We are living under a fascist government. This is a statement that once accepted, bears immediate moral responsibilities.

Fascism is a far-right ideology emphasizing authoritarianism, militarism, nationalism and racial supremacy. The Trump Administration fits all these categories. Our President has ignored and undermined Congress, violated the Constitution, preached hateful and dehumanizing nationalist rhetoric and engaged in an ethnic cleansing of the United States.  

Worries about the democratic nature of the United States are not new. Plenty of other presidents were war criminals, infringed upon constitutional rights, funded genocide or destabilized nations at the expense of civilians — they simply cared more about optics. Long before either Trump presidency, research determined that a small number of economic elites dictate federal and state policy at the expense of the working and middle classes — making the U.S. functionally an oligarchy. 

Yet, even if Trump is just a symptom of a systemically unjust state, his uniquely blatant disregard for democracy leaves us with a heightened moral responsibility to oppose his administration. Further, Trump’s reveling in right-wing extremism and horrifyingly uncivil rhetoric provide an opportunity. The unsettling fact that, yes, it's fascism, engenders useful broad public outrage, dissolution and action. 

My fellow columnist, Nina Davis, wrote an incredible article, Fascism, Now What?, that tackles the emotional turmoil of living under a fascist government. My addition is the Here’s What: the response to what that realization should be.

One solution that political theory and history offer is civil disobedience.

John........

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