Stop Fascism is a resource hub intended to aid and inspire a broad coalition to oppose fascism in the United States of America and prevent the MAGA movement transforming our liberal democracy into a fascist state. In this time of "alternative facts" and right-wing media networks promoting lies, conspiracy theories, and hate speech, we believe it is imperative to redouble our commitment to truth. Thus, we provide a short encyclopaedia that contains information consistent with the consensus of relevant experts, and a list of trustworthy journalists and news source.

We don't think truth alone will stop fascism—we must also act. Stop Fascism also provides a legislation watchlist (a list of proposed legislation seeking to disenfranchise or harm LGBTQIA* folks, people of color, women, etc.) and a list of organizations and programs to which you can lend your time. Finally, we include some tips to remain safe in your activism, and a blog to easily stay up to date on new attacks from MAGA fascists and actions to oppose them.

We strive to present the most accurate information in the most objective manner possible, and invite people from all over the political spectrum to participate in defending against the sustained MAGA attack on US government. We take care not to engage in internecine conflicts that distract from our common goal, and make our best efforts to accommodate people of all abilities.

How We Got Here

The history of the United States of America begins with the discovery of "the New World" by Europeans and continues through the subsequent colonization of the Americas; the dispossession, disenfranchisement, and demolition of indigenous peoples and cultures; the abduction, enslavement, and torture of African peoples; the movement to abolish racist chattel slavery; the labor movement's struggle against the poverty and unsafe working conditions resulting from unrestrained capitalism; the World Wars and interbellum period; the Civil Rights movement that sought to realize the legal equality minorities had been promised for 100 years; the rightward shift of politics to neoliberalism and the far-right MAGA movement.

A painting of the Trail of Tears by Robert Lindneux (1942).

Colonialism

The United States of America began as European settlers starting colonies in "the New World." Toward the end of the 15th Century, Europeans began to migrate to the Americas and, in 1776, the British colonies fought a war against King Charles III to declare their independence from Britain and their federation into a new nation. The settlement of the New World meant that the colonists often came into conflict with the indigenous peoples of the Americas, and included the transport and brutal mistreatment of enslaved Africans in the Atlantic Slave Trade. Andrew Jackson. Trail of Tears. Manifest Destiny. US states: 5 in 1788, 10 in 1788, 15 in 1792, 20 in 1817, 25 in 1836, 30 in 1848, 35 in 1863, 40 in 1889, 45 in 1896, 50 in 1959.

Civil War and Reconstruction

"States rights" is a cover to allow the southern states, whose economy was largely dependent upon the labor of the enslaved, to maintain the very brutal and racist form of chattel slavery. After the Civil War, efforts to disenfranchise Black people in the US continued, and monuments to racist generals were constructed. In 1865, the Ku Klux Klan was formed and, though they technically fall outside of fascism, the similarities between this racist, Christian-nationalist organization and fascism are many.

The Gilded and Progressive Ages

Robber barons. The labor movement. History of police as slave patrols and hired goons.

World War

Modeling of Nazi programs on US treatment of indigenous peoples. Internment of Japanese people during WWII.

Fascism is a far-right political ideology that appeared in the early 20th Century and is characterized by a syncretic traditionalism, rejection of modernism, irrationality, anti-intellectualism, intolerance to disagreement and difference, bigotry, penchant for conspiracy theories and contradictory positions, glorification of violence and warfare, hierarchical organization, chauvinism, and a desire to usher in a national rebirth through the elimination of perceived enemies, usually foreigners and domestic dissidents. Fascism is also marked by an "impoverished vocabulary": what 1984 author George Orwell called "newspeak," as well as the "stock phrases" Hannah Arendt heard from Nazis like Adolf Eichmann that were empty of meaning, but useful to employ as a defense against critical thought, or as a standard around which other fascists could rally.

