I have watched the pieces of the machine being assembled for more than half of my lifetime, all put in place for (ostensibly) plausible reasons yet making a pattern which I couldn't ignore but most others did not care to admit noticeing until rather recently.
Back in 1982 with the Intelligence Identities Protection Act (when it became a federal crime to leak intelligence agents identities). In the 1990s after the first WTC & Oklahoma Federal building bombings while serving the GWOT became our new MIC growth industry. Accelerating after 911 all through Bush the Lesser's administrations. Then pushed further yet during Obama's with habeas corpus defanged, extrajudicial killing of US citizens (and anyone else, anywhere!) legalized, plus more whistle blowers prosecuted in 8 years than in all of US history. All with grotesque Machiavellian acronym flourishes, newspeak terminology and yet more legal precedent fillips added during BOTH Trump I and Biden regimes.
A machine generally does what it was designed to do- Surprise, surprise.
There have been many steps toward fascism, with each presidential administration laying the groundwork for the next on that road.
In some ways, because Trump is so narcissistic and requires public adoration, the actions and intent of his administration are out in the open. Much more frightening are the ones that hide behind civility and an easy smile. For example, few recall the sainted Obama, who did away with habeas corpus when he signed the NDAA in 2011 that allowed indefinite detention.
I believe Sheldon Wollin's version - inverted totalitarianism - is where we're headed, rather than 'classic' fascism. The government will be subordinated to the needs and desires of the oligarchs, and of course the Israeli lobby.
One other point, the notion of emerging fascism may be an issue for the white community. I suspect those in minority communities have lived under the boot of fascism their entire lives.
Personally I don't wanna hear any bloody academics saying "Oh, we don't have Fascism until conditions A, B and C have been met" (attempted definitions of "Classic Fascism"). When a graduate student/teacher at Tufts University is snatched off the street by hooded "ICE Police" or "DHS" agents--what's in a name, right?--for the "crime" of opposing Israel's genocide, when legal residents of the US are rounded up in a sweep and shipped to El Salvador (and lemme say right now the current Pres. of that nation is a pathetic craven coward! Reagan's death squads have a legacy), when freedom of speech is fast becoming a thing of the past, when a POTUS is essentially a dictator who has trashed the notion of due process, and the "liberal Establishment" is powerless to curb his abuses, this is close enough to Fascism for me!!
Absolutely. I always recommend Spencer Tracy's rendering of the tribunal's verdict at the end of Judgment at Nuremberg to show what fascism really means - dismissing "the value of a single human being". When, as you said, individuals can be disappeared off the streets, we're there.
I only got around to watching that movie fairly recently and was disappointed that it covered later trials, not the most famous ones where the defendants sat impassively (or making sneering faces) thru the testimony and most stated for the record "I am not responsible." But that stuff is available for viewing (see Alain Resnais documentary "Night and Fog" for one), and I prefer a good documentary to dramatic recreations anyway.
What more can one / you / I say? The power of words, mere concepts, is overwhelming and terrifying.
What do words mean? Whatever people accept. What is fascism? The channeling of anger into state control of the populace. Government? Democracy? The collective Will of the People?
What is that where people accept armed conflict, violence, force, militarization, racism, selfishness and rivalry before morality and cooperation? Discrimination before generosity, sharing, altruism. Enduring the unacceptable before rejecting it as insane. Defining "I, Me, Mine" as the Law of the Land.
"What do words mean?" This has become a major problem for our society. I argue that words DO still have meaning, but in the Lewis Carroll-like world of Trump-Musk just about everything is inverted/PERVERTED. Mr. Orwell sure saw this coming. If Ignorance is indeed Strength, then USA is by far the "strongest" nation on the planet since the Third Reich. That regime fell short of its goal to last 1000 years by a mere 988!! The sooner the current US regime collapses the better. It ain't gonna be pretty, of that we may be sure.
