Grapefruit and Earl Grey Bread

“Unity is an anomaly. Polarization is normal. Skepticism about liberal democracy is also normal. And the appeal of authoritarianism is eternal.” –Anne Applebaum, Twilight of Democracy

It got pretty lost amidst the other news of FBI arrests of violent insurrectionists and whatnot, but last week the POLITY scale – an official scorecard that measures and rates global democracies – announced that America has officially been downgraded from democracy to anocracy. There it is. We are no longer a democracy. 

Umair Haque wrote a thoughtful and (I found) helpful article on defining fascism that I was surprised to see dated October 28, 2018. It could have been written yesterday, or any day after the attack on the Capitol. I all but assumed it had been. He defines fascists as people who desire a personhood hierarchy, and want that hierarchy institutionalized, violently if need be. He writes: 

“Fascism is best seen this way. A person who believes that there is a hierarchy of personhood — that some people are more human than others, and some fall below the threshold of being people entirely — and furthermore, that that hierarchy should be institutionalized, is a fascist. A movement composed of such people is a fascist movement. A government managing such a project is a fascist government.”

Haque argues that most Americans were taught that the definition of fascism is essentially socialism (including social democracy), when instead it is the institutionalized hierarchy of personhood – such as, oh, slavery, or genocide of Native tribes, or segregation. His argument is that so many Americans are taken in by, or want to ignore, actual fascism because they were taught to shun public goods. I think he’s correct about some people, but wrong about others.

Unlike Haque, I grew up in the insurrectionists’ world: white, Republican, evangelical Christian, upper middle class, above average educated. 

If you learn anything from my lived experience, learn this: those people know what a liberal democracy is and they explicitly do not want it. 

They know socialism, including social democracy, does not equal fascism; it is simply the cover they use because they know it is socially unacceptable to say what they’re actually thinking: that white, wealthy Christians deserve preferential treatment from the government. Haque is probably correct that they’ve gotten some to genuinely believe in the whole socialism equals fascism fallacy. But I assure you, those upper middle class white mobsters and their cheerleaders do not. You will never hear anyone I grew up with complain that police unions have too much power, or demean tax breaks to large, wealthy corporations. They are fine with unions and government handouts, as long as that socialist power is allocated so as not to disrupt the social hierarchy they desire.

The best encapsulation I can offer is to recall conversations about the Johnson Amendment (the rule stating that churches and nonprofits are tax-exempt so long as they do not endorse politicians or engage in directly partisan activism). First, they complain about the rule that churches can’t endorse politicians. They should be allowed to. Okay, you’ll reply, they can if they pay their taxes. Well no, they shouldn’t have to pay taxes, they’ll respond. Then they can’t endorse politicians! Pick one, you can’t have it both ways. Here is the point in the conversation when it will dawn on you that they literally do want it both ways, and see zero problems with any inherent immorality or hypocrisy therein. This is the world inside their heads, what they believe should be the natural order. Get all the benefits without paying for them. Not pay taxes AND directly influence politics, no matter who it might harm.

These are people who eagerly desire an authoritarian strongman in charge, one who will dictate society to center them and their religion. They view things like oversight, governmental accountability, and constitutional checks and balances as stupid, cumbersome roadblocks to their wealth and happiness. When we Exvangelicals warn you they are trying to implement a fascist theocracy, this is what we’re talking about. They know exactly what fascism is, they actively want it, and their only concern is that said fascism benefits them: white, cishet, patriarchal Christianity. 

More education, more information, is not going to move the needle with these types. They are educated. They simply do not want the same system of governance that you want. You will never change their hearts or minds. You cannot explain or love or compassion or de-radicalize them away from fascism. They felt this way long before Fox News ever came onto the scene, and they’ll still feel this way if the Fairness Doctrine is reinstated.

I do believe the data that shows a large swath of the population was radicalized by Fox News et al, and somewhat recently. I choose to hold out hope that a portion of those Americans could be swayed by deradicalization techniques, along with better civics education plus government policies that improve their lives. But that is not the group I’m talking about. 

If you want to see democracy restored in America, liberals will have to come to grips with the fact that some minds will not, cannot, be changed. And unfortunately, those minds belong to a voting bloc with money and high socioeconomic status. 

They know what democracy is and they reject it. They know what fascism is and they embrace it. Nothing you do or say could ever change that. All you can do is marginalize them in the voting booth, legislate equality for all, and hold the line by imposing social and financial consequences.