In 1995, Umberto Eco gave a speech detailing fourteen (14) characteristics of "Ur-Fascism," the "type specimen" for, or the distilled essence of, fascism:

Cult of tradition
Rejection of modernism and embrace of irrationalism
Cult of action for action's sake ("thinking is a form of emasculation")
Disagreement is treason
Anti-diversity ("fear of difference")
Appeal to frustrated middle class ("a class suffering from an economic crisis or feelings of political humiliation")
Obsession with a plot (aka conspiracy theories)
Enemies are at the same time too strong and too weak
Life is permanent warfare
Mass/Popular elitism (hierarchically organized)
Cult of heroism
Machismo ("both disdain for women and intolerance and condemnation of nonstandard sexual habits")
Selective populism ("individuals have no rights... the Leader pretends to be their interpreter," and "Ur-Fascism must be against 'rotten' parliamentary governments.")
Newspeak

Political scholars often view fascism as a phenomenon belonging to the first half of the 20th Century, and those who have perpetuated fascist ideas since are largely referred to as neo-fascists. Though the MAGA movement does not explicitly carry the torch from any previous fascist movement, it fits the definition of fascism well enough to earn that association. "The first appeal of a fascist or prematurely fascist movement is an appeal against the intruders. Thus Ur-Fascism is racist by definition." (Eco)

Since Donald Trump began his second term as President, he has taken efforts to root out opposition, install inexperienced loyalists, codify false beliefs, encourage harm to enemies (see stochastic terrorism), destroy programs upon which the poorest rely, give tax breaks to the richest, ally with competitive authoritarian regimes against other liberal democracies, and remain president beyond the two terms permitted by the US Constitution.

Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X — Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. laughing with Malcolm X

Reaction to Civil Rights

MLK Jr. Malcolm X. McCarthyism.

Christian Nationalism

The Tea Party. MAGA. Alternative media bubble.

Business As Usual?

Current events are entirely unprecedented.

The United States of America is experiencing the worst existential crisis since the Civil War. For decades, there has been an effort to normalize far-right talking points in a quest to force people in the USA to conform to an extremely authoritarian, fundamentalist Christian worldview. Various factors such as the founding of the US Libertarian Party in 1971, the influence of figures like Newt Gingrich in Congress and Rush Limbaugh on television and radio programs, the Reagan presidency, and the Tea Party movement have shifted the Overton window to the right. This situation opened the doors for far-right figures to lay bare their dastardly beliefs, removing all euphemisms about "urban youth" and "super predators," and proudly embrace a bigoted, anti-intellectual nativism. This populist movement has become known as MAGA, after President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign slogan "Make America Great Again," which is quite possibly the single best slogan for fascists who believe in the glorious rebirth of a nation whose mythologized past actually includes the subjugation of those who do not conform to the narrow ideal of a white, straight, cisgendered, Christian society organized in the relatively new social custom of nuclear families.

This new movement has been aided by a neoliberal "technocratic" class of capitalists that have permitted and amplified the spread of misinformation, bigotry, and hatred in the name of a false objectivity that means, in the words of famed writer Isaac Asimov, "my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge." When the technocratic elite couldn't even keep up with the far-right, such as the sharing of nude photos online of former President Joe Biden's son Hunter, the far-right threw a tantrum and decided to build their own, insular "alternative" media ecosystem whose commitment to "free speech absolutism" includes--or rather, necessitates--the platforming of liars, shills, and those who explicitly identify as fascists and neo-Nazis. This has all culminated in the predicament in which we find ourselves now: a seditious criminal has been elected to the highest office in our land, and is swiftly destroying any remaining vestiges of our pluralist democracy by replacing career civil servants with unqualified loyalists, ignoring laws and court orders, and dismantling the laws and agencies that protect people in the USA from the abuses of private power. This distinctly American fascism seeks to place immense authority in the executive branch (thereby surpassing checks and balances), exterminate truth and journalism, criminalize actions Christians consider sinful (e.g. abortion), and remove people they don't consider sufficiently "American" (by deporting non-whites and non-English speakers, and imprisoning critics), among many other disastrous and inhuman actions. The gleichschaltung, known colloquially as "Nazification," of our government has already begun, as President Donald Trump has appointed a cabinet of inexperienced loyalists to ensure that his unconstitutional executive orders will get carried out faithfully.

We have seen fascism before and we know where it leads. To the fascists in this country, we say "Never again!" We will not stand idly by and watch as wealth is further concentrated into the hands of the 0.001%, we are deported (or worse), our environment is destroyed, education is reserved only for the elites, etc. We are here to provide knowledge, tips, contacts, and other resources to help you Resist!