In 1935, two years after Hitler’s coup d’etat in Germany, Sinclair Lewis ~ who informed us that “When Fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the Flag and carrying a Bible” ~ published IT CAN’T HAPPEN HERE.
According to Wikipedia: “IT CAN'T HAPPEN HERE is a 1935 dystopian political novel by the American author Sinclair Lewis.[1] Set in a fictionalized version of the 1930s United States, it follows an American politician, Berzelius "Buzz" Windrip, who quickly rises to power to become the country's first outright dictator (in allusion to Adolf Hitler's rise to power in Nazi Germany), and Doremus Jessup, a newspaper editor who sees Windrip's fascist policies for what they are ahead of time and who becomes Windrip's most ardent critic.
“PREMISE: IT CAN'T HAPPEN HERE was published during the heyday of fascism in Europe, which was reported on by Dorothy Thompson, Lewis's wife.[3] The novel describes the rise of Berzelius "Buzz" Windrip, a demagogue who is elected President of the United States, after fomenting fear and promising drastic economic and social reforms while promoting a return to patriotism and "traditional" values. After his election, Windrip takes complete control of the government via self-coup and imposes totalitarian rule with the help of a ruthless paramilitary force, in the manner of European fascists such as Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini. The novel's plot centers on journalist Doremus Jessup's opposition to the new regime and his subsequent struggle against it as part of a liberal rebellion.
“PLOT: In 1936, American Senator Berzelius "Buzz" Windrip enters the presidential election campaign on a populist platform, promising to restore the country to prosperity and greatness, and promising each citizen US$5,000 per year (equivalent to $113,000 in 2024). Portraying himself as a champion of "the forgotten man" and "traditional" American values, Windrip defeats incumbent President Franklin D. Roosevelt for the Democratic nomination, and then beats his Republican opponent, Senator Walt Trowbridge, in the November election.
Having previously foreshadowed some authoritarian measures to reorganize the government, Windrip outlaws dissent, incarcerates political enemies in concentration camps, and trains and arms a paramilitary force called the "Minute Men" (named after the Revolutionary War militias of the same name), who terrorize citizens and enforce the policies of a corporatist regime. One of Windrip's first acts as president is to eliminate the influence of Congress, which draws the ire of many citizens as well as the legislators themselves.
The Minute Men respond to protests harshly, attacking demonstrators with bayonets. In addition to these actions, Windrip's administration, known as the Corpo government, curtails women's and minority rights, and eliminates individual states by subdividing the country into administrative sectors. The government of these sectors is managed by Corpo authorities, usually prominent businessmen or Minute Men officers. Those accused of crimes against the government appear before kangaroo courts presided over by military judges. A majority of Americans approve of these dictatorial measures, seeing them as painful but necessary steps to restore American power.”
I knew of this novel for a long time, but it took a fellow anti-war veteran to remind me recently of its existence. I'm awaiting a copy from the public library system in my state of residence. Before it's banned!!
i have posted this several times here at BV and elsewhere, and will continue to do so until either proven wrong or silenced. And if i had the answers to these Questions, i would be offering them, not seeking them...:
7 QUESTIONS ABOUT AMERICA’S FUTURE
Based on what has happened in the first thirteen-plus weeks of TRUMP 2.0, there are multiple reasons to think, believe, and feel that this Nation is as close to a fully operational and functional authoritarian, autocratic, plutocratic, oligarchic, patriarchal totalitarian Dictatorship as it has ever been in its 248+ year history; including the Great Depression/New Deal/World War II era of the last century, and the Civil War the century before.
These first 94 days of Team TruMsk have been a masterfully planned and executed Psychological Warfare Operation to determine just exactly how able and willing the American Peoples are to accept ~ and just get on with the rest of their lives in ~ a Dictatorship.
All of which leads me to ask myself ~ and to ask other Americans to ask themselves ~ the following Questions:
1. Do You agree that the United States is on the edge of a precipice, and that a fully operational and functional authoritarian, autocratic, plutocratic, oligarchic, patriarchal totalitarian Dictatorship is very possible in America’s very near future?
