A Light Bulb Moment About Fascism

Things are clicking for me.

I’ve spent a lot of time wondering why some liberals are just so politically angry ALL. THE. TIME (And let’s take their style out of it for a minute—which often seems to scream, “Look at me!”) So many of the loudest voices come across as spoiled children who were never told no, actors and actresses who are used to being the center of attention, and people who seem heavily entitled.

I looked up the definition of fascism because that word gets thrown around constantly by people who suffer from TDS—Trump Derangement Syndrome. The level of anger, outrage, and obsession with one man has always made me wonder what is really driving it.

One definition said fascism puts the nation above individual interests. And that’s when the light bulb came on for me. It seems like that’s exactly what some people hate. Everything becomes about individual wants, individual feelings, and individual demands. They say they care about others, but sometimes it feels like they mainly care about people who think exactly like they do. But in a country of over 300 million people, no government can meet everyone’s personal wants and needs. At some point, leaders have to make decisions based on what they believe is best for the country as a whole.

Then I looked at the rest of the definition, and honestly, America doesn’t fit it.

A fascist government is centralized and authoritarian. Ours isn’t. Power is divided between the federal government, states, and local governments.

Fascism suppresses opposition. America doesn’t. People protest, criticize politicians, attack the government online, and vote leaders out of office every day.

A fascist leader has near-total control. Our presidents don’t. They can be blocked by Congress, challenged in court, investigated, and voted out.

And fascism suppresses certain groups. America protects the rights of racial, religious, and political minorities and allows people to live and speak freely.

The biggest thing that stood out to me? The fact that we can openly argue about whether America is fascist is proof that we aren’t. In a truly fascist country, people don’t usually get to publicly accuse their government of being fascist without consequences.

That was my light bulb moment.