Patrick Cooper
by Patrick Cooper
Trump and his populist supporters have recently been called fascists by the progressive left ideologues in Biden’s administration. The latter betray a crass ignorance of the fascist ideology and its roots in socialism. Mussolini was a socialist and was originally the editor of a socialist newspaper. Hitler called his movement national socialism.
Fascism is a totalitarian movement in that it views everything as political and any action by the state is justified to achieve the common good. It takes responsibility for all aspects of life, including health and well-being, and seeks to impose uniformity of thought and action, whether by force or through social pressure. Ever felt pressured to take the knee or get vaccinated?
Interestingly, the Progressive Left in America had its ideological roots in the same soil as that of fascism. During the antebellum (pre-Civil War) period in the American South, Democrat-supporting university academics seeking ideological underpinning for the institution of slavery went to Berlin to study Hegel’s ideas. They found Marx there too.
In Hegel’s theory that the state was paramount over the rights of individuals we can see the germ of the totalitarian movements of the 20th century. His belief that a small elite should make the decisions and the rest of the population would meekly follow, fitted in well with the Southern intellectuals’ justification for slavery.
Progressivism in the Democrat Party took off in the latter years of the 19th century with the thinking of the social scientist John Dewey and others who believed the American constitution was outmoded in the age of industrialisation and that a small, unelected elite should lead the nation. Like the Nazis, these thinkers were sympathetic to the benefits of eugenics (Margaret Sanger).
Progressivism had its first incarnation in the Democratic presidency of Woodrow Wilson during World War 1 and was continued during that of Roosevelt, whose socialist policies were introduced during the Depression years. A massive, unelected administrative bureaucracy was the result, designed to enact the copious regulation being introduced by the Progressives.
During Trump’s presidency, unelected operatives from this administrative state, upset that their advice was being ignored, came forward as whistleblowers against him during the impeachment trials.
Currently, Biden is keen to ascribe fascistic characteristics to Trump and his supporters when the opposite is actually true. His Attorney General, Merrick Garland, has announced that his priority is to root out those protesters who entered the Capitol on January 6th because they were the greatest threat to the security of the US, even above that from Islamic jihadism, Mexican cartels and Chinese hackers.
No firearms were found within the Capitol precinct, yet those in custody have been kept in solitary confinement since the beginning of the year and are facing trumped-up charges. The administration is determined to conjure up a non-existent threat from white supremacists.
The media is in lockstep with the administration, pumping out propaganda Goebbels-like about white supremacy whilst refusing to cover any suggestion of voter fraud or of the possibility that the virus was deliberately manufactured and released from the Wuhan Institute, and threatening anyone who does. Incidentally, Jacinda Ardern has been latching on to the white supremacy myth, too.
Meanwhile, in Portland and elsewhere across the US, the Democrat Party’s Brownshirts, Antifa and BLM, continue a reign of terror, destroying buildings and businesses, unhindered by and unaccountable to, the defunded police.
A study of history reveals some fascinating aspects about the roots of liberal fascism.