Nowhere GirlMar 8, 2024

People's failure to understand that fascism is a fairly banal worldview reflects a refusal to understand how common and ordinary looking it is and how well it hides behind our modern high tech lifestyles.

Fascism doesn't have to have 1930s pomposity and daily military parades.

It can look like America, right now, today, depending on who and where you are. America already has military jingoism, mass incarceration, mass surveillance, unchecked paramilitaries, and theocrats denying our rights.

Show threadNowhere GirlMar 8, 2024
Many Americans are fascists and always have been, including people you know, and they look perfectly normal most of the time. Virtually every Republican is a fascist and has been for years; they've just worked hard to convince you they're not so they can continue advancing their agenda, hiding in plain sight.
Show threadNowhere GirlMar 8, 2024
Which gets at the real problem -- fascism isn't new and in fact, it's been winning for years, dismantling democracy, corrupting institutions, seizing power, and inserting itself in the lives and choices people make on a daily basis. The fact that you haven't noticed reflects how well their propaganda has worked on you.
Show threadNowhere GirlMar 8, 2024
The belief that there are Real Americans, that those Real Americans are white, cis, het, Christian, and conservative, and that those Real Americans are inherently good and deserve to prosper while others should suffer, and that those Real Americans should have the power to control and subordinate people who are different, here and abroad, backed by the threat of violence from a massive police force and an even larger military, is an inherently fascist one.
Show threadNowhere GirlMar 8, 2024

Honestly, I don't trust anyone who doesn't find stuff like the Pledge of Allegiance or the bombastic jingoism of the Fourth of July at least a little creepy.

But a lot of people -- cis-het white people specifically -- have internalized so much of this stuff as "normal" that political discussions are derailed by having to convince them that things are already bad for other people and that it's been happening for years.

Show threadGreen Roc ThoughtsMar 8, 2024

@gwynnion I've always felt the pledge was awful. I was expected to stand at attention with my hand on the correct side, not always remembering my right from my left, and state that damn thing every morning until my mind was numb and the whole thing was like a thoughtless recital.

Anytime I refused, I was dealt punishments. From spanking to extra homework to denied access to fun things, so I had no better choice than to put up with that damned thing I never liked.

Show threadPedestrianError  
@GreenRoc I’m forever grateful to the social studies teacher who taught my class about a court ruling that we couldn’t be forced to recite it as long as we sat quietly and didn’t disrupt the students who wanted to participate. Most of the kids still at least stood up for it despite knowing they didn’t have to and had a respected teacher in the school who would defend their free speech rights if necessary. 🫤
Mar 9, 2024 at 3:19amWeb
Show threadPedestrianError  Mar 9, 2024
@GreenRoc As an adult working in local and regional government, I’ve found myself in a few awkward meetings where a town select board or in one case a bicycle and pedestrian advisory committee recited the pledge to open their meetings. I probably would have been a more effective advocate for sound urban planning if I’d gone along to get along, but I don’t pledge allegiance to flags, governments, or gods.