I was always fascinated that Nazis who fantasized about an Aryan Master Race embraced fat Goering and chinless Himmler and creepy Goebels and shop-keeper-mustache- wearer Hitler. Then I saw Trump and Miller and Bogino and Bovino and Homan and I thought, “Maybe there’s a part of the fascist brain that can’t see ugly if it’s masked by power.” There may be a corollary with some minority fascists not seeing the ugly in the dominant white fascists .
I like people who can help me refine my talking points into something clear. (I give credit when I'm speaking someone else's words)...
Just the other day I was discussing power with an individual who told me that women have "better character" than men, I said if it seemed true it's just because women are lower in the power structure, not because of our sex. They were really upset about my position. But next time maybe I can speak more clearly.
" ... the 'identity' that matters most is 'power' — who has it and who doesn’t." Yes, roger that. It's not an addiction to "whiteness" but to power, presumably to inoculate someone against intolerable feelings of vulnerability, anxiety, shame, grief ... you know, their humanness.
Excellent points. I think I cringe when people say “nonwhites can support white supremacy” because it seems to move the goalposts to cover the inconvenient fact that nonwhites can be awful pieces of shit just like their white counterparts—not everything fits into a racial lens, sometimes it’s about individuals and individuals can be terrible just as they can be great. It’s the reverse of why you can’t pigeonhole a race of people for bad things or good.
These ICE agents are Hispanic but it should be obvious by now that many if not most Hispanics don’t see themselves in some kinship with other Hispanics, even those from the same national origin and racial breakdown (eg, more European vs non European background). Some, just like many whites and even blacks, see immigrants as a problem, and think Trump is terrific because he says what they already think. (Some of the most nasty racist, sexist and homophobic shit I’ve ever heard in person came from other Hispanics I know, even racist about other Hispanics—maybe the whites I know are less embarrassed about those beliefs).
The truth that we can glean from the Trump era is that he appeals to the dark underbelly among many people, not just whites, men and heterosexuals but the insecurity and animal hatreds that some people allow to take charge. It’s visceral, irrational but very real and dangerous.
Great write-up, Stephen. I'd add minorities join Fascist Club not only because they seek power, but also acceptance from the oppressors, falsely believing they can be equals in a system created by and for mediocre white boys.
And as such, I'd argue that joining that club is inherently an act of self-hatred.
I've always thought that the Log Cabin Republicans primarily identify not as (almost entirely) gay men, but as Wealthy-Americans. They're in the club and that's all that counts.
Conservatives are trying to conserve the hierarchies of the past: racial, gender, class, religious.
Their core view is authoritarian. They see the world in terms of winners and loser. Those with power and those who have to take shit from those with power. Their churches condition this world view: God (through the pastor) as ultimate authority, men next, then women, and children.
They are well experienced in either being the latter or at least perceiving themselves as the latter and they know it sucks, but rather than make the choice to destroy the hierarchies altogether, they scheme and plot to get higher, so they have to take less shit, but can shit on more people.
They don't believe us when we say we want to destroy the hierarchy. Doesn't even enter into their minds that anyone would want to do that. So all they see in our attempts to lift up the marginalized is an attempt to force them down the hierarchy so they have less power and have to eat more shit.
Being "one of the 'good' ones" is a way to elevate one's position in the hierarchy. It provides certain benefits. Allows folks to hope that one day they'll be seen as "one of us" and not "one of them". Gives them more power. Sure, their status in the hierarchy might be akin to walking on a knife's edge, but it's better than moving down the hierarchy and having to take more shit.
“There’s no reason Thomas should care about a poor Black person who’s unjustly on death row any more than his billionaire buddy Harlan Crow cares about a white Appalachian on the same cell block. The capacity of empathy isn’t influenced by melanin count.”
This is why I read your columns, you expose my easily-assumed prejudicial convictions and misconceptions to me.
Side question: I haven’t kept track of how old your son is now (mid-teens?), but how did he do with the final episode of Sherlock Holmes? That was some advanced psychological mind-fuckery. I’m not sure I’m came away unscathed.
It’s taken me a long time to accept the capabilities of some people to do evil. Some do it out of stupidity and misunderstanding. But largely it arises out of complicated emotional distortions that are fulfilled by exerting power over others. It’s a zero sum game where the pain of others becomes your fulfillment.
One "good" thing about being raised evangelical like I was is that I learned that lesson real early. It really can't be overstated how much the Republicans are ruling the country like evangelicals run their churches.
"There’s no reason Thomas should care about a poor Black person who’s unjustly on death row any more than his billionaire buddy Harlan Crow cares about a white Appalachian on the same cell block." BINGO.
It's really a tough pill to take, seeing all this laid out in this article.
I am reminded of this Black YouTuber I rapidly unsubscribed from when he had a video essentially highlighting that manifest destiny was a "good" thing. Just absolutely diabolical.
But also I often point out, many people voted for the atrocities because they thought they would be able to hurt Black people especially. The torture of Minneapolis because it has a large Somali population is not lost on me. It's the same root cause to me as the anti-Haitian blood libel in Ohio...which was ridden to electoral success. And this is one reason so many people are for sadopopulism.
