The New Paradigm For American Elections: Fascism vs Democracy
Our political landscape has moved into an all new existential crisis that ought to dominate how we approach both 2024 and beyond.
by Bob Cesca
WASHINGTON, DC – We need to rethink how we’re framing the 2024 election. And we need to do it now so there’s enough time to mobilize around this new framing.
We’re accustomed to viewing every election through the prism of the two party paradigm: Republicans versus Democrats. However, our political landscape has moved beyond that paradigm into an all new existential crisis that ought to dominate how we approach both 2024 and beyond. And this new paradigm is fascism versus democracy.
To be clear: I haven’t reached this conclusion lightly. Until recently, I’ve only been casually hinting at this dynamic, yet I’ve hesitated to outright define our politics in these terms. But now I’ve seen enough to know how badly this obvious lurch toward fascism could spiral out of control, and therefore now’s the time to issue a warning in no uncertain terms to anyone who still isn’t taking the stakes of our elections with the deadly seriousness they deserve – in particular anyone who exists under the naive misapprehension that our democracy is robust enough for protest votes, undermining the Democratic Party, or entirely refusing to vote.
If Donald Trump wins and the Republican Party expands its majorities, America will have entered its first fascist period without any end in sight – primarily due to Trump and his henchmen refusing to leave office. The fascist mission is to seize power and never relinquish it.
And if that happens, it won’t necessarily look exactly like Nazi Germany. It’ll be its own brand of horrendousness with, yes, some similarities. White supremacy will further metastasize through executive mandates, while Blacks, Jews, LGBTQ citizens, women of all races will be persecuted and subjugated. Authoritarian power will crush anyone who speaks out against the administration. The Department of Justice will be re-made into what can only be described as the personal Gestapo of the White House – we know this from the pages of Project 2025, a pro-Trump road map for his return to the White House. Project 2025 also calls for the firing of 50,000 career civil servants in favor of political lackeys. The last elements of the New Deal will be rolled back in favor of new pro-wealth, pro-industry policies that’d make Reaganomics look like a Bernie Sanders speech to the Noam Chomsky fan club.
Trump famously warned: “I am your retribution.” I don’t believe anything he says – except for this.
Despite the nightmare that’s lurking around the corner, too many Americans are preoccupied by non-issues like Joe Biden’s age or whatever Marjorie Taylor-Greene burped up during a congressional hearing. No one can show me a single example from Biden’s actual record as president where his age has hindered his ability to govern. I remember a throng of morons who insisted Hillary Clinton was too old and sickly in 2016. Seven years later, she’s doing great. But that’s beside the point. Preoccupation with silly-season politics or simply losing sight of the stakes while fascism is one losing election away feels not unlike a massive tidal wave is headed right for us while we stand around complaining that we can’t get a decent Wifi signal.
I get the conundrum. I get that it’s not ideal to be forced into supporting the Democratic Party due to the threats posed by the other side. I get that de-prioritizing crucial issues beneath the ungainly bulk of prioritizing a fight to put down a fascist movement is also not ideal. None of this is. But neither I nor anyone on the side of the Normals has asked for this new paradigm. It’s been foisted upon us by an overzealous, white Christian extremist agenda orbiting around a lawless tyrant who’s been framed as the flawed messiah of his movement. And, naturally, we’re also in this undesirable place due to the ignorance of some voters who stupidly thought Barack Obama’s first two years were a disappointment, or that Hillary was just as bad as Trump, or that Jill Stein had a realistic shot at being president (she didn’t), or that both sides are the same.
Perhaps those voters are permanently lost and, if so, we have to work that much harder to find replacement voters to fill those gaps in the line of battle by volunteering in any capacity with efforts to register new pro-democracy voters. Likewise, we’d do well to take a note from the Republican side about solidarity – staying in line and making sure not to get too loud with criticisms of our own side. Say what you need to say, of course, but always think about whether it will lead to victory over fascism or whether it will kneecap us on Election Day.
And yes, with each winning election, we’ll not only push back against fascism, but we’ll be able to appoint new Supreme Court justices who will buttress the cause of democracy for another generation or more; we’ll pass new legislation to mitigate the climate crisis; we’ll roll back the oppression of women and the LGBTQ community; we’ll expand voting rights; and all of the issues we cherish. But none of those things can happen if fascism prevails – in fact, all the progress we’ve made in my lifetime will be lost, perhaps forever. That’s why we need to face this new paradigm with strength, determination, and unwavering activism.
We don’t have the luxury of screwing around any more. The rise of American fascism has been a long time coming, and now it’s finally here. We have to mobilize to extract this cancerous tumor from our politics before we can return to a version of normalcy where issues take precedent and where, if the other guys win now and then, it won’t be the end of all things.
I truly believe it’s more likely that democracy will prevail. I remain optimistic that enough of us will take this paradigm seriously, acting in accordance with the severity of the threat. We just have to act as though democracy is on the ballot every time until the Republican Party is either disbanded and replaced with a coalition of moderate conservatives or relegated to permanent opposition party status. Neither of those things will happen until we see our elections through this new lens, recognizing how badly things can go if we become complacent, contrarian, or apathetic.
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The importance of this post cannot be understated, and I wish everyone could read and understand it. Unfortunately, not enough people will read it, and the people who SHOULD read it won’t understand it.
I wish that I could be as optimistic as you are, but the fact that we have such a clear choice between a fascist and an older but honorable man, and polls are TIED, shows just how dire the situation is.