WWII and my parents both celebrated the end of fascism in Europe which had threatened their entire generation.  In many movies and TV shows throughout my life Nazis have been the symbols of evil.  So I could hardly have imagined that at any point in my life I would be encountering the rise of fascism—and certainly not in the U.S.!  And yet here we are.

I have spent the last 18 years fighting climate change and looking unwaveringly at grim scientific predictions about climate change – various disaster scenarios. Yet ironically those predictions discussed the change of our physical environment, such as the impacts of polar caps melting or drought, increased hurricanes and storms, and so on.  I remember watching “An Inconvenient Truth” and being clear in my own mind that what was missing from it was two predictions:  social upheaval and wars caused by drought/food shortages, and immigrant migration from countries that become uninhabitable. 

How Climate Change Effects Are Tied to the Rise of Fascism

Despite the fact that I could imagine these consequences of global heating, what I failed to predict was the rise of fascism and far right nationalism in some European countries and the U.S. However, it does make sense that as people become more afraid about immigration, rising food prices as crops fail, and other related catastrophes, some look for “a strong man” leader (or Big Daddy).  Unfortunately, power maniacs are only too willing to make any promise necessary to gain power and to say exactly what the public longs for.

Fear of an enemy, internal or external, is a classic ingredient for fascism.  Combine that with rising nationalism, and we see increasing hostility to and targeting of immigrants.  This hostility is so strong that the Democratic Party can hardly distinguish itself from the Republican Party on this issue and instead “has to agree” that the border is a problem.  What went unsaid is that global heating is already causing climate destabilization/crop failure/food shortages and resulting social upheaval and wars in the global south: Africa and South America.  Thus Europe sees many African refugees and the U.S. sees many South American refugees.  Rather than discussing that root of the problem, Trump simply labels immigrants from those countries as thugs, criminals and drug dealers.

Other Characteristics of Fascism

Fear is used to target any who are deemed different—thus the rabid anti-trans and anti LBGQT+ messaging of the MAGA movement.  Some I know question my family members’ fear of now being targeted. But if you look at the huge number of anti-LBGQT ads Trump was running in the last weeks of the presidential campaign, it is clear that for him anti-LBGQT fear is something to gain strength from.  This has parallels with the rise of Hitler. Those Hitler targeted first were political dissidents, gays and lesbians, and the handicapped.  The Jews came later.  We cannot be naive about that.

The suppression of women is present in all fascist societies.  Certainly, the move to take away abortion rights, to criminalize miscarriages or even those who assist pregnant women in trouble…as well as the emerging push to remove IVF and access to birth control…are all indicators of a society where women’s rights are slipping away.  While U.S. exceptionalism would not allow us to see this, a ranking of women’s rights internationally has the U.S. at 33 among 120 nations.  Looking at this truth is critical for us right now.

What We Can Do to Fight the Rise of Fascism

We do ourselves a great disservice if we try to reassure each other that everything is okay or will be shortly.  It is a disservice because not countering the rise of fascism is what will allow fascism to overcome our society.  

After the November election, when I was lamenting that the majority of our country chose Trump, a friend comforted me by pointing out that 27% of voting age Americans are not even registered to vote and that close to 90 million did not register to vote in the November election.  Only 64% of registered voters voted – so that means only 32 or 33% of Americans voted for Trump. 

While it might be comforting to know that Trump does not have the voting support of most Americans, democracy was lost when many in our country did not vote. They turned their eyes away.  In fact, the most common Google search on election day was “Did Joe Biden drop out?”  and “Who is Kamala Harris?” The next day the most common search was “What is a tariff?”  In this frightening state of ignorance and apathy, our country’s democracy is in danger.

The apathy of the voting public already had results after the last Trump election in 2016. During his term he nominated three anti-abortion Supreme Court justices.  I remember when Roe v. Wade was overturned by the Supreme Court, a friend reported that her friend cried “How could this happen?”  My friend turned to her and said furiously, “Because YOU and others like you did not vote in the last election.” 

