Is Trumpism fascism?

[littlebabyjesus]

This is where the Wittgensteinian idea of family resemblances is useful, I think. In the checklist of Fascist-like characteristics, each fascist may not tick every single box, and there won't be a hard barrier between fascist/not-fascist.

That enables you to place someone like Juan Peron, who ticked a fair few boxes. Trump ticks quite a different set of boxes from peron - no direct attempt to coopt/supplant the labour movement, for instance. But he does tick a fair few boxes, making him more fascistic in character perhaps than a mere populist. 6 January failed, but it was an attempted coup by non-state actors acting for Trump. That's a box ticked right there.

 

[andysays]

This is an interesting examination of the question of what Fascism is which I watched a while ago and re-watched this afternoon inspired by this thread.



In the conclusion there's an attempt to boil it down to one fairly simple idea (an attempt which is not without its problems), and the idea the author come up with is

"We think with the blood of our nation"

I don't think we can simply reduce fascism to this one idea, but I do think it's one which is central to fascism, and I don't think Trumpism really involves this in the way genuine fascism does.

 

[PTK]

There is a crucial difference between what fascists say, what they claim to believe in, and their acual role in politics.

 

[seventh bullet]

And to be 'old-fashioned,' a class analysis is crucial.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

There were Jews in the Italian fascist movement, as detailed here:

Leibniz-Institut für jüdische Geschichte und Kultur - Simon Dubnow

nation-building concepts that create in- and out-groups need not literally involve ideas of 'blood'.

 

[petee]

There were Jews in the Italian fascist movement, as detailed here:

Leibniz-Institut für jüdische Geschichte und Kultur - Simon Dubnow

i made a little sideline in this when in graduate school. see for one:

Mario Attilio Levi - Wikipedia

it.m.wikipedia.org