The Five Elements of Fascism And how Trump and much of today’s Republican Party embrace them (Part 2) 3. Nationalism based on a dominant “superior” race and historic bloodlines. “Tremendous infectious disease is pouring across the border … The United States has become a dumping ground for Mexico and, in fact, for many other parts of the world.” (Trump, 2015) “I think any Jewish people that vote for a Democrat, I think it shows either a total lack of knowledge or great disloyalty.” (2019) “Getting critical race theory out of our schools is not just a matter of values, it’s also a matter of national survival … If we allow the Marxists and Communists and Socialists to teach our children to hate America, there will be no one left to defend our flag or to protect our great country or its freedom.” (2022) Fascists see a nation as embodying what they consider a “superior” group — based on race, religion, and historic bloodlines. Nationalism is a means of asserting that superiority. They worry about disloyalty and sabotage from groups within the nation that don’t share the same race or bloodlines. These “others” are scapegoated, excluded or expelled, sometimes even killed. Fascists believe schools and universities must teach values that extol the dominant race, religion, and bloodline. Schools should not teach inconvenient truths (such as America’s history of genocide and racism).
The Five Elements of Fascism And how Trump and much of today’s Republican Party embrace them (Part 3) 4. Extolling brute strength and heroic warriors. “You’ll never take back our country with weakness, you have to show strength and you have to be strong. (Trump, January 6, 2021) “I am your warrior.” (2023) The ostensible goal of fascism is to strengthen society. Fascism’s method of accomplishing this is to reward those who win economically and physically and to denigrate or exterminate those who lose. Fascism depends on organized bullying — a form of social Darwinism. For the fascist, war and violence are means of strengthening society by culling the weak and extolling heroic warriors. 5. Disdain of women and fear of non-standard forms of gender identity and sexual orientation. “When you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab ‘em by the p***y. You can do anything.” (Trump, 2005) “You have to treat ‘em like ****.” (1992) I will “promote positive education about the nuclear family, the roles of mothers and fathers and celebrating, rather than erasing, the things that make men and women different.” (2023) Fascism is organized around the particular hierarchy of male dominance. The fascist heroic warrior is male. Women are relegated to subservient roles. In fascism, anything that challenges the traditional heroic male roles of protector, provider, and controller of the family is considered a threat to the social order. Fascism seeks to eliminate homosexuals, transgender, and queer people because they are thought to challenge or weaken the heroic male warrior.
The Five Elements of Fascism And how Trump and much of today’s Republican Party embrace them (Part 4) These five elements of fascism reinforce each other. Rejection of democracy in favor of a strongman depends on galvanizing popular rage. Popular rage draws on a nationalism based on a supposed superior race or ethnicity. That superior race or ethnicity is justified by a social Darwinist idea of strength and violence, as exemplified by heroic warriors. Strength, violence, and the heroic warrior are centered on male power. These five elements also find exact expression in Donald Trump and the White Christian National movement he is encouraging. It is also the direction most of the Republican Party is now heading. https://robertreich.substack.com/p/the-five-elements-of-fascism
As a Latino, Tony made jokes about us.... oh noooo Im soooooo mad and sad..... anyways Still watching Kill Tony and still voting Trump....Imagine thinking jokes are going to sway the election lol...
Very interesting and thanks @juicystream for the link. I never knew about Theordre Michael before and just went down a semi rabbit hole about him. These are things history books should highlight to give more depth. Was it offensive when he made gay jokes at a Democrat event where they all laughed? Was George Lopez offensive recently for making jokes about Mexicans stealing at a campaign event? Bring back 90s comedy!
I hope that one day you'll get it. I'm not talking about getting whatever lame joke it was, I am talking about when things might be offensive or acceptable.
George Lopez can make jokes about Mexico and Mexicans, since he self identifies as such. When Tony Hinchcliffe (some white dude born in Ohio) tells a joke-not-a-joke about Puerto Rico being a "floating island of garbage", this is not a self-effacing joke. The audience appears to get the not-a-joke part of the joke-not-a-joke. This reminds me of the old trope ... if what I say is true, how can it be racist? ... you know like ... "N*gg*s are lazy. amirite?" The proof of the pudding is what did Americans of Puerto Rico descent who live in one of the 50 US states (all 5.5 million of them). Trump et al have now given 5.5 million voters to show up to the polls and vote against him. Sad, really.
