Use the Damn Word

 “An unimagined catastrophe now characterizes how American education is being shaped by far-right Republican Party politicians.” Henry Giroux, Counterpunch

A large truck rushes down Milpas Street, gears grinding. Breaks my chill. It’s sunny and warm in Santa Barbara, the second day of the annual Fiesta celebration. My wife and I are both SB natives and have seen numerous Fiestas come and go, and like a lot of old-time locals we stay away until all that remains is confetti from cascarones. When our kids were small we always took them to the parade, and one year, Gabriel’s preschool was in it. But it’s been a long, long time since we drank our way down State Street, and rubbed behinds in the tourist circus. 

The word I want more Americans to study and use is fascism. I cannot remember seeing and hearing so many political voices uttering, amplifying, and repeating authoritarian language or proposing, and in many cases during the past few years, passing into law, more and more extreme measures designed to make it even more difficult for people to reason for themselves. The rights of women to control their bodies, to make their own decisions about giving birth, exercising that autonomy, naturally garners a lot of attention. I’ve no beef with that. What I’m watching is what despicable motherfuckers like Ron DeSantis in Florida, and Greg Abbott of Texas, are doing to transform public education into party-approved doctrine and dogma. This goes way beyond telling little fibs and huge lies about the causes of the Civil War and its aftermath, and protecting the delicate sensibilities of white children from the facts of their country’s history. I’m talking Nazi Party levels, people, or if that analogy bothers you, the Soviet communist party under Stalin. Ever heard of Stalin’s purges? If you didn’t toe the Party line you got a bullet in the back of the head. The Republican Party at this moment is functioning in much the same way, but using ostracism instead of bullets. Cowards are still afraid to cross Big Daddy Trump, so they slip their resolute masks on and fulminate about election fraud and call into question Biden’s legitimacy, even as evidence mounts and mounts that Trump attempted to overthrow the US government. People who watch too much Fox News or too much MSNBC are equally deluded. We’re watching a power grab, an authoritarian one. Get it straight: Trump’s desire, his fixation, is to become the American state, as Putin is the Russian state. Trump loves putting his name on things. Why not an entire country?

Authoritarianism is a potent aphrodisiac in a time of drastic change and social upheaval, of endless war and extreme wealth inequality, of suffering and privation for the many and opulence for the few, and of nostalgia for a golden age that never was. Nationalism. Even better, Christian Nationalism. Us against them, good versus evil, all nice and simple, little individual thought required. If it takes wiping the historic record clean, burning all the books, arresting those who disagree to maintain purity of the group, party, race, so be it.

This is scary shit, political monkeypox, and a virulent strain, so don’t sugarcoat it or refuse to call it out by name; fascism has gradations, shades and degrees, like most things in life. And one more thing, never underestimate the role that unregulated capitalism plays in causing the tremors that shake us to our skeletons. What happens when capitalism refuses to address the needs of the masses for basic necessities? Authoritarianism, social control, crackdowns to maintain order, and more and more extreme tests of loyalty to the Great Leader or the Party, which is usually one and the same. It doesn’t happen overnight, like flicking a light switch, it happens more gradually.

Authoritarians appeal to people who are scared of losing their privilege or place. The Gospel of Bigotry and Resentment plays well in times of uncertainty, and there is no shortage of messengers appealing to the aggrieved. We need to chill and think, but our little digital devices demand constant attention. We fucking killed silence and made contemplation a dirty word.