Great read and you are obviously quite talented.. Thanks for posting/writing this..
I agree with most of it, especially that his main purpose is to make the best deal available and in order to do so one has to start a negotiation at one point and give up certain things to get the best deal possible.
One thing I'm not quite clear on is this excerpt..
"building a wall (Nationalism), not reforming Social Security (Fascism), barring all Muslims (Nationalism), ensuring people "aren't dying in the streets" (Fascism)"
Why do those positions have to be related to fascism when they are mainstream positions of liberals, progressives, and socialists?
Would it not be correct to say that those are some of the more liberal positions Trump takes?
Thanks for the comments and the questions! Let me try to answer:
In terms of the wall, that is not a mainstream position in any major political party - it's pretty pure Israeli-style nationalism. Not reforming Social Security is certainly a mainstream progressive idea, barring all Muslims is pure Nationalism (not Conservative nor Liberal), and ensuring people "aren't dying in the streets" is either Fascism or Communism - that kind of political articulation of a policy is neither Conservative nor Liberal.
So, in a re-assessment of the statement, it would appear that I overshot on the "not reforming Social Security" attribution as being Fascist. The reason why I went there is because of the context -- if a Republican candidate isn't going to reform Social Security, then it likely isn't due to a philosophically progressive rationale. As a result, I went to the natural location for the idea for a Republican candidate - Fascism. Please note that as I mentioned in the article, these terms (fascism & nationalism) are loaded terms, and as a result, my assignment to them may appear to sound unfair or biased. I beg the reader to click on the links behind the these terms in the post to get a more full definition of what they mean politically.
And as far as nationalism how is that any different that patriotism? Is there something wrong with being proud of your country in your opinion and wanting to preserve its great culture?
Here's how nationalism is defined in the hyperlink behind the term in my post:
Nationalism is the doctrine that one's national culture and interests are superior to any other, and that nations should act independently (rather than collectively) to attain their goals.
To some, this could be considered patriotism. Nothing wrong with being proud of your country. But I think the difference is the motive behind it. Trump actually doesn't seem proud at all of our Country (esp. it's leaders and government!). He seems more annoyed that we're "losing" because of incompetent leaders -- leaders that we've all elected, by the way! As a result, it's hard to see his motive being patriotic. It's more just bashing leaders (and the voters who voted in such incompetent leaders).
I guess what I would like your opinion on is why is Trump a "fascist" rather than just a centrist? What is the difference?
Even if so, why should "fascism" be any more controversial than "socialism" when both have been proven in history to lead to bad things, more so socialism.. ??
From the hotlink in my article, here's how fascim is defined:
Fascism is an authoritarian Nationalist political ideology that exalts nation (and often race) above the individual, and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition.
Trump would be considered a "centrist" (which is, in fact, how I first saw him in 2015), but his behaviors, language, and approach to his campaign have pointed pretty directly toward him being of the authoritarian mindset. He, like many authoritarians, see only himself having the savvy and skill to "fix things" - and that most everyone else is incompetent. And if someone disagrees with him, they are "bad", "evil", "small," "lyin'", etc. ,etc. Some people mistake this as bullying -- it's not. It's antagonizing opposition as a method of suppression. There are just too many dots that easily connect with Trump to tilt him toward the fascist/authoritarian than a centrist.
In terms of fascism being more controversial than socialism - I agree completely. It's cultural biases that make us more/less comfortable with one term over the other. Quite frankly, our culture's use of political terms is a fascinating study in and of itself. We settle into labels that make us feel better but don't really point to the things we value. I'm certain I'll post one day about how many strands of Conservatism are actually liberal and many strains of Liberals are actually conservative.
