The woman's field guide to fighting fascism

“When Fascism came into power, most people were unprepared, both theoretically and practically. They were unable to believe that man could exhibit such propensities for evil, such lust for power, such disregard for the rights of the weak, or such yearning for submission. Only a few had been aware of the rumbling of the volcano preceding the outbreak.” – Erich Fromm, Escape from Freedom

“When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” – Sinclair Lewis

It’s beautiful outside today.  One of those early fall days, where there’s a chill in the morning but the warm sun joined me by the time I ran my afternoon errands.  I stopped by my local coffee shop after dropping off a package I’ve been meaning to ship for weeks.  The employees had genuine smiles and we had delightful exchanges.  What a lovely, normal day – and that terrifies me.

My first post is on how to identify that we’re living under a fascist regime because on days like today, it’s so easy to push it to the side.  To ignore it as I busy myself with work and to question – am I overreacting?  America is democracy – there’s no way we could lose our rights.  Right…?  

My brain does this because it’s comfortable.  I don’t want to acknowledge that we are already well under way into living under a fascist regime.  To confront it is terrifying.  And if I do, then I’d have to do something about it.  That will come later but the first step is for all of us to agree that we are now in the midst of democracy being overthrown.  Maybe you’re way ahead of me but let’s start with the foundations because we can’t do anything about it, if we don’t confront it. 

Democracy is based on the consent of the governed and the protection of individual liberties.  Fascism centralizes power in an authoritarian leader and subordinates the individual to the interests of the state. 

The Horizons Project, a nonprofit organization founded in 2022, works to organize and facilitate change to strengthen American democracy.   They shared a list of 11 top ways to identify the authoritarian playbook.  I’ve gone through and added a couple examples of each treasonous tactic.

