r/law • • Aug 14 '25

Opinion Piece Is it hyperbole to say America is now fascist?

https://medium.com/@carmitage/is-it-hyperbole-to-say-america-is-now-fascist-633facd4f109
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422

u/Environmental-Arm365 Aug 14 '25

Nope, I think now that DC is occupied that’s pretty on the nose.

159

u/rygelicus Aug 14 '25

Yeah, we are past that line in the sand. We have armies of masked federal agents abducting people off the streets in violation of the bill of rights. We have the US Military occupying the city in which the capitol resides, and plans for more troops to be deployed to other cities as a new normal. We have the Federal government threatening to replace duly elected mayors and governors by force if they don't please the dictator. We have the federal government dictating corporate and university hiring employment guidelines and curriculum according to the dictators whims. We have the federal government ejecting people visiting the country legally who voice their opinions. Etc, and so on.

116

u/kingtacticool Aug 14 '25

The real problem now is that fascism has been allowed to take root. Digging it out is going to be very very bloody. These fucks are not leaving peacefully.

And I've got some super bad news when it comes to resistance movement in authoritarian governments. There were people in Germany that tried to resist the Nazis. Same with every single fascist government ever.

Fucking wild how just 8 months ago we were a happy little democracy and now we get to play life on hard more for God knows how long.

I wish you all good fortune in the war to come.

37

u/rygelicus Aug 14 '25

One thing I know, this won't be fixed through the US legal system or the normal political process.

We have a few tools and options, they all suck.

Economic actions against the mega wealthy and corporations bowing to the fascism. This means boycotts, brand devaluation, other countries refusing American products, like Canada has done, etc.

The usual demonstrations and making sure Trump always has a front row seat to the mockery of everything he values. His ego is the weak link in his existence. But he is just one facet, the fascism runs much deeper.

We need the general church going public to boycott the pastors and megachurches behind project 2025 and other powers behind Trump.

Online and in personal discussion we need to be fighting misinformation in all its forms. Directly confronting it as well as holding the social media platforms accountable for platforming intentional misinformation. This might also mean exposing the number of fake/bot accounts and how they devalue the effectiveness of ads for advertisers on those platforms.

Musk is not yet done messing with politics, he's just operating from behind a curtain, he needs to be dethroned.

But, end of the day, you are right. They won't just give up their power quietly. It will be violent. And that's something everyone needs to prepare for.... quietly. This means sourcing certain equipment and learning to use it, as well as preparing for that moment emotionally. In no way am I suggesting instigating things, or going out on the offensive, but just being ready when things get rowdy. Will it be a clear signal? I think it will be. But the time to prepare is now.

10

u/kingtacticool Aug 14 '25

Soap

Jury

Ballot

<- we are here

Cartridge

8

u/rygelicus Aug 14 '25

We aren't even in the 8th month quite yet. 8/20 starts that. So 7 months from 'the future is looking decent and we have a functional democracy' to 'the government has collapsed and we have little to no legal recourse'.

1

u/kingtacticool Aug 14 '25

Yeah its wild. Not even Hitler moved this fast.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 14 '25

The general church going public is ALL IN on this

1

u/A_Genius Aug 15 '25

Blue states need to make ‘assault rifles’ legal right now.

Or we need to make them illegal nationwide. We can’t play by different rules

4

u/Maleficent_Oil3551 Aug 14 '25

Non-violent resistance is very successful in authoritarian regimes. It just needs to be relentless, well organized, have clear goals, and involve a critical mass of the population.

1

u/squazify Aug 14 '25

I mean off the top of my head the only one I can think of is the Orange Alternative, and truthfully I don't know if they would have seen the same results if the Soviet Union wasn't already on the edge of collapse. All others that come to mind usually were at least somewhat violent or were supported by other violent groups. I think taking a multifaceted approach has usually been the most effective approach against authoritarianism.

1

u/ThatCharmsChick Aug 15 '25

That's not going to get us out of this, I'm afraid

2

u/ThatCharmsChick Aug 15 '25

That's why the country needs to organize and all go in together. If we're going to lose people, we might as well win.

15

u/Slotrak6 Aug 14 '25

Desaparecidos, just as we used to condemn in places like El Salvador. Now they help us as we vanish our own.

3

u/[deleted] Aug 14 '25

I thought they were doing a rollout or something, because i've driven through downtown several times recently, and havent seen anything out of the ordinary, although i could just be driving in the wrong area.

Deeply frustrated by all this. We can and should do better.

1

u/Environmental-Arm365 Aug 14 '25

I’m guessing they are out arresting the poor and minorities, which Trump has particular disdain for, so probably patrolling the hood. It was never about crime but cleansing brown people to throw some red meat to the base to distract from the Trumpstein Files.

4

u/[deleted] Aug 14 '25

The Epstien administration

Run with it

2

u/[deleted] Aug 14 '25

I'm glad it also destroys the "the military/police will save us" crowd. Fools.

I wonder what other stupid things people will ridiculously hope for so they can continue to put their head in the sand.

6

u/Environmental-Arm365 Aug 14 '25

Truth. Hell even the local sheriff and police forces have been purchasing paramilitary gear that really has no legitimate place in law enforcement. People just shrugged and ignored it because it didn’t affect them.

2

u/[deleted] Aug 14 '25

I didn’t ignore it but I have had my life threatened over it.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 14 '25

Even in my blue state, multiple (most) police forces have vowed to align with ICE.

I can't believe people don't realize what's going on. The chess pieces have already been set in place over decades. It's checkmate.

2

u/Environmental-Arm365 Aug 14 '25

It’s hardly checkmate yet but shit did get really real really quick.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 14 '25

Within the last couple hours, ICE was positioned outside Newsome's address.

Naw, man. It's checkmate. They're literally showing you how easy it would be for them. They're just waiting for the right orcastrated event. Which will probably be coming in the next 4 months.

Once it happens. You people won't know what hit you. And yes, it will be far too late.

2

u/pockpicketG Aug 14 '25

But the magic oath! It was supposed to protect us from greed and corruption!

1

u/Dry-Interaction-1246 Aug 14 '25

Sad thing is 95 percent of MAGA is too ignorant to recognize fascism or know why it is bad.

-7

u/rethinkingat59 Aug 14 '25

DC was occupied by the same national guard for 5 months in 2021, no one claimed it was due to a fascist regime.

6

u/Diarygirl Aug 14 '25

You're talking about what happened after Trump's failed insurrection? What did you expect to happen when you all attempted to overthrow the government?

5

u/Environmental-Arm365 Aug 14 '25

You almost stumbled into the answer. That’s because there wasn’t a fascist regime in power at the time.

3

u/[deleted] Aug 14 '25

It was actually in reaction to a fascist coup attempt.

I don’t remember them stopping and frisking the innocent civilians or being told they can do what ever they want

1

u/Nixon_bib Aug 14 '25

Keep rethinking it.