2. If You don’t agree with that assessment: Can You explain Why?
3. If, on the other hand, You Do agree with the assessment: What ~ if anything ~ can be done to prevent that Dictatorship from happening? Or is it already too late to stop it?
4. If it cannot be stopped and in fact happens, what would be the most appropriate and effective reaction and response of those who oppose the Dictatorship?
5. If that Dictatorship CAN be confronted, combatted, conquered, and eliminated, what system of National Government and Governance would replace it? The same one America has now, that enabled TRUMP 2.0 to happen in the first place? Or something different?
6. Do You agree that a significant number of Americans ~ and a number of people who are socially, economically, and/or politically “significant” ~ would very probably welcome a Dictatorship; as long as it was her or his guy or gal who was the Dictator?
7. Will the United States survive to celebrate its 250th Birthday on July 4, 2026, 436 days from today? And if it does, will the American Peoples be in any condition or mood to celebrate anything?
If You think these Questions merit consideration, please share them with Your Family and Loved Ones, Friends and Neighbors, Colleagues, Cohorts, and Compeers, and any public officials and media outlets that You think might be interested.
Thank You, stay Safe, and have a Great day. ~ jeff
Gödel's Loophole is a supposed "inner contradiction" in the Constitution of the United States which Austrian-American logician, mathematician, and analytic philosopher Kurt Gödel postulated in 1947. The loophole would permit the American democracy to be legally turned into a dictatorship. Gödel told his friend Oskar Morgenstern about the existence of the flaw and Morgenstern told Albert Einstein about it at the time, but Morgenstern, in his recollection of the incident in 1971, never mentioned the exact problem as Gödel saw it. This has led to speculation about the precise nature of what has come to be called "Gödel's Loophole." It has been called "one of the great unsolved problems of constitutional law" by American constitutional law scholar John Nowak.[1]
Thanks for this. I had not been aware of Godel's thoughts on this. I have a book I bought ages ago and still haven't tackled about Escher, Godel and Bach ("An Eternal Golden Braid"). The "Founding Fathers" warned, in some of the Federalist Papers, about the threat of divisive partisanship. They could not imagine the country could slip into its current disastrous situation. But being among the best educated men in the young country, they knew of the danger of religion being allied with politics. Observe the very first words in the First Amendment!! They've been rendered all but meaningless now. Trump actually signed a Presidential Proclamation (I'm sure he did not write it personally, but he signed it) for Easter "recognizing" Christ as "OUR [my emphasis--he spoke in the name of all of us] Lord and Savior"!!! The GOP essentially has firm control of all 3 branches of the Fed. Gov't . To give "credit" (!) where due, the GOP's Southern Strategy launched on Nixon's watch has paid tremendous dividends for that party. Everything South of Canada is now the Old South, hankering for the Good Old Days of Jefferson Davis et al.!! :-(
Americans have been being warned about a "Fascist equivalent" in the United States since even before the Fascist realities of Hitler, Mussolini, and Tojo had been destroyed, with three books published in 1944: Ludwig von Mises’ OMNIPOTENT GOVERNMENT: The Rise of the Total State and Total War; THE ROAD TO SERFDOM by Friedrich A Hayek [dedicated "To the socialists of all parties"]; and AS WE GO MARCHING by John T Flynn.
The warnings continued in 1975 with Charlotte Twight's AMERICA'S EMERGING FASCIST ECONOMY; in 1980 with FRIENDLY FASCISM: The New Face of Power in America by Bertram Gross; in 2008 with DEMOCRACY INCORPORATED: Managed Democracy and the Specter of Inverted Totalitarianism by Sheldon Wolin, and in 2013 with FASCISM VERSUS CAPITALISM by Lew Rockwell.
And more recently, Jeffrey Tucker's RIGHT-WING COLLECTIVISM: The Other Threat to Liberty [2017] and Carl Boggs' FASCISM OLD AND NEW: American Politics at the Crossroads [2018] have brought all those older works up to date and right into the 21st century, including TRUMP 1.0.