Huh? The Nazi's hated Communists as much as Jews or any other group - they were just an ideology and not a religion or what they viewed as an ethnicity. The Nazi's killed the mentally disabled first .... then the Communists - then they killed the Jews - then they killed what were called Gypsies at the time - then they killed homosexuals.. then they decided just to kill a bunch of Poles because they were too Eastern European.... they also went after the Jehovah's Witnesses....... they killed the few Germans that were of Africa heritage as too, because they viewed Africans as sub human.... they also went after women, they forced women to have sex with German soldiers so that they could have Aryan children...... they also killed the Catholics that refused to play ball with the Nazi Party. They started out by desensitizing each other and then the German people. They justified their behavior by claiming they were fighting Communists that were trying to take over Germany, and that the moderate ruling party wasn't harsh enough - they were a fascist and authoritarian right wing party that were able to cobble together support by vilifying groups of people and claiming the Communists were the real threat. They also did a very good job at giving outcasts a chance - a lot of doctors and lawyers and businesspeople that had been labeled as grifters or crazy were able to get a chance and advance in Nazi Germany. The workers felt that joining the Nazi Party gave them social mobility (it did). When the rhetoric got too bad and voters began to leave the Nazi Party, Hitler would cut back on the rhetoric for awhile and then amp it back up once he had power of if it helped him politically.
Tony bombed as a roast comic but it's more unfunny how the media is twisting that moment into something more sinister. Next 15 mins of outrage....
He is a very good comic - he is like a modern Don Rickles. The problem is that his set really isn't appropriate for a political rally because his comedy is very biting and mean. In general he and Kill Tony has gotten too lazy, now all of it is race/gender/disability comedy... it can be low hanging fruit and isn't funny when that is 90% of the set every single time. I don't blame the Comic - I blame the people around Trump for not vetting it better. It wasn't a good look but other than highlighting existing Trump problems - I don't think it moves the needle for anyone.
Thanks for the well known history lesson but I was simply talking about photos of Blacks and other marginalized groups at concentration camps, and how many of those stories aren't told. It's not going to change anything, especially for a populace that already votes 80% Dem.
Yeah - there is no need to twist it either. The comic was invited because he supports Trump and is friends with Joe Rogan. They likely did not talk to him about what his jokes would be - so he did his normal roast and it just wasn't the right place to do them. What he said was offensive in the context of where he said it - Trump has a history of these types of problems, he has to deal with it --- but it isn't like the Trump Team WANTED him to go and **** all over every group to the extent that he did.
First, if that guy made gay jokes at a Dem event, I’d castigate that too. But no, this isn’t just about Hinchcliffe (although that was wonderful from my perspective and for my desired outcome). The thing is, you don’t evaluate a person or a candidate based on a single data point. You consider his entire political track record of: - racist rhetoric (trumpers excuse it and call people overly sensitive, or hey, it was just a joke by a comedian) - surrounding himself with people who are openly racist or white Christian nationalists (trumpers say these people aren’t racist, you’re racist for calling them racist) - excusing, justifying (“both sides”) the racist behavior or racist groups across the country - welcoming the political support of white supremacists/groups - unwillingness to denounce white racists Last night was just a good reminder of who Trump is. And the response to last night is a good reminder of who Trumpers are.
It wasn't that well known apparently...... because all of the pictures you see are not of Jews in concentration camps...... and the stories of other groups in concentration camps are discussed in history books and known by many people.
What is being left out of the equation is that people are more forgiving of people within a group making jokes about that same group ....... when you are not in that group, and when it isn't a comedy club --- then it can become problematic. I personally find Tony funny, he makes fun of most groups of people - including the demographics he fits in ---- just wasn't the right place for it. I'll say this - my friend that is a decently well known Comic thinks that it will long term be viewed as comedy gold and other Comics like ---- he loves the awkwardness of it, the response by Tony and the general uneasiness to his jokes.
I agree and the clip of AOCs response is fair game. Even the audience there mostly knew the distinction The issue is that sells more headlines to label Tony's set as the entire tone of the convention despite him having the worst bomb at NY in the last 20 years. Media will cry wolf along with legit concerns about Trump, which floods the zone even more.
There is a huge difference in a Mexican making a joke about Mexicans than a white guy doing it. Where were the white redneck jokes? Or any jokes about white people? Where were the self deprecating jokes?
I started off by asking where the pictures are of Blacks in these concentration camps, so if it’s as well known as you claim then go ahead and post them. Should be plenty to choose from, considering the thousands of photos taken. Not even the link provided earlier has any of that. We know Nazis targeted plenty of marginalized groups, including Blacks, but you almost never see photos of Black individuals in these camps in mainstream history books. Maybe it’s because there weren’t as many Black people in Nazi areas or maybe certain stories didn’t get the same attention because there "weren't as many" or whatever. I’m not saying there’s some big conspiracy, but it does make you wonder why these stories aren’t represented visually, especially given all the other documentation. Couldn't Speilberg have had a Black actor/actress play a role in Schindler's List, for example? Just look at how history is framed and which narratives get the spotlight.
