Thought experiment: what would an American version of Fascism look like?

People who don’t comply or perceived not to comply have their property destroyed, burned. Probably a great deal of censorship through social media and a highly propagandist news coverage. All who don’t comply are shut down or silenced.

Political coups and the attempted overthrow of elected leaders.

Look at what fascists have done historically, and compare to what is happening in America today.

Politicians, especially Heads of State, who brand the free press as “enemies of the people”.

A would-be despot filling vital positions with unqestioning loyalists to disable the functionality of “separation of powers”.
Deployment of secret police that is accountable only to him.
Actively hindering people’s ability to vote, by for example, crippling the mail service to prevent vote-by-mail.
Labelling valid opposition as “terrorists” or “antifa”, while catering to actual extremists and terrorists.

What would fascism look like in the United Staes? Open your eyes, the seeds of fascism are already here and sprouting wildly throughout the land.

Did I formulate this question poorly? I was hoping to see discussion of Eco’s 14 points of Fascism, but it seems like people gloss over the description section? Is it better to be more direct with the question and skip the description?

Well…like today’s Democratic Party to be honest.
(1) The Cult of Tradition: The leadership of the Democratic Party has held true to their traditions for over 150 years. They were all for slavery in the early days of this country and have held to that belief even after slavery was outlawed. They created Jim Crow laws. They fought against segregation with even Joe Biden fighting against integration of blacks into schools in the 1977. Their policies have tried to keep blacks poor and dependent all along.
(2) Rejection of Modernism: Along with the Cult of Tradition, the drive of the Democrats is racial. They have fought long and hard to keep racism alive in this country, trying to even create crises to show it exists. They claim to support all sorts of new and progressive ideas, but have shown time and again that in reality, they are merely using whatever they can to gain power and will reject those things when they become unimportant at any given point in time.
(3) The Cult of Action for Action’s Sake: Look at what’s going on in the US today. Protesters and Rioters and looters and other anarchists going crazy over isolated incidents…trying to take action well above and beyond what is needed for the situation. This is a perfect example of action for action’s sake. And these groups are pretty much 100% on the side of the Democrats.
(4) Disagreement is Treason: This, too, is going on all the time. Anyone that dares to say “All Lives Matter” instead of “Black Lives Matter” are automatically branded as someone to beat down and drive away. During the Obama administration, Conservatives were targeted by the IRS freely. Efforts were made to muzzle conservative talk radio. It was floated several times that anyone that dared to speak against Climate Change or voice a dissenting idea should be arrested. Even in this day and age, look at what has gone on against President Trump for the crime of winning an election and voicing opinions and trying to push policies that don’t support the Leftist narrative. 3 years of charges and investigations that were created to try making him look like a treasonous cheater. A bogus impeachment, again created to make him look treasonous. All this driven by the Democratic Party and their allies.
(5) Fear of Difference: Again, anyone that dares to voice a dissenting voice is viewed as the enemy. There is no rational reason for this, it is just plain fear.
(6) Appeal to a Frustrated Middle Class: This has been a mainstay of Democratic Party efforts for decades. They try pushing class division as a thing driven by the Republicans and then try to sell themselves as the saviors of the nation. When they have held power, however, their policies have made things worse instead of better.
(7) Obsession with a Plot: Russia Collusion is STILL being broadcast and discussed as if it were a real thing…all by Democrats and their supporters.
(8) Enemies are at the Same Time Too Strong and Too Weak: Those pesky Republicans are all a basket of deplorables and are well represented by the unwashed masses at any Walmart in the country. Yet they are driving this country into all sorts of hateful directions from trying to destroy the economy to killing black men. Sound familiar? Yep…all from the Democrats.
(9) Pacifism is Trafficking with the Enemy: Again…look at what has come out of the Democratic Party and their allies. By Any Means Necessary (BAMN) was a movement created to take any action necessary to fight against anything that could even vaguely be viewed as opposing the Democrats. If it was mentioned that we should take peaceful approaches, that was soundly denounced. I give you the riots and other violent protests that have swept the nation…the ones that almost no Democrats denounced. Joe Biden finally did after he saw polling that showed the majority of Americans are against it. Until then he supported it, even taking donations to bail out of jail any of the violent protesters that were arrested.
(10) Contempt For the Weak: The Democratic Party has vilified anyone they deem as a non-supporter. Many law abiding people who have too much self-control (which they view as weakness) to take forceful action BAMN, have been branded as fools, idiots, deplorables, racists, homophobes, xenophobes, and any other moniker they can come up with.
(11) Everybody is Educated to become a Hero: leftists (Democratic Party) have held dominance over public education and colleges and universities for decades. They have taught their own brand of ideology and have punished anyone that doesn’t buy it 100%. They have taught our young people for a long time that if you support their ideals, you are a hero and if you don’t you are evil.
(12) Machismo: If you look at the definition of _An exaggerated interest or devotion to something, often accompanied by a sense of superiority._That pretty well defines the overall attitude of most Democrats these days. Anyone that disagrees is somehow less of a human to them.
(13) Selective Populism: Populism is defined as _A political philosophy supporting the rights and power of the people in their struggle against the privileged elite._This is how the Democrats operate. They try to push the people against the wealthy, the people against corporations, the blacks against the whites, the whites against the blacks, people against police, men against women, and everyone against Republicans.
(14) Newspeak: Let me give you a few words, phrases and acronyms that didn’t exist in their current meaning a few years ago. Woke. BAMN. Terrorism = Man-made disasters. Islamist Suicide bombings = Anti-Islamic Acts. Rioters and Looters = Peaceful Protesters. Black Lives Matter = Cops are racist assholes. Yep…pretty representative list.