1. Divide and rule: Foment mistrust and fear; actively scapegoat and pit groups against each other.
   • “Never forget, our enemies [Democrats] want to take away my freedom, because I will never, ever let them take away your freedom. I will not let it happen. It’s what they’re trying to do. They want to silence me, because I will never let them silence you. And in the end, they’re not after me. They’re after you. And I just happen to be standing in their way, and I always will be in their way.” – Trump PA Rally
   • In discussing Charlie Kirk’s recent murder, Trump continued to perpetuate the lie that the shooter was a liberal with the following quotes from The Nation–
     • “I’d like to see it [the nation] heal but we’re dealing with a radical left group of lunatics, and they don’t play fair and they never did.”
     • “I’ll tell you something that’s going to get me in trouble, but I couldn’t care less. The radicals on the right oftentimes are radical because they don’t want to see crime. The radicals on the left are the problem, and they’re vicious and they’re horrible and they’re politically savvy.”
     • “The problem is on the left. It’s not on the right, like some people like to say. When you look at the agitators—you look at the scum that speaks so badly of our country, the American flag burnings all over the place—that’s the left, not the right.
2. Spread lies and conspiracies: Actively promote mis/disinfo; undermine the public’s belief in truth.
   • By the end of his first term, Trump had lied 30,573 times, an average of 21 lies per day as validated by the Washington Post Fact Checker.  
   • You can also find an astounding list of conspiracy theories related to political opponents, election fraud, terrorist attacks of 9/11 and Jan 6 and so much more promoted from Trump here.  
   • This disinformation machine has seemingly taken on a life of its own with the WSJ citing an unnamed “source” from the ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives) that reported the bullets that killed Charlie Kirk have “transgender ideology” inscriptions. This was quickly debunked and the WSJ didn’t apologize but posted two editor notes – one that urged caution about the reporting and one that said that it might not accurately reflect reality.
3. Destroy checks and balances and undermine institutions: Quietly use legal or pseudo-legal rationales to gut institutions (bureaucracies, courts, electoral institutions), undermine their independence, and weaken opposition.
   • This year, DOGE was used to “infiltrate government agencies, execute mass illegal firings, abolish lifesaving programs, creep on Americans’ most sensitive data, and even undermine Social Security to set the stage for Republican cuts.” – The House Committee on Oversight and Accountability (the main investigative committee in the U.S. House of Representatives). Review dodgy DOGE “savings” on the BBC.
   • In 2022, Congress strengthened protections for inspector generals, making it harder to replace them with hand-picked officials but Trump fired 17 independent inspector generals because they weren’t “his people” dismantling checks on his power with those loyal to him.  NY Post
   • “We had an unbelievable election, getting millions more votes than we did in 2016, but the election was rigged. The election was rigged. Pure and simple, 2020 was rigged. It was a disgrace. We could never let it happen again. “  Trump PA Rally
4. Demonize opponents and independent media: Undermine the public’s trust in those actors and institutions that hold the state accountable.
   • “The FAKE NEWS media … is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American People!” – Trump Al Jazeera 
   • Executive Order to halt funding to public media including National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) calling them “biased media”. NPR
   • This week, Trump filed a $15 billion lawsuit against the NY Times for lying and fake news.  The NYT responded that “[The case] lacks any legitimate legal claims and instead is an attempt to stifle and discourage independent reporting.  The New York Times will not be deterred by intimidation tactics. We will continue to pursue the facts without fear or favor and stand up for journalists’ First Amendment right to ask questions on behalf of the American people.” NPR
5. Undermine civil and political rights and criminalize dissent: Actively suppress free speech, the right to assembly and protest and the rights of women and minority groups; restrict NGO activities.
   • Trump Tweet: “When the looting starts, the shooting starts.” (A tweet during Black Lives Matter, a protest about racial inequality and hate crimes that were characterized by Trump as riots.  This quote refers to what was said by a white police chief during Civil Rights segregation protests.  Trump also referred to the protestors as “THUGS” in a very thinly veiled racist dog whistle.  NPR
   • Following Charlie Kirk’s murder this past week, Stephen Miller, White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy, has demonized and sought to criminalize left-wing political organizations. Stephen continued calling left-wing political organizations “terrorist networks” and said “Every resource we have at the Department of Justice, Homeland Security and throughout this government to identify, disrupt, dismantle and destroy these networks and make America safe again.” MSNBC.  And later on Fox News couldn’t hide his eagerness to criminalize the “other” any way possible , saying “Under President Trump’s leadership, I don’t care how – it could be a RICO charge, a conspiracy charge, conspiracy against the United States, insurrection but we are going to do what it takes to dismantle the organizations.” This is part of the McCarthyism playbook (the practice of making public accusations of disloyalty or subversion with little to no evidence that became popular during the anti-communist crusade in the United States during the Cold War era).  Again, there is no evidence that the shooter was a liberal and much evidence to the contrary.  (Zooming out – the majority of shootings are from right-wing extremist white men).  
6. Blame minorities, immigrants, and “outsiders” for a country’s problems: Exploit national humiliation while promising to restore national glory.