Many people reported that in the November 2024 election they voted for Trump even though they did not like him “because of the economy”.   It is a fact that he did much worse with the economy than either Obama or Biden – but the opposite was apparently the popular belief.   What is most frightening about that is Hitler was elected because Germany was in economic hard times from having to pay reparations for WWI, and he promised to improve their economy. 

We now must keep our eyes on the prize--with that prize being democracy!  We must quickly wake our neighbors out of their slumber, and we must not let ourselves believe that the November election loss is like any other time in our lives where our favored party lost to the other party. The history of fascism, not only in Germany but wherever it arises, shows us what to expect and what must be resisted. 

Fear and isolation are the first things to resist as they are the most important tools of fascism. So begin by finding people you can talk to about the kind of things in this opinion piece.  Be ready to take action to resist the erosion of the rights of LBGQT+ people, immigrants and women.  Work against the concentration of power in the executive branch of the federal government. To learn about such laws already proposed by MAGA Republicans, see “Defending Democracy: Part Two” in this issue of WIP.

 

Designating Nonprofits as Terrorist-Supporting Organizations

One threat to democracy was included in the bill HR 9495 in the U.S. House of Representatives.  In December this bill was narrowly defeated, but it will undoubtedly be proposed again, especially now that both the Senate and House of Representatives are dominated by Republicans.  This bill would give the Treasury Department the power to designate any nonprofit organization a “terrorist-supporting organization” and to strip it of its tax-exempt status. No standards for making the decision were included in the bill, nor ways to appeal the decision.

We can imagine the direct effects on any nonprofit designated as “terrorist-supporting.” Taking away a nonprofit’s ability to raise money is one of the quickest ways to kill it.  Additionally, once the Trump administration has designated a nonprofit this way – what targeting of its members and staff will come next?  

It is also not hard to imagine the mischief that this bill could cause. What anti-war groups will get this designation?  What LBGTQ+ groups?  What groups supporting immigrants?  What groups opposing multi-national corporation takeover? What environmental groups trying to protect our planet’s trashing?  What Black Lives Matter groups? Which nonprofit newspapers and magazines? In fact, with Republicans controlling all three branches of the US government--the presidency, the Supreme Court and Congress – citizen activists and the mainstream press (sadly compromised by corporate monopoly) might be the only defenders of democracy left!

Presidential Control of the States’ National Guard Units

Each state’s National Guard is designed for local state-wide protection and is under the control of the state governor. Governors activate their National Guard in emergencies like natural disasters, but also for civil unrest, such as riots—and protests, sometimes even peaceful ones. State governors have had this control since the U.S. Constitution was written.

However, during the last Congress, MAGA Republicans placed a provision in the defense authorization bill that would take this control from state governors and place it under the U.S. Space Command, part of the Department of Defense (and not to be confused with NASA).

While the bill’s provision only focused on the flight units of each state’s National Guard, this would set a terrible precedent for taking away state rights and control.  For this reason, the National Governors Association, including Republican governors, have spoken out against it.  This provision was removed from the last defense appropriation bill, but it will certainly be introduced again in some other form.

It would be very hard for Trump to use the regular military against protesting Americans because 1) they are busy doing other things; and 2) high-up military brass understand this would be a violation of the Constitution.  However, if this provision passes Congress, as commander of the National Guard the president would have control of a military body in each state that could be called out to suppress protestors. Even if his control were restricted to the National Guard’s flight units, we can imagine helicopters and light planes being used to harass protestors—or worse. Therefore, this idea is a dangerous incursion against the right to much-needed peaceable protest. 

In the coming months, we must be alert to the re-appearance of these two ideas in Congress and be ready to take action against them – and other proposals that would undermine our democracy.  I will be writing other articles about the rise of fascism, but we all must examine the events of the day through the lens of what this is doing to our democracy and be willing to defend it.