Fighting America's Fascist Infection
This is not my ordinary post, but these are not ordinary times.
I am a person of principle and conscience, and I take no pleasure in writing take-downs of others. However, given the current state of affairs, I must speak out. And though I did not go to sleep last night planning to pen this post, current events demand it.
And as people of love and reason, we all must speak out. And act.
My post is not unprovoked. If you are anything like me in a liberal sense, know that you are now an enemy of the state. My response here is not an attack. It is a defensive move of the heart, mind, and body against a far-right movement and administration that has already drawn first blood.
This post is not a takedown of all people who live in rural America. I know better than to paint with a broad brush. But many of them have demonstrated, through their actions and inactions, both locally and nationally, to be more than worthy of my ire and judgment.
What follows isn't speculation or opinion, but my conclusions based on my many observations and interactions with these Fox News-addicted culture warriors.
I'm driven, at least in part, by the knowledge that many people like myself are both misunderstanding and underestimating the mindset of the majority of people in rural America already infected by fascism, particularly among the masses of faithful far-right and MAGA devotees. My aim is to share my perspective on that mindset so that others may better understand it and adapt to what is necessary to defend against it and someday overcome it.
知己知彼，百战不殆
Know yourself, know your enemy, and you will never be defeated in a hundred battles.
— Sun Tzu, The Art of War
What I've Witnessed
First, my observations.
The MAGA-devoted Americans who dominate many rural American communities—and they are the dominant voice—adamantly want the following:
- Eliminate by any means necessary liberals, Dems, and minorities—anyone who is not a white Christian nationalist or at least not subservient to it, while removing all legal protections and voting rights for these groups to establish permanent hierarchical control.
- Silence and destroy all sources of challenge to their worldview—systematically dismantling educational institutions, universities, research facilities, and scientific agencies to eliminate critical thinking, expertise, and evidence-based knowledge that threatens their reality-distorting mindset.
