For some, Fascism is already here

The air feels tense, yet we have to act normal

Rumeysa Ozturk, Momodou Taal, Badar Khan Suri, Mahmoud Khalil, Yunseo Chung, Leqaa Kordia. All students who were detained without any cause by ICE. Today, another student, Alireza Doroudi, was also detained without any charges and is currently being held at an undisclosed location. Students go to class in fear. 238 people who have not been officially charged for any crime have been sent to one of the worst prisons in the world. One of them was cited as being deported because their tattoos looked gang affiliated. The tattoo was of the Real Madrid football team. More than three people have been held in custody or turned away at the border for having things on their phone that go against the current administration. Permenant residents live in fear. For a lot of people in America in this very moment feel the force of a fascist regime. But if this is all true, why does the world still feel sort of normal?

Why does it feel normal?

1. You still have to do normal stuff

There’s work, bills, chores, plans, rent, more bills. You still have to do all of the normal stuff. If we’re in fascism, then how come I still have to go to work and there is no chaos in the streets? You might say to yourself, even if we are in fascism, there’s pretty much nothing I can realistically do to alter any of this, so might as well just keep on doing the same old. But here’s the thing, fascism is inherently reductive. The net cast initially is very small, very permissible. Since it’s by definition minorities, a lot of people are unlikely to see it themselves. However, as small as the initial out group is, the net gets wider and wider very quickly. For when the social contract is breached, when the constitutional limitations are broken, you have to move as quickly as you can.

2. History is not black and white

People often think events in history just happen on a certain day, at a certain time, at a certain place. We’re told that World War I started because one day the Archduke of Austria died, and then boom war. We often think Hitler came into power, and then boom holocaust. However, to the people living at that point in time, it was just another Tuesday. Because that’s the thing, they also still had to go to work. And for most, since the target was initially minorities, they didn’t really see it in their day-to-day life. What I mean to say of this is that history has always been a boiling frog in a pot of water.

What makes you call this fascism?

1. Courts

So what makes this administration fascist like? Besides arresting people without a charge, there are other red alarms. The most current issue is the constant limit testing of breaking court orders. Just today, a judge ordered the government to not move Rumeysa Ozturk to Louisiana, but the administration swiftly ignored the ruling and sent her there anyway. Their argument is the order was written after she was moved. The 238 people sent to El Salvador was against the ruling of a judge who had ordered the plane to be turned around. Their argument was that they were in international water by the time the judge wrote his order. All of this is to limit test the judicial system to see how much they can push it. Leveraging the slow moving justice system, they can get away with whatever they want while they duke it out in court.

In a second angle of attack, Trump is going after the law firms. By threatening big law firms, they are more afraid to pursue cases against the current administration. In fact, just this week, Trump has targeted Robert Mueller’s former law firm and the law firm Paul Weiss has agreed to provide pro bono work free of charge for the Trump administration in exchange for not being targeted. These two angles of attack are slowly chipping away at the last standing pillar that is the judicial branch.

2. Media

The so-called fake news, a classic fascist tactic, is to discredit journalism, and specifically any outlets that go against the current admin. We saw VOA shut down, threats to NPR, strong arming news network to settle in court for alleged defamation. While this has been a longstanding Trump tactic, it seems that they are now being targeted monetarily. We saw the Associated Press lose press pool access for not calling it The Gulf of America. Trump mostly now has administration friendly reporters that are allowed to ask questions so that there is no confrontational journalism. All of this create an environment where dissent is not allowed.

3. Schools

Perhaps one of the most textbook examples of fascism is the attack on education. A less educated populace means an easier time propagandizing the mass. The most concentrated area of attack we see right now is at the University of Columbia. Meant to act as an “example” of what could happen to other schools, they have now gotten every demand they asked for. This includes academic receivership, which puts the Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies department under essentially government oversight. It seems to be a limit test to see how much they can bully educational institutions while getting away with it. This also comes along with some other actions, such as dismembering the Department of Education and cutting funding to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which funds a majority of doctoral research at universities.

So where do we go now?

The first and foremost thing you should do is be aware. People even knowing what is happening is half the battle. And that doesn’t mean be glued to Twitter, follow every substack, and put CNN in on the background. But you can maybe put on Up First from NPR—a 10-minute daily podcast just rounding up the news—while you drive to work. Throw on The Daily Show once in a while when you're eating your lunch. Being aware is both important for your own safety, and everyone around you. And for those of you who are deep into the 17th Substack article, and scroll Twitter once hourly, get proactive and use that energy towards good. See if your congressperson has any town halls, join a community around you fighting for causes you care about, or donate a little to those causes. Turn that frustration into activism. Stay safe you guys, I’ll see you back on Monday.