I was raised in a society that on 4th of July cheers for the birth of democracy and calls itself the greatest democracy on earth. My father served in WWII and my parents both celebrated the end of fascism in Europe which had threatened their entire generation. In many movies and TV shows throughout my life Nazis have been the symbols of evil. So I could hardly have imagined that at any point in my life I would be encountering the rise of fascism—and certainly not in the US! And yet here we are.
I have spent the last 18 years fighting climate change and looking unwaveringly at grim scientific predictions about climate change – various disaster scenarios. Yet ironically those predictions discussed the change of our physical environment, such as the impacts of polar caps melting or drought, increased hurricanes and storms, and so on. I remember watching “An Inconvenient Truth” and being clear in my own mind that what was missing from it was two predictions: social upheaval and wars caused by drought/food shortages, and immigrant migration from countries that become uninhabitable.
How Climate Change Effects Are Tied to the Rise of Fascism
Despite the fact that I could imagine these consequences of global heating, what I failed to predict was the rise of fascism and far right nationalism in some European countries and the US. However, it does make sense that as people become more afraid about immigration, rising food prices as crops fail, and other related catastrophes, some look for “a strong man” leader (or Big Daddy). Unfortunately, power maniacs are only too willing to make any promise necessary to gain power and to say exactly what the public longs for.
Fear of an enemy, internal or external, is a classic ingredient of fascism. Combine that with rising nationalism, and we see increasing hostility to and targeting of immigrants. This hostility is so strong that the Democratic Party can hardly distinguish itself from the Republican Party on this issue and instead “has to agree” that the border is a problem. What went unsaid is that global heating is already causing climate destabilization/crop failure/food shortages and resulting social upheaval and wars in the global south: Africa and South America. Thus Europe sees many African refugees and the US sees many South American refugees. Rather than discussing the root of the problem, Trump simply labels immigrants from those countries as thugs, criminals and drug dealers.
Other Characteristics of Fascism
Fear is used to target any who are deemed different—thus the rabid anti-trans and anti LBGQT+ messaging of the MAGA movement. Some I know question my family members’ fear of now being targeted. But if you look at the huge number of anti-LBGQT ads Trump was running in the last weeks of the presidential campaign, it is clear that for him anti-LBGQT fear is something to gain strength from. This has parallels with the rise of Hitler. Those Hitler targeted first were political dissidents, gays and lesbians, and the handicapped. The Jews came later. We cannot be naive about that.
The suppression of women is present in all fascist societies. Certainly, the move to take away abortion rights, to criminalize miscarriages or even those who assist pregnant women in trouble…as well as the emerging push to remove IVF and access to birth control…are all indicators of a society where women’s rights are slipping away. While US exceptionalism would not allow us to see this, a ranking of women’s rights internationally has the US at 33 among 120 nations (see https://www.theglobaleconomy.com/rankings/women_political_empowerment_index/). Looking at this truth is critical for us right now.
What We Can Do to Fight the Rise of Fascism
We do ourselves a great disservice if we try to reassure each other that everything is okay or will be shortly. It is a disservice because not countering the rise of fascism is what will allow fascism to overcome our society.
After the November election, when I was lamenting that the majority of our country chose Trump, a friend comforted me by pointing out that 27% of voting age Americans are not even registered to vote and that close to 90 million did not register to vote in the November election. Only 64% of registered voters voted – so that means only 32 or 33% of Americans voted for Trump.
While it might be comforting to know that Trump does not have the voting support of most Americans, democracy was lost when many in our country did not vote. They turned their eyes away. In fact, the most common Google search on election day was “Did Joe Biden drop out?” and “Who is Kamala Harris?” The next day the most common search was “What is a tariff?” In this frightening state of ignorance and apathy, our country’s democracy is in danger.
The apathy of the voting public already had results after the last Trump election in 2016. During his first term he nominated three anti-abortion Supreme Court justices. I remember when Roe v. Wade was overturned by the Supreme Court, a friend reported that her friend cried, “How could this happen?” My friend turned to her and said furiously, “Because YOU and others like you did not vote in the last election.”
Many people reported that in the November 2024 election they voted for Trump even though they did not like him “because of the economy”. It is a fact that he did much worse with the economy than either Obama or Biden – but the opposite was apparently the popular belief. What is most frightening about that is Hitler was elected because Germany was in economic hard times from having to pay reparations for WWI, and he promised to improve their economy.
We now must keep our eyes on the prize–with that prize being democracy! We must quickly wake our neighbors out of their slumber, and we must not let ourselves believe that the November election loss is like any other time in our lives where our favored party lost to the other party. The history of fascism, not only in Germany but wherever it arises, shows us what to expect and what must be resisted.
Fear and isolation are the first things to resist as they are the most important tools of fascism. So begin by finding people you can talk to about the kind of things in this opinion piece. Be ready to take action to resist the erosion of the rights of LBGQT+ people, immigrants and women. Work against the concentration of power in the executive branch of the federal government, especially the hands of the president.
To learn about such laws already proposed by MAGA Republicans, see “Defending Democracy from Fascism Legislatively” in this issue of WIP.
Lynn Fitz-Hugh founded and works with Restoring Earth Connection. For over 16 years, she has worked in various capacities fighting climate change.
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