And as you show with great skill, sadopopulism (and the bigotry that fuels it) are very stupid and expensive.
Okay, THIS is my favorite essay of yours I've read. It gave me such a flashback- I can still remember the actor playing Cohn delivering that speech when I saw "Angels in America" way back in the 1990s on B'way. It was one of those theater moments that truly blew a young grew-up-in-the-sticks person's mind. I'll be thinking about what you wrote for quite awhile.
I can't help but wonder if the real goal sought being power explains, to some extent, the virulent rage directed against transgender women (because the rage doesn't seem to go in the either direction- to people recognized as female at birth choosing to live publicly as me, or certainly not to the same extent). I wonder, if, on some level, the fact that someone previously recognized by society as being part of the in-group (i.e., male) making the choice to live publicly as a member of an out-group (female) is terrifying, especially to members of the in-group. Because the eschewing of power REALLY upends "how things are supposed to be." And so they attack, and they ridicule and they do anything to avoid the bigger issue, which is the societal subjugation of groups who are not seen as male, white, straight.
I didn't see the original cast, as I saw it during it's final week- I remember I went to see both parts, three days apart, and the tickets cost me about 60% of what I had in my checking account at the time (I was very broke in the 1990s). But oh, what an experience to see it all in the same week. I was crying openly by the end of Perestroika. My boss at the time, who was a HUGE theater buff, saw the first part early in the run and I asked her what it was like, coming back a year later to see Perestroika, and I loved what she said- "It was like sitting down to dinner with old friends."
Ron Leibman, I'm sure, was amazing (Tony Award for it, yes?) and I wish I'd seen him, too! But getting F Murray Abraham as a replacement didn't suck.
Trump is doubling down — sending militarized agents into our communities, murdering citizens, silencing voters, and handing billionaires giveaways while families struggle. This isn’t just politics. It’s democracy versus dictatorship. And together, we’re choosing democracy.
On March 28, millions of us are rising again to show the world: America has no kings and the power belongs to the people.
I was always fascinated that Nazis who fantasized about an Aryan Master Race embraced fat Goering and chinless Himmler and creepy Goebels and shop-keeper-mustache- wearer Hitler. Then I saw Trump and Miller and Bogino and Bovino and Homan and I thought, “Maybe there’s a part of the fascist brain that can’t see ugly if it’s masked by power.” There may be a corollary with some minority fascists not seeing the ugly in the dominant white fascists .
This.
I like people who can help me refine my talking points into something clear. (I give credit when I'm speaking someone else's words)...
Just the other day I was discussing power with an individual who told me that women have "better character" than men, I said if it seemed true it's just because women are lower in the power structure, not because of our sex. They were really upset about my position. But next time maybe I can speak more clearly.
Thanks for your work.
Yes, I don’t think any human being is essentially better or worse than others because of their identity.
Right?
Spot on
" ... the 'identity' that matters most is 'power' — who has it and who doesn’t." Yes, roger that. It's not an addiction to "whiteness" but to power, presumably to inoculate someone against intolerable feelings of vulnerability, anxiety, shame, grief ... you know, their humanness.
Arguably the entire Republican ethos is just different flavors of sadism expressed in different ways.
Excellent points. I think I cringe when people say “nonwhites can support white supremacy” because it seems to move the goalposts to cover the inconvenient fact that nonwhites can be awful pieces of shit just like their white counterparts—not everything fits into a racial lens, sometimes it’s about individuals and individuals can be terrible just as they can be great. It’s the reverse of why you can’t pigeonhole a race of people for bad things or good.
These ICE agents are Hispanic but it should be obvious by now that many if not most Hispanics don’t see themselves in some kinship with other Hispanics, even those from the same national origin and racial breakdown (eg, more European vs non European background). Some, just like many whites and even blacks, see immigrants as a problem, and think Trump is terrific because he says what they already think. (Some of the most nasty racist, sexist and homophobic shit I’ve ever heard in person came from other Hispanics I know, even racist about other Hispanics—maybe the whites I know are less embarrassed about those beliefs).
The truth that we can glean from the Trump era is that he appeals to the dark underbelly among many people, not just whites, men and heterosexuals but the insecurity and animal hatreds that some people allow to take charge. It’s visceral, irrational but very real and dangerous.
What a great perspective I’d never considered because trying to analyze the motivations of others can send you to a deep dark hole.
This is where ALL the people deserve to be whether literally or metaphorically.
Thanks for doing the hard work SER.
Great write-up, Stephen. I'd add minorities join Fascist Club not only because they seek power, but also acceptance from the oppressors, falsely believing they can be equals in a system created by and for mediocre white boys.
And as such, I'd argue that joining that club is inherently an act of self-hatred.
I've always thought that the Log Cabin Republicans primarily identify not as (almost entirely) gay men, but as Wealthy-Americans. They're in the club and that's all that counts.
As George Jefferson once said “the only color that counts is green.”
Conservatives are trying to conserve the hierarchies of the past: racial, gender, class, religious.
Their core view is authoritarian. They see the world in terms of winners and loser. Those with power and those who have to take shit from those with power. Their churches condition this world view: God (through the pastor) as ultimate authority, men next, then women, and children.
