American Fascism

 

We are in desperate need of a new language—a language that can capture the fascist tide that is engulfing the United States. The tools to articulate this shift will not be found in the legacy press, which remains shackled by the very structures it should question. This new language must break free from the tightly controlled narrative churned out by right-wing media outlets, such as Fox News, where the acceleration of fascist ideals has found a fertile ground to flourish unchecked.

Children are being slaughtered in Gaza, millions are on the brink of losing their healthcare, and the funds for feeding impoverished children are being slashed by the grotesque budget of Trump’s administration. Thousands will die in the future from a lack of support, all in the name of enriching the pockets of the filthy rich.

We now live in a country where class warfare is not merely present—it is on steroids, exposing the killing machine of gangster capitalism in its rawest form. Terror, fear, and punishment have supplanted the ideals of equality, freedom, and justice. The lights are dimming in the United States, and what remains are the ignorant smirks of fascist incompetence and bodies devoid of passion, empathy, and any semblance of humanity.

Ruth Ben-Ghiat writes that "America has been set on a trajectory to become a police state," citing the passage of the Brutal & Bellicose Bill (BBB), which has given ICE more funding than the militaries of Brazil, Israel, and Italy combined. While her observations are important, the foundation for this police state was laid much earlier—under the reign of Bush and Cheney, with their war on terror. It was the lies of Weapons of Mass Destruction and the invasion of Iraq that ignited this path, paving the way for Guantanamo Bay, the torture chambers at Abu Ghraib, and the ruthless abduction of individuals—each an early echo of what we now witness under Trump.

The police state did not begin with Trump; it simply embraced, more openly and brazenly, the fascist undercurrents that had already taken root. What we now face is a systematic enforcement of deportations, racial cleansing, the normalization of hate as political rhetoric, the criminalization of dissent, the erosion of birthright citizenship, and the militarization of society at large. We are witnessing the rapid expansion of a punishing state, fed by the destruction of the social state and the concentration of power among the financial elite.

Yet, what is striking is how disconnected we remain from the historical roots of this moment—centuries of colonized violence. Why do we refuse to call the Trump regime what it truly is: a fascist state engaged in state terrorism? Why do we ignore the growing evidence of class warfare that has become more visible than ever? Why are questions of economic inequality, terrorism, and violations of international law systematically left untouched when it comes to the United States and its allies, like Israel?

At the heart of this crisis lies a moral void. Issues of justice, equality, and social responsibility no longer resonate within the platforms of the oligarchic elite. What we are witnessing is a genocidal war against criticism, against critical inquiry, against the courage to think differently.

Hope, it seems, has been buried beneath the hollow fantasies of Disney-esque nightmares. But it is time to wake up—to resurrect the connection between civic literacy and moral witnessing. We must act as though humanity itself is at stake, because in truth, it is. The time for complacency is over. The time for a new language of critique, possibility, and mass struggle is now.

-Henry Giroux