But this question missed out on a few of the other things the Fascists have used in the past to gain control. Propaganda. Today’s MSM is more of a propaganda wing of the Democratic Party. They don’t question any statements or decisions made my Democrats. They don’t ask tough or unscripted questions to any Democratic Candidate. They make up lies about any Democratic opponents. They are the perfect group of propagandists. Goebbels would be proud. Youth groups or in lay terms…brown shirted thugs. The ones that would take it upon themselves to identify and beat down any opponents of the ruling party. Antifa fits that bill nicely for the Democrats.

Great Briton with Adolf Hitler as head honcho. (But him not wanting to take over the world.)

@belisarius Some of us do read the details but “fascism” is such a hot term right now, we tend to distort it for our own purposes as did @seawulf575 . I won’t attempt a disquisition of my own and it’s a good question but I don’t have the time to answer it point by point.

@belisarius , Most of your points apply to Trump. As an example of Newspeak, consider Keyyanne Conwaays’s “alternate facts”, which could have come from Orwell.

The only point that does not cover Trump is “Pacifism is Trafficking with the Enemy” . Trump is an isolationist and wants to withdraw American troops, This is fortunate, because it means that he does not have the backing of the military, which any dictator would need to stay in power.

@LostInParadise
“The only point that does not cover Trump is “Pacifism is Trafficking with the Enemy””

That is covered by his insistence on “cracking down” on the protests.

Wow @seawulf575 – what a reach.

(Cult of Tradition)
Hugging flags, glorifying the past, appeasing religion ideologues, Forth of July in front of Mount Rushmore. Appeals to the greatness and sacredness of our great nation and all that we hold dear. Waxing about the factory workers, farmers and coal miners of days past and a promise to return to that era. Appeals to racial, class segregation.

(Rejection of Modernism)
Ridicule of educational institutions, threats to defund eduction with modern curriculums, rejection and ridicule of modern scientific, social, and political concepts and language. Appeals to the past, and nebulous greatnesses.

(Cult of Action for Actions sake)
Keeping Muslims out of the US “until we figure out what the hell is going on.” Attempts to dismantle the work of the previous administration, without real ideas for replacements, just because they have been “absolute disasters”, to quote a potato. Rejection of the results of an election that hasn’t happened yet.

(Fear of Difference) Next

(Appeal to a Frustrated Middle Class)
Appeals to the frustrations of the so called middle class. Race baiting, threats about public housing coming to a suburb near you. Appeals to the bygone jobs of a different era that once created a middle class, especially in Trump 2016 states. Traditionalism. Blaming others for the economic hardships of white Americans.

(Obsession with Plot)
Birtherism, Benghazi, the election will be rigged, crooked Hillary, appeals that something bad is happening or coming, “American carnage ends today”, “I alone can fix it,” The entire structure of Fox News that people are coming for your guns, cities are burning, MS-13 is tearing failed Democrat cities apart from the inside where defunded cops are prevented by PC culture from discharging their firearms from their Segways without faxing a form to an office in Tehran.

(Enemies are at the same time too strong and too weak)
Political opponents are always described as weak, or slow, or low-energy. He describes himself as the only one smart enough or powerful enough to do what needs to be done. What needs to be done, however, in his words, is nothing less than stopping the other side from destroying America itself.

(Pacifism is trafficking with the enemy)
Every goose stepping republican who has been lapping up Trump’s cottage cheese for half a decade now. Accepting Trumpism into your heart, within the party is demanded, and those who would stand outside of his bullshit are attacked, mocked and destroyed.

(Contempt for the weak)
No care for health care. More eager to destroy the ACA than help anyone get care. Ridicule of American soldiers for becoming POWs. Accusing others of being weak, and thus worthy of contempt. Complete ignorance to the plight of suffering Americans all over the country. Attempts to remove funding from so so many social services, with no solutions for providing care. Punishment of migrants at the border. Punitive, vindictive acts done against children and adults in ICE detention centers and prisons all over America, with the justification of criminality overriding their rights as human beings. Of course, these aren’t just Trump things, but he will not speak against any of it, and has exacerbated many of the problems.

(Everybody is educated to become a hero) Kyle Rittenhouse. Appeals to voters to save the Country itself from the specter that is the left. Appeals to “second Amendment people” to solve the problem of Hillary Clinton willing a rigged election. Calling on supporters to assault protesters and offering clemency if they do. Everyone in America with a really really shitty job is described as a hero.

(Machismo): Conjuring a doctor’s note to declare him the most physically fit President in history. Excellent brain. Greatest ideas. Ridiculing others for height, age, weight, hand size, disability, gender. Intensely protective of images of his body. Wear tons of make up. Wears billowy clothing to hide his shape. Picks fights constantly. Takes offense to everything.

(Selective populism) He describes his side is described as real and true Americans who have been wronged. HIs supporters are encouraged to absorb news from a limited number of outlets. Their political beliefs and biases are held as sacrosanct, and Trump pushes those agendas to maintain loyalty from his base. American racism is like a political well he can just keep going back to. Opponents are anti-Americans. News organizations that don’t lean towards him are literally “the enemy of the people”

(Newspeak): fake news, china virus, Islamic-terrorist-killings. Homicide bombers. Simply using a limited number of words, with a limited capacity for idea generating, and making that the norm for political discussion, is a big step towards newspeak, where the language only shrinks over time.

I don’t absolutely stand by this. There are a lot of swirling things going on. Of course, Trump would prefer to be a European style multi decade dicatator, and some people legitimately would like to see that happen, but I’ve still got hope that the good guys will win this round.

I read a ton of stuff and follow a ton of issues but I’ve never warmed to Eco. I would apply to him something he said in his famous book:
Morons will occasionally say something that’s right, but they say it for the wrong reason