Webster’s defines fascism as “a political philosophy, movement, or regime (such as that of the Fascisti) 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.”
“Make America Great Again” does not mean “America First.” Admittedly, some of the president’s brain dead supporters are white supremacists, but Trump’s philosophy — such as it is — supports a decentralized government, expanding individual liberty, and non-regimentation of the economy. “Forcible suppression” of the opposition is imaginary in Trump’s America.
So what is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez talking about when she claims America is evolving into a “fascist society”?
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said America was turning into a fascist society in response to a heckler at a Bernie Sanders rally.
“It is fascism that we’re evolving into,” the New York Democrat told the disrupter in Los Angeles Saturday before admitting the distraction had her “thrown off.”
In AOC’s America, it’s “fascist” to disagree with her. While the heckler probably shouldn’t have disrupted the event, AOC’s knee-jerk reaction reveals that it is she who is supporting the “forcible suppression” of opposition speech.
Ocasio-Cortez, 30, had been quoting the speaker before her, Harvard Divinity School professor and left-wing activist Cornel West, who once said, “Justice is what love looks like in public.”
Ocasio-Cortez, who came to Congress in January after beating a member of the House Democratic leadership in a primary, riffed on West’s theory.
“Establishing a loving society in the United States of America” is not “an irrational, overly feeling, sympathetic statement,” she said. Rather, it’s the pursuit of “an advanced society.” And an advanced society, Ocasio-Cortez said, guarantees healthcare and tuition-free college and trade schools, among other benefits.
“What we are living in now is not an advanced society,” she said.
Utopians like West and AOC should be feared. And they’re just the sort of folks who would use the fear of fascism to achieve their perfect “advanced” society.
After all, Hitler used fear of communism for the same reason.
“This is about a movement that has been decades in the making,” she said. “We can’t go back to the way things were before, because the way thing were before is how we got to where we are now. We cannot go back to a world where the rich are put first and working people are put last in Washington day in and day out.”
Since we’ve never lived in that world — except in the imaginations of left-wing twits like AOC — I again question what it is she’s talking about.
I believe in precise definitions when engaged in political discourse. But violence is being done to language on both sides that make it impossible to communicate. When language is used as a political weapon rather than as a means of communication, society suffers. You can’t call anyone a fascist unless they support a fascist political philosophy. Neither can you refer to someone as a “communist” if they aren’t a communist. But the words “fascist” and “communist” aren’t used to impart information or explain anything. They are used as a club to beat up a political opponent.
Ocasio-Cortez does extreme violence to the English language. She bends, folds, and mutilates words and meanings until they are unrecognizable. She’s not alone. There are guilty parties all over the political spectrum.
I hate to try and imagine where all this will lead.
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