These works are strongly recommended to any American ~ but particularly any GenXer, GenZer, and Millennial ~ who wants a very clear look at what America's future could very easily hold, and why.
It is a shame my parents' generation [once the "Greatest," now the "Silent"] didn't read, react and respond to, and act upon Mises, Hayek, and Flynn back when they had the chance. And it is a tragedy that my Boomer generation missed those foundational works and that of Twight and Gross when we had our chance, as well. Hopefully, the next Generations of Citizens and those they choose as their political, economic, social, and cultural leaders will not make the same mistakes.
But it is becoming increasingly evident every day that those Citizens are indeed making those same fatal errors.
The solution is conceptually simple. But implementation is nearly impossible with a nation confused, distracted, misinformed, and more focused on being entertained than participating in a democracy. Fascism -- indeed any form of absolute authoritarian system -- is anathema to the core principles of self-government. So be it. The people have spoken with their silence and apathy.
Well, let's just say "enough of the people"--the segment Lincoln said were susceptible to being fooled all the time!--voted for Trump's grossly racist/xenophobic platform. This guy is an utter ignoramus, especially in the realm of Economics as the tariffs insanity keeps proving, but he IS a very effective Fascist demagogue! Please, don't anyone here call him a "populist" else you will earn my instant wrath!! Like so much language now, that term has been grossly distorted.
Geez, if everybody in the world wasn't talking about dear old Donald constantly he might dry up and blow away! Wait, what an excellent idea!! Don't think I can persuade the whole world to clam up about him, though. 'Tis a pity. :-(
I have watched the pieces of the machine being assembled for more than half of my lifetime, all put in place for (ostensibly) plausible reasons yet making a pattern which I couldn't ignore but most others did not care to admit noticeing until rather recently.
Back in 1982 with the Intelligence Identities Protection Act (when it became a federal crime to leak intelligence agents identities). In the 1990s after the first WTC & Oklahoma Federal building bombings while serving the GWOT became our new MIC growth industry. Accelerating after 911 all through Bush the Lesser's administrations. Then pushed further yet during Obama's with habeas corpus defanged, extrajudicial killing of US citizens (and anyone else, anywhere!) legalized, plus more whistle blowers prosecuted in 8 years than in all of US history. All with grotesque Machiavellian acronym flourishes, newspeak terminology and yet more legal precedent fillips added during BOTH Trump I and Biden regimes.
A machine generally does what it was designed to do- Surprise, surprise.
Excellent comment!
There have been many steps toward fascism, with each presidential administration laying the groundwork for the next on that road.
In some ways, because Trump is so narcissistic and requires public adoration, the actions and intent of his administration are out in the open. Much more frightening are the ones that hide behind civility and an easy smile. For example, few recall the sainted Obama, who did away with habeas corpus when he signed the NDAA in 2011 that allowed indefinite detention.
I believe Sheldon Wollin's version - inverted totalitarianism - is where we're headed, rather than 'classic' fascism. The government will be subordinated to the needs and desires of the oligarchs, and of course the Israeli lobby.
One other point, the notion of emerging fascism may be an issue for the white community. I suspect those in minority communities have lived under the boot of fascism their entire lives.
Personally I don't wanna hear any bloody academics saying "Oh, we don't have Fascism until conditions A, B and C have been met" (attempted definitions of "Classic Fascism"). When a graduate student/teacher at Tufts University is snatched off the street by hooded "ICE Police" or "DHS" agents--what's in a name, right?--for the "crime" of opposing Israel's genocide, when legal residents of the US are rounded up in a sweep and shipped to El Salvador (and lemme say right now the current Pres. of that nation is a pathetic craven coward! Reagan's death squads have a legacy), when freedom of speech is fast becoming a thing of the past, when a POTUS is essentially a dictator who has trashed the notion of due process, and the "liberal Establishment" is powerless to curb his abuses, this is close enough to Fascism for me!!
