Yale historian Timothy Snyder notes that voting is the most important way to stop fascism in the United States.
“Hitler came to power after an election which enabled his appointment as head of government. It is much easier for fascists to begin from within than to begin from without. Hitler’s earlier coup attempt failed. But once he had legitimate power, inside the system as chancellor (prime minister), he could manipulate it from within. In the American system, ‘voting’ means not just going to the polls yourself, but making donations, phone-banking, and knocking on doors. We are still, happily, at the stage when unglamorous actions can make the difference.”
Also, coalitions are necessary. “In 1932, in the crucial German election, the far left and the center left were separated. The reasons for this were very specific: Stalin ordered the German communists to oppose the German social democrats, thereby helping Hitler to power. To be sure, the American political spectrum is very different, as are the times. Yet the general lesson does suggest itself: the left has to hold together with the the center-left, and their energies have to be directed at the goal rather than at each other.”
I have some hope that even on a rather lefty place like (most of) Lemmy, the dialogue among the left is a lot less tolerant of far-left absolutism than I sometimes see. Hopefully lefty infighting can take a backseat long enough for right wing threats to lessen.
I mean no, but I’ve long ago made my peace that I’ll get downvotes from the far left when I veer away from the groupthink. Whatever. It’s fine that they want to go further left as long as they vote to keep Trump out of power. I actually miss having a sane right that offers an alternative to candidates I disagree with, but right now I’m all in. You want to come destroy my suburban way of life? Sure, buddy, but let’s just beat fascism first.
People seem to think that calling everyone a Nazi is the best way to build a powerful coalition.
Unfortunately that may have been true before trumps first election, and the now corruption of the Supreme Court. We are at the point where we must succeed at every possible election until the end of time… and the numbers now look like absolute trash. Even if Biden wins this time the damage has been done, we can only lose footing against the slow slide into fascism.
