My sister just sent me the WIRED video of history professor and authoritarianism scholar Dr. Ruth Ben-Ghiat explaining fascism and what makes a dictatorship, which now has 2M+ views: https://youtu.be/vK6fALsenmw?si=0_vOrwUZ0qtdzJ_5
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I am retired and live in Canada. My younger brother just retired and lives in the States. He is gay and is married to a wonderful man and no longer wants to hide who he is as a man. I fear for him. I am sad I have to worry. I thought we had grown beyond that as a society. I was wrong…
Great video. I watched it the other day and she does a terrific job of drawing straight lines from fascists of the past and Trump's actions and beliefs.
Mussolini was a socialist who determined that international socialism was a non-starter during WW1 when ppl showed attachment to the nation. Fascism is socialism for the nation. Progressives of the 20s & 30s were very impressed with it; the "3rd Way". FDR patterned the NRA after its econ ideas.
I'm not too sure I would put Xi Jinping in with Putin. He has done a great job of raising his people out of poverty and providing them with free education, healthcare, child care, etc. Leader of climate change, tech, etc. etc. I MAY accept a dictator if they did that for me!!!!........:-)
Yep, Karen, a great synopsis. I think some people get too focused on equating fascism with "racial" purity because of Hitler's focus on the latter, but Dr. Ben-Ghiat covers the whole spectrum and the overall authoritarian threat of the ideology.
I watched the video today. There is no doubt in my mind now that the US has fallen to fascism and now has a dictator at its helm, something they have rallied against since world war 2, building and demanding alliances along the way. If I was living there I would absolutely be making plans to leave.
my sister is currently on maternity leave in Toronto and is not a huge news consumer but also texted me "I think you should come back to Canada" the day after the election and suggested I become a financial analyst
When I was in Amsterdam last year, where I used to live, a friend asked me sincerely whether I would need to leave the country. I had to stop and think about it.
things are at a point that my sister, deeply sleep-deprived and caring for a 8-month-old baby, is sending me a well-produced viral video explainer by @wired.com about historic dictators like Mussolini and their connections to the current situation in the US: https://youtu.be/vK6fALsenmw?si=0_vOrwUZ0qtdzJ_5
You might appreciate my podcast then bc I’ve been breaking down the connections in digestible chunks. Let me know if you give it a listen. Would love to hear your thoughts!
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