They are well experienced in either being the latter or at least perceiving themselves as the latter and they know it sucks, but rather than make the choice to destroy the hierarchies altogether, they scheme and plot to get higher, so they have to take less shit, but can shit on more people.
They don't believe us when we say we want to destroy the hierarchy. Doesn't even enter into their minds that anyone would want to do that. So all they see in our attempts to lift up the marginalized is an attempt to force them down the hierarchy so they have less power and have to eat more shit.
Being "one of the 'good' ones" is a way to elevate one's position in the hierarchy. It provides certain benefits. Allows folks to hope that one day they'll be seen as "one of us" and not "one of them". Gives them more power. Sure, their status in the hierarchy might be akin to walking on a knife's edge, but it's better than moving down the hierarchy and having to take more shit.
“There’s no reason Thomas should care about a poor Black person who’s unjustly on death row any more than his billionaire buddy Harlan Crow cares about a white Appalachian on the same cell block. The capacity of empathy isn’t influenced by melanin count.”
This is why I read your columns, you expose my easily-assumed prejudicial convictions and misconceptions to me.
Side question: I haven’t kept track of how old your son is now (mid-teens?), but how did he do with the final episode of Sherlock Holmes? That was some advanced psychological mind-fuckery. I’m not sure I’m came away unscathed.
He's almost 12! We are still in Season 3 so we're looking forward to the finale!
Have fun!😱
It’s taken me a long time to accept the capabilities of some people to do evil. Some do it out of stupidity and misunderstanding. But largely it arises out of complicated emotional distortions that are fulfilled by exerting power over others. It’s a zero sum game where the pain of others becomes your fulfillment.
One "good" thing about being raised evangelical like I was is that I learned that lesson real early. It really can't be overstated how much the Republicans are ruling the country like evangelicals run their churches.
Edited for clarification
"There’s no reason Thomas should care about a poor Black person who’s unjustly on death row any more than his billionaire buddy Harlan Crow cares about a white Appalachian on the same cell block." BINGO.
It's really a tough pill to take, seeing all this laid out in this article.
I am reminded of this Black YouTuber I rapidly unsubscribed from when he had a video essentially highlighting that manifest destiny was a "good" thing. Just absolutely diabolical.
But also I often point out, many people voted for the atrocities because they thought they would be able to hurt Black people especially. The torture of Minneapolis because it has a large Somali population is not lost on me. It's the same root cause to me as the anti-Haitian blood libel in Ohio...which was ridden to electoral success. And this is one reason so many people are for sadopopulism.
And as you show with great skill, sadopopulism (and the bigotry that fuels it) are very stupid and expensive.
Okay, THIS is my favorite essay of yours I've read. It gave me such a flashback- I can still remember the actor playing Cohn delivering that speech when I saw "Angels in America" way back in the 1990s on B'way. It was one of those theater moments that truly blew a young grew-up-in-the-sticks person's mind. I'll be thinking about what you wrote for quite awhile.
I can't help but wonder if the real goal sought being power explains, to some extent, the virulent rage directed against transgender women (because the rage doesn't seem to go in the either direction- to people recognized as female at birth choosing to live publicly as me, or certainly not to the same extent). I wonder, if, on some level, the fact that someone previously recognized by society as being part of the in-group (i.e., male) making the choice to live publicly as a member of an out-group (female) is terrifying, especially to members of the in-group. Because the eschewing of power REALLY upends "how things are supposed to be." And so they attack, and they ridicule and they do anything to avoid the bigger issue, which is the societal subjugation of groups who are not seen as male, white, straight.
I envy you having seen the original! I believe the first Roy Cohn played Rachel Green's dad on Friends (he's brilliant).
I didn't see the original cast, as I saw it during it's final week- I remember I went to see both parts, three days apart, and the tickets cost me about 60% of what I had in my checking account at the time (I was very broke in the 1990s). But oh, what an experience to see it all in the same week. I was crying openly by the end of Perestroika. My boss at the time, who was a HUGE theater buff, saw the first part early in the run and I asked her what it was like, coming back a year later to see Perestroika, and I loved what she said- "It was like sitting down to dinner with old friends."
Ron Leibman, I'm sure, was amazing (Tony Award for it, yes?) and I wish I'd seen him, too! But getting F Murray Abraham as a replacement didn't suck.
OT: And a reminder -
𝗡𝗢 𝗖𝗥𝗢𝗪𝗡𝗦. 𝗡𝗢 𝗧𝗛𝗥𝗢𝗡𝗘𝗦. 𝗡𝗢 𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗦.
𝗡𝗼 𝗞𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗠𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗔𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗡𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗗𝗮𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗡𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘄𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝟮𝟴
Trump is doubling down — sending militarized agents into our communities, murdering citizens, silencing voters, and handing billionaires giveaways while families struggle. This isn’t just politics. It’s democracy versus dictatorship. And together, we’re choosing democracy.
On March 28, millions of us are rising again to show the world: America has no kings and the power belongs to the people.
https://www.nokings.org/
I WILL BE THERE!
US, TOO!
Spread it around, Americans!