Absolutely. I always recommend Spencer Tracy's rendering of the tribunal's verdict at the end of Judgment at Nuremberg to show what fascism really means - dismissing "the value of a single human being". When, as you said, individuals can be disappeared off the streets, we're there.
I only got around to watching that movie fairly recently and was disappointed that it covered later trials, not the most famous ones where the defendants sat impassively (or making sneering faces) thru the testimony and most stated for the record "I am not responsible." But that stuff is available for viewing (see Alain Resnais documentary "Night and Fog" for one), and I prefer a good documentary to dramatic recreations anyway.
What more can one / you / I say? The power of words, mere concepts, is overwhelming and terrifying.
What do words mean? Whatever people accept. What is fascism? The channeling of anger into state control of the populace. Government? Democracy? The collective Will of the People?
What is that where people accept armed conflict, violence, force, militarization, racism, selfishness and rivalry before morality and cooperation? Discrimination before generosity, sharing, altruism. Enduring the unacceptable before rejecting it as insane. Defining "I, Me, Mine" as the Law of the Land.
Trumpism is America's Brexit.
"What do words mean?" This has become a major problem for our society. I argue that words DO still have meaning, but in the Lewis Carroll-like world of Trump-Musk just about everything is inverted/PERVERTED. Mr. Orwell sure saw this coming. If Ignorance is indeed Strength, then USA is by far the "strongest" nation on the planet since the Third Reich. That regime fell short of its goal to last 1000 years by a mere 988!! The sooner the current US regime collapses the better. It ain't gonna be pretty, of that we may be sure.
Aye! None so blind as those that will not see...."It's Happening Now..."
In 1935, two years after Hitler’s coup d’etat in Germany, Sinclair Lewis ~ who informed us that “When Fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the Flag and carrying a Bible” ~ published IT CAN’T HAPPEN HERE.
According to Wikipedia: “IT CAN'T HAPPEN HERE is a 1935 dystopian political novel by the American author Sinclair Lewis.[1] Set in a fictionalized version of the 1930s United States, it follows an American politician, Berzelius "Buzz" Windrip, who quickly rises to power to become the country's first outright dictator (in allusion to Adolf Hitler's rise to power in Nazi Germany), and Doremus Jessup, a newspaper editor who sees Windrip's fascist policies for what they are ahead of time and who becomes Windrip's most ardent critic.
“PREMISE: IT CAN'T HAPPEN HERE was published during the heyday of fascism in Europe, which was reported on by Dorothy Thompson, Lewis's wife.[3] The novel describes the rise of Berzelius "Buzz" Windrip, a demagogue who is elected President of the United States, after fomenting fear and promising drastic economic and social reforms while promoting a return to patriotism and "traditional" values. After his election, Windrip takes complete control of the government via self-coup and imposes totalitarian rule with the help of a ruthless paramilitary force, in the manner of European fascists such as Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini. The novel's plot centers on journalist Doremus Jessup's opposition to the new regime and his subsequent struggle against it as part of a liberal rebellion.
“PLOT: In 1936, American Senator Berzelius "Buzz" Windrip enters the presidential election campaign on a populist platform, promising to restore the country to prosperity and greatness, and promising each citizen US$5,000 per year (equivalent to $113,000 in 2024). Portraying himself as a champion of "the forgotten man" and "traditional" American values, Windrip defeats incumbent President Franklin D. Roosevelt for the Democratic nomination, and then beats his Republican opponent, Senator Walt Trowbridge, in the November election.
Having previously foreshadowed some authoritarian measures to reorganize the government, Windrip outlaws dissent, incarcerates political enemies in concentration camps, and trains and arms a paramilitary force called the "Minute Men" (named after the Revolutionary War militias of the same name), who terrorize citizens and enforce the policies of a corporatist regime. One of Windrip's first acts as president is to eliminate the influence of Congress, which draws the ire of many citizens as well as the legislators themselves.
