A conflation of two Facebook posts has given me a little hope today.
I first saw someone post that they don’t understand how Trump is seen as a strong man by his supporters when he is so evidently a whiny, complaining, insecure, inarticulate fool desperately pretending to be what he obviously is not and looking for affirmation from everyone.
And reading that, I realized that this is almost exactly how I described all the folks complaining about business closures and stay-at-home orders. They pretend to be tough and criticize us “snowflakes” who they say are afraid of the virus. They say that our freedom depends on people like them. And yet they aren’t rushing to do essential, frontline jobs; they don’t seem to care that anyone else is sick or dying or that what they seek might lead to more illness and death; and they are certainly not willing to make any sacrifices of their good for that of anyone else. Far from being tough and self-possessed, they are a bunch of whining complainers who don’t understand the first thing about the virus and what we have to do to contain it.
Just like Trump.
I’ve been warning about Trump’s neo-fascist movement since long before he was elected. And there is no question that the ideas of Trump and his supporters are neo-fascist in nature. Like the fascists of the 1930s, Trumpism presents itself as a nationalist movement, one that seeks to restore to lift up our nation by calling on us to “Put America First” and “Make America Great Again.” Like the fascists of the 1930s, Trumpism seeks to raise up the common people against the elites who are said to have betrayed our traditional ideals. Like the fascists of the 1930s, Trumpism blames minority groups and foreign influences for undermining those ideals and for benefiting themselves at the expense of the common people. Like the fascists of the 1930s, Trumpism seeks to rally people behind a strong leader who pledges to overcome the divisions and corruption of the politicians even if that means—or especially if that means—breaking with long established political practice and constitutional norms. Like the fascists of the 1930s, Trumpism is led by a demagogue who rallies his supporters with naked emotional appeals to their anger at and resentment of others. And like the fascists of the 1930s, Trumpism’s leader is ridiculed by those who oppose him for his vulgarity and buffoonery and those very same qualities establish him among his supporters as an authentic and honest leader of the people.
Given all those parallels, I’ve feared Trump and his movement. And he has already done enormous damage to our country and the world—and he could do far more if he is reelected. But it’s been clear for some time that the danger of Trump would be limited by his complete and utter incompetence.
Incompetence is not all that unusual among fascist leaders. But Trump’s media cunning and insight into how to appeal to his base is not accompanied by any ability to follow a train of thought let alone to understand political or policy questions beyond the most elementary level. And his problem is not just stupidity, but his extraordinarily damaged personality. His narcissistic neediness and insecurity make it almost impossible for him to focus on any one policy direction because he is constantly trying to appeal to whoever is in front of him and whatever he hears on Fox News. And his neediness as well as his greed means that he’s incapable of actually carrying out bold plans that would actually require him to sacrifice anything to accomplish any public goals.
That, of course, is all true for his followers as well. His whiny, complaining followers can’t deal with seven weeks of business closures and staying at home even when they know that Trump has agreed to Democratic proposals to help them with unemployment benefits and small business loans that will be forgiven. Can you imagine them paying the taxes to support a major war or going to war themselves? They bring their weapons to protests against business closures but there is no doubt that aside from a few psychopaths among them, they would run as fast as they could from any real conflict.
They are still dangerous. They are bullies and given an opportunity to come together to kill a few innocent Black people or Jews I’ve little doubt that many of them will do it. Their rejection of necessary efforts to protect us from COVID-19 has turned them into a death cult. So I’m not going to turn my back on them. And if and when Trump calls on them to march in the streets to protest the election he will say is stolen from him, they will come out with their guns.
But they will also run away at the first sign of trouble. They are not only cowards but are utterly unwilling to risk their lives for anyone but themselves.
Trump’s movement is a degenerate fascism. It claims to want to make America great, but it has no vision of greatness to offer and makes no demands on its followers to sacrifice for the common good. And they would not make any such sacrifice if Trump asked. Trump’s fascism is, thankfully, fatally compromised by the worst kind of American individualism. Making America great has never been about doing anything in common except trying to go back to a world in which women and Blacks and immigrants knew their place. That’s extremely dangerous, and we need to do everything we can to push back against it and protect our friends and neighbors. But the most oppressive regimes oppress everyone and insist that individuals give up their own good for that of the nation. Trump is not prepared to ask that of his followers.
We remain in grave danger, especially if Trump wins in November. But, between Trump’s incompetence in handling the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic disaster it has created, I think that’s becoming less and less likely.
So, for the first time since July of 2015 when I thought that Trump had a real chance of winning the Republican nomination, I’m a little more optimistic about the future of this country. The last few weeks have shown us the limits of Trump’s movement. The incompetence and buffoonery of not just the leader but the followers of this movement are becoming more and more obvious. And that not only means that the threat it poses may be less than I have sometimes feared but that the Trump base will solely decline. That won’t happen enough to avoid a close election in November and we must do everything we can to ensure Trump loses. And even if he loses, the Trump movement will not go away. Still, when he does, that too will weaken the movement—strongmen are not supposed to lose elections and not everyone one of his supporters will believe his claims that he was cheated. And, at the same time, the remnants of the movement is going to become more and more right-wing. That will make it a more destructive force in Congress and in states where it holds or shares power. At the same time, however, the more right-wing it becomes the less it will appeal to enough voters to win victories. And slowly the demographic change the Trump movement fears will further whittle away its power.
We have a long way to go until this nightmare ends. But finally, I can see this country on a path to waking up.