For the younger generation, yeah, probably, for us older folks, we still remember a time when America at least kept the veneer that we were better than Nazis.
There’s not really one clean cut definition of fascism, mostly a lot of “I know it when I see it”
That being said, one definition I find kinda useful is; “Fascism is what we call it when an imperial power begins applying colonial policies to itself; the frontier comes home.” Germany had already been organizing concentration camps in northern Africa years before they started rounding up Jewish people. As a colonial power, Germany always had fascist policies, they were just directed outward.
By this metric, it’s hard not to see the US as a fascist power for… most of the latter half of the twentieth century? Obviously, outright colonization isn’t the standard anymore. It’s mostly mediated through international businesses, propped up by the occasional secretly-funded coup or even an outright military invasion. Those of us living within the official boarders of the US have just been privileged enough to not have to live with the negative consequences.
Always was. 🔫
For the younger generation, yeah, probably, for us older folks, we still remember a time when America at least kept the veneer that we were better than Nazis.
There’s not really one clean cut definition of fascism, mostly a lot of “I know it when I see it”
That being said, one definition I find kinda useful is; “Fascism is what we call it when an imperial power begins applying colonial policies to itself; the frontier comes home.” Germany had already been organizing concentration camps in northern Africa years before they started rounding up Jewish people. As a colonial power, Germany always had fascist policies, they were just directed outward.
By this metric, it’s hard not to see the US as a fascist power for… most of the latter half of the twentieth century? Obviously, outright colonization isn’t the standard anymore. It’s mostly mediated through international businesses, propped up by the occasional secretly-funded coup or even an outright military invasion. Those of us living within the official boarders of the US have just been privileged enough to not have to live with the negative consequences.
Or you could use Umberto Eco’s “Ur Fascism” definition.