The Minute Men respond to protests harshly, attacking demonstrators with bayonets. In addition to these actions, Windrip's administration, known as the Corpo government, curtails women's and minority rights, and eliminates individual states by subdividing the country into administrative sectors. The government of these sectors is managed by Corpo authorities, usually prominent businessmen or Minute Men officers. Those accused of crimes against the government appear before kangaroo courts presided over by military judges. A majority of Americans approve of these dictatorial measures, seeing them as painful but necessary steps to restore American power.”
Continued at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It_Can%27t_Happen_Here .
###
Note 1: Do a Google Search for “sinclair lewis it can't happen here trump” to see different perspectives on how Lewis’s book relates to TRUMP 2.0.
Note 2: It will be interesting to see how future Historians relate Trump’s January 6 hootnanny with Hitler’s failed “Beer Haul Putsch.”
I knew of this novel for a long time, but it took a fellow anti-war veteran to remind me recently of its existence. I'm awaiting a copy from the public library system in my state of residence. Before it's banned!!
i have posted this several times here at BV and elsewhere, and will continue to do so until either proven wrong or silenced. And if i had the answers to these Questions, i would be offering them, not seeking them...:
7 QUESTIONS ABOUT AMERICA’S FUTURE
Based on what has happened in the first thirteen-plus weeks of TRUMP 2.0, there are multiple reasons to think, believe, and feel that this Nation is as close to a fully operational and functional authoritarian, autocratic, plutocratic, oligarchic, patriarchal totalitarian Dictatorship as it has ever been in its 248+ year history; including the Great Depression/New Deal/World War II era of the last century, and the Civil War the century before.
These first 94 days of Team TruMsk have been a masterfully planned and executed Psychological Warfare Operation to determine just exactly how able and willing the American Peoples are to accept ~ and just get on with the rest of their lives in ~ a Dictatorship.
All of which leads me to ask myself ~ and to ask other Americans to ask themselves ~ the following Questions:
1. Do You agree that the United States is on the edge of a precipice, and that a fully operational and functional authoritarian, autocratic, plutocratic, oligarchic, patriarchal totalitarian Dictatorship is very possible in America’s very near future?
2. If You don’t agree with that assessment: Can You explain Why?
3. If, on the other hand, You Do agree with the assessment: What ~ if anything ~ can be done to prevent that Dictatorship from happening? Or is it already too late to stop it?
4. If it cannot be stopped and in fact happens, what would be the most appropriate and effective reaction and response of those who oppose the Dictatorship?
5. If that Dictatorship CAN be confronted, combatted, conquered, and eliminated, what system of National Government and Governance would replace it? The same one America has now, that enabled TRUMP 2.0 to happen in the first place? Or something different?
6. Do You agree that a significant number of Americans ~ and a number of people who are socially, economically, and/or politically “significant” ~ would very probably welcome a Dictatorship; as long as it was her or his guy or gal who was the Dictator?
7. Will the United States survive to celebrate its 250th Birthday on July 4, 2026, 436 days from today? And if it does, will the American Peoples be in any condition or mood to celebrate anything?
If You think these Questions merit consideration, please share them with Your Family and Loved Ones, Friends and Neighbors, Colleagues, Cohorts, and Compeers, and any public officials and media outlets that You think might be interested.
