Cameron MacLeodAug 16, 2025

A good* historical tour.

“The statistics are brutal. Fascist takeovers prevented after winning power democratically: zero. Average length of fascist rule once established: 31 years. Fascist regimes removed by voting: zero. Fascist regimes removed by asking nicely: zero. Most were removed by war or military coups, and tens of millions died in the process.”

https://medium.com/@carmitage/i-researched-every-attempt-to-stop-fascism-in-history-the-success-rate-is-0-a665e2e048a2

* for various versions of “good”, see replies for corrections and context that some people feel is lacking. They sent lots of comments to me but zero to the author?

Show threadCameron MacLeodAug 16, 2025

“The pattern is so consistent it’s almost funny if it weren’t so terrifying. Every single time it goes like this: Conservatives panic about socialism or progressives or whatever. They ally with fascists as the “lesser evil.” Fascists take power. Fascists immediately purge anyone who stands in their way. Then it’s 30–50 years of dictatorship. This happened in Germany, Italy, Spain, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Greece, Portugal, Croatia, Romania, and Hungary.”

https://medium.com/@carmitage/i-researched-every-attempt-to-stop-fascism-in-history-the-success-rate-is-0-a665e2e048a2

Show threadMike McCaffrey
@c_9 @jrdepriest That is totally not true! The US had its fascist president removed from office after just 4 years! It was so easy we thought we'd do it all over again.
Aug 16, 2025 at 3:23amWeb
Show threadFirehorseart Lives!Aug 16, 2025

@mikemccaffrey

In Europe we had WW1, then WW2 - it's not over til it's over.

Unfortunately, appealing to common sense and people's better natures doesn't work with bullies in charge.

Bullies in leadership roles tend to have narcissistic personalities. They want more power because they are scared and will ramp that control and misdirection up every time they feel threatened.

 

@c_9 @jrdepriest

Show threadCoach Pāṇini ®Aug 16, 2025

@srfirehorseart @mikemccaffrey @c_9 @jrdepriest

What if—wait, hear me out—it’s •never• over?

What if the body politic remembers, and if we don’t face our demons, they will raise our future generations?

I’m just asking questions.

Show threadHuntn00Aug 17, 2025
@paninid @srfirehorseart @mikemccaffrey @c_9 @jrdepriest Our grandparents fought a WWar over fascism in Europe. But the children in the US, who grew up in a capitalist system, never faced it, many still racist, most likely disenfranchised, disgruntled on the Democratic processes that leave them struggling, and think a white racist prick will deliver the goods for them without nary a thought about the stability of our society. STUPID. 🔥
Show threadFirehorseart Lives!Aug 18, 2025

@paninid

Yes, in some senses it's never over.

You will put out a massive wildfire and restore safely but there will remain doubters ready to back the next enthusiastic pyromaniac that surfaces.

Also there will be some who 'never understood what all the fuss was about', because it didn't affect them directly, who will still light a bonfire in the danger zone to warm themselves regardless of the danger to others.

@mikemccaffrey @c_9 @jrdepriest

Show threadHuntn00Aug 17, 2025
@srfirehorseart @mikemccaffrey @c_9 @jrdepriest And now, we have Gaia breathing fire and mayhem down our necks. It seems her patience has its limits.
Show threadFirehorseart Lives!Aug 18, 2025

@Huntn00

The potential for natural disasters is ever present, isn't it?

Perhaps all the technological advances since the industrial revolution/information age has blinded us to how little we still understand about the environment.

If we don't push back on practices creating modern deserts we risk modern culture becoming just as forgotten as Shelly's Ozymandias - buried in the sand.

@mikemccaffrey @c_9 @jrdepriest

Show threadHuntn00Aug 18, 2025
@srfirehorseart @mikemccaffrey @c_9 @jrdepriest We had some cushion to learn, but the cushion appears to be used up and we haven’t learned… I’ll go farther and say we’re too stupid to understand what a death wish is because we can’t deal with or can’t recognize reality when we’re blinded by our personal desires to get advantages over each other, when we don’t see the big picture, when… we are too selfish and self-absorbed.
Show threadJ. R. DePriest    :EA DATA. SF:Aug 18, 2025

@Huntn00 @srfirehorseart @mikemccaffrey @c_9

By "we" you mean the psychopathic oligarchs and christofascists, because there are plenty of us who see what's happening but do not have the resources to do much to stop it.

Show threadHuntn00Aug 19, 2025
@jrdepriest @srfirehorseart @mikemccaffrey @c_9 Not nearly as many as there should be, we’re (to generalize) a bunch of sheep too locked into our economies, to afraid to shake it up , and act in an organized group to call bullshit and demand better. There comes a time when writing your representative doesn’t cut it, and I’ll admit I don’t have myself up on a pedestal. I’m 72 whining and writing, but I’m not out marching. 😔
Show threadSouprMattAug 19, 2025
@mikemccaffrey @c_9 @jrdepriest Please do not interrupt the “voting is pointless” clowns with actual facts. LOL