An authoritarian hurricane approaches. Can democracy stop it?

OTTAWA—Is the weather changing for liberalism? It may be sunny outside, but it’s dark and stormy in the minds of small-l liberals and democratic champions. This is category-four angst trying to predict the hurricane of the far right. In many parts of the world, the far right is actually fascism. Fascism is authoritarian, hates pluralism, can’t stand people who are different from it, will say or do anything to get its way, and embodies “the end justifies the means." Fascism got its start in Italy following the First World War when Benito Mussolini decided his clan held the hereditary right to Rome. Mussolini used bloodshed and conflict to seize power, and the federal coalition of the time decided not to go to civil war to hold him back. Mussolini bullied his way into the role of prime minister, and turned out to be a dictator. He killed Giacomo Matteotti, a deputy of the opposition party, admitted it, and said he did nothing wrong. Fascism is also the bender and breaker of fact. Fascism grew with the lie that the Great Depression was due to those immigrants—sound familiar? Hungary, Romania, Greece, and other nations dabbled in fascism in the 1920s and into the 1930s, and it took over Germany. Fascism twists truth, demands obedience, uses police and military to silence opposition—this is what created the fertile ground for genocide. So few spoke up against the domestic erosion and all-out war against human rights in the decade leading up to the Holocaust. All the warning signs were there, but fascism is best at eradicating opposition. That’s why we must catch it early. The greatest threat to humanity and democracy is the buildup of lies and twisted truths to create a fake enemy, to create fear of the other. Because then any crime is possible. Donald Trump is the Mussolini-Hitler for our times. He was given a stage to yell his fakery and straight up lies. It’s called "newspeak" in the world of the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. Simplistic language, little words, all meant to reduce the ability to critique it. If we add on “Project 2025," the master plan for the rise of Christian fascism which is circulating in the United States, it’s horrifying. Hitler also had a master plan. Project 2025 is authoritarian, against pluralism and human rights, will use force to make it so, and now has the legal powers to do it thanks to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to make the president the king. Project 2025 is not the official plan of Trump’s team, but god help anybody trying to argue that Trump doesn’t know about it, or won’t do it. Of course he would. Besides the risk of having a fascist state next door, let’s bring this home. As a democracy, we’ve let fascism in the hen house. Here’s a bet that there’s a Canadian version of Project 2025 brewing somewhere brewing, probably supported by U.S. Republicans. In case nobody said it out loud today: the Republican Party is no longer, it’s the "Christian Fascism Party," with ironic inflection on the "Christian" part. A small hint that there’s supposed to be a deep taboo against fascism. Federal and provincial/territorial political parties take note. Truth, science, and logic matter. Human rights matter. Don’t give in to the simplistic notions of populism of “me first" that’s truly as un-Canadian as it gets. Take the time to explain the facts and your party’s position on how best to act on them that benefits all, not just your clan. Don’t drop into newspeak, or simplistic little sound bites because that’s part of the problem. Governing is complex, democracies are complex. Don’t dumb it down to newspeak. We’re essentially in mid-1930s Germany, and all the signs are there for the rise of fascism. The angst is that we see it coming like a hurricane. The question remaining is if politics is the actor to stop it. Rose LeMay is Tlingit from the West Coast and the CEO of the Indigenous Reconciliation Group. She writes twice a month about Indigenous inclusion and reconciliation. In Tlingit worldview, the stories are the knowledge system, sometimes told through myth and sometimes contradicting the myths told by others. But always with at least some truth. The Hill Times

An authoritarian hurricane approaches. Can democracy stop it?

All the signs are there for the rise of fascism. The angst is that we see it coming like a hurricane. The question remaining is if politics is the actor to stop it.

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An authoritarian hurricane approaches. Can democracy stop it?

All the signs are there for the rise of fascism. The angst is that we see it coming like a hurricane. The question remaining is if politics is the actor to stop it.

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