Thank You, stay Safe, and have a Great day. ~ jeff
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%B6del%27s_Loophole
Gödel's Loophole is a supposed "inner contradiction" in the Constitution of the United States which Austrian-American logician, mathematician, and analytic philosopher Kurt Gödel postulated in 1947. The loophole would permit the American democracy to be legally turned into a dictatorship. Gödel told his friend Oskar Morgenstern about the existence of the flaw and Morgenstern told Albert Einstein about it at the time, but Morgenstern, in his recollection of the incident in 1971, never mentioned the exact problem as Gödel saw it. This has led to speculation about the precise nature of what has come to be called "Gödel's Loophole." It has been called "one of the great unsolved problems of constitutional law" by American constitutional law scholar John Nowak.[1]
Thanks for this. I had not been aware of Godel's thoughts on this. I have a book I bought ages ago and still haven't tackled about Escher, Godel and Bach ("An Eternal Golden Braid"). The "Founding Fathers" warned, in some of the Federalist Papers, about the threat of divisive partisanship. They could not imagine the country could slip into its current disastrous situation. But being among the best educated men in the young country, they knew of the danger of religion being allied with politics. Observe the very first words in the First Amendment!! They've been rendered all but meaningless now. Trump actually signed a Presidential Proclamation (I'm sure he did not write it personally, but he signed it) for Easter "recognizing" Christ as "OUR [my emphasis--he spoke in the name of all of us] Lord and Savior"!!! The GOP essentially has firm control of all 3 branches of the Fed. Gov't . To give "credit" (!) where due, the GOP's Southern Strategy launched on Nixon's watch has paid tremendous dividends for that party. Everything South of Canada is now the Old South, hankering for the Good Old Days of Jefferson Davis et al.!! :-(
Americans have been being warned about a "Fascist equivalent" in the United States since even before the Fascist realities of Hitler, Mussolini, and Tojo had been destroyed, with three books published in 1944: Ludwig von Mises’ OMNIPOTENT GOVERNMENT: The Rise of the Total State and Total War; THE ROAD TO SERFDOM by Friedrich A Hayek [dedicated "To the socialists of all parties"]; and AS WE GO MARCHING by John T Flynn.
The warnings continued in 1975 with Charlotte Twight's AMERICA'S EMERGING FASCIST ECONOMY; in 1980 with FRIENDLY FASCISM: The New Face of Power in America by Bertram Gross; in 2008 with DEMOCRACY INCORPORATED: Managed Democracy and the Specter of Inverted Totalitarianism by Sheldon Wolin, and in 2013 with FASCISM VERSUS CAPITALISM by Lew Rockwell.
And more recently, Jeffrey Tucker's RIGHT-WING COLLECTIVISM: The Other Threat to Liberty [2017] and Carl Boggs' FASCISM OLD AND NEW: American Politics at the Crossroads [2018] have brought all those older works up to date and right into the 21st century, including TRUMP 1.0.
These works are strongly recommended to any American ~ but particularly any GenXer, GenZer, and Millennial ~ who wants a very clear look at what America's future could very easily hold, and why.
It is a shame my parents' generation [once the "Greatest," now the "Silent"] didn't read, react and respond to, and act upon Mises, Hayek, and Flynn back when they had the chance. And it is a tragedy that my Boomer generation missed those foundational works and that of Twight and Gross when we had our chance, as well. Hopefully, the next Generations of Citizens and those they choose as their political, economic, social, and cultural leaders will not make the same mistakes.
But it is becoming increasingly evident every day that those Citizens are indeed making those same fatal errors.
The solution is conceptually simple. But implementation is nearly impossible with a nation confused, distracted, misinformed, and more focused on being entertained than participating in a democracy. Fascism -- indeed any form of absolute authoritarian system -- is anathema to the core principles of self-government. So be it. The people have spoken with their silence and apathy.
Well, let's just say "enough of the people"--the segment Lincoln said were susceptible to being fooled all the time!--voted for Trump's grossly racist/xenophobic platform. This guy is an utter ignoramus, especially in the realm of Economics as the tariffs insanity keeps proving, but he IS a very effective Fascist demagogue! Please, don't anyone here call him a "populist" else you will earn my instant wrath!! Like so much language now, that term has been grossly distorted.
Trump Trump Trump . . . did I mention Trump?
Geez, if everybody in the world wasn't talking about dear old Donald constantly he might dry up and blow away! Wait, what an excellent idea!! Don't think I can persuade the whole world to clam up about him, though. 'Tis a pity. :-(