   • In Trump’s 2015 presidential campaign launch speech, he linked Mexicans with being rapists, criminals and drug dealers saying “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you. They’re not sending you. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.” ABC News
   • In 2017, Trump signed an executive order banning any visitor from 7 predominately Muslim countries. ACLU  The courts later overturned the order and ruled that this dripped “with religious intolerance, animus, and discrimination” and thus violated the First Amendment by discriminating against Muslims.  American Immigration Council
   • Today, ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) are detaining citizens, legal and undocumented immigrants with zeal and without legal cause based on racial profiling – including how they look and if they speak Spanish.  American Immigration Council.  They are then detained often without due process (without a hearing to determine outcome).  American Immigration Council.    
7. Deploy military forces to address public security problems and/or declare national emergencies to seize unconstitutional powers.
   • Trump deployed the National Guard to U.S. cities, including Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington, D.C., and Memphis illegally according to federal judges to test presidential power and has continued to face legal challenges for bypassing state authority and potentially violating the Posse Comitatus Act, which limits military involvement in domestic law enforcement.  Cal Matters
8. Reward loyalists and punish defectors: Make in-group members fearful to voice dissention.
   • “Mnuchin, Acosta, and the others had already seen, as had the world, what happens to those who “betray” Trump–the shunning, bullying, baiting, and outright expulsion.  They had seen Trump unleash the full fury of his anger on one of his earliest and most devoted followers, then attorney general Jeff Sessions, for recusing himself from the FBI investigation into possible collusion with Russia during Trump’s presidential campaign.  They had seen Trump fire the head of the FBI, James Comey, for reportedly refusing to stop that same investigation.” The Cult of Trump
   • Recently, Trump fired Erika McEntarfer, the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), because he didn’t like the verifiably true jobs report that showed growth below market expectations.  NBC News
   • The worst punished was his own VP, Mike Pence, who Trump stoked the fire of those calling for his hanging in Jan 6 Capitol riots.
9. Encourage or condone violence to advance political goals: Dehumanize opposition and/or out-groups to justify violence against them.
   • I’ve already shared examples that dehumanize the opposition and I’d be remiss not to include his support of the Proud Boys, a right-wing extremist group that serves as a tent for misogynistic, anti-immigrant, Islamophobic and anti-LGBTQ+ ideologies and other forms of hate – including antisemitism and white supremacy – that oppose progressivism, feminism, multiculturalism and “woke” ideology in the United States.  Anti-Defamation League  In the 2020 Presidential debate, Trump said “Proud Boys, stand back and stand by.” encouraging rather than condemning the group.  Everytown transcript
10. Organize mass rallies to keep supporters mobilized against made-up threats: Use fearmongering and hate speech to consolidate in-group identity and solidarity.
    • Read the full January 6th Trump speech where he called for a riot saying “I think right here, we’re going to walk down to the Capitol, and we’re going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women, and we’re probably not going to be cheering so much for some of them.  Because you’ll never take back our country with weakness. You have to show strength and you have to be strong. We have come to demand that Congress do the right thing and only count the electors who have been lawfully slated, lawfully slated.  I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard. [Which he didn’t mean as he riled them up saying]  “We fight like hell. And if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore,” he said.  His speech is full of distrust of institutions and democracy and thinly veiled threats to his VP Mike Pence. As the Capitol was being attacked, Trump ignored calls to intervene, condemn the attacks and tell the rioters to go home.  In fact, he tweeted an attack on VP Mike Pence, who refused to certify a fraudulent election result saying that he “didn’t have the courage” to the crowd who had already been chanting “Hang Mike Pence”.  The House Select Committee on January 6 presented evidence that Trump was told about the chants and indicated that Pence “deserves it”.  He didn’t tell his supporters to go home until 4.17pm where he falsely continued claiming that the election was stolen and told the rioters “We love you.  You’re very special.”  These are the same rioters that were responsible for what the Department of Justice said was “likely the largest single-day mass assault of law enforcement officers in our nation’s history”.  140 law enforcement officers were injured, and at least seven people died in connection with the events. This includes four rioters who died on the day of the riot and three police officers who died in the following days and weeks. Trump pardoned the convicted criminals.
    • Following Charlie Kirk’s murder, there appear to be grassroots vigils and terrifying displays of hatred.  They shared videos of them marching in Huntington Beach chanting “White men fight back!” with the caption “DEATH TO THE LEFT” Wired
11. Make people feel like they are powerless to change things: Solutions will only come from the top.
    • “Nobody knows the system better than me, which is why I alone can fix it.” (2016 RNC speech)
    • That’s why I created this blog.  I want to make sure we all feel supported and united to fight for democracy.

I know this was a long post.  It took quite a while to compile referenceable examples.  I think it’s important we keep a record of these legal, political and ethical atrocities. Would you add any other key examples that illustrate we are in the throes of fascism?