"Where is God? Where is He"? Elie Wiesel asked in 1979 in his work The Trial of God. The answer lies In Fedrick Nietzsche's 1882 writing, The Gay Science: "God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him". God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him.
Fascism is defined as "A far-right:
Elon Musk: a member of Donald Trump's cabinet, performs a Nazi salute on live television.
Dr. Matthew MacWilliams- Recognized expert on authoritarianism, 2024 polling of South Carolina voters.
Ultranationalist political ideology:
Trump supporters overrun the Capitol building on January 6th, 2021 to attempt to overturn election results.
Characterized by a dictatorial leader:
"John Kelly, the retired Marine general who was Donald Trump’s White House chief of staff, entered the 2024 fray in stunning fashion in a series of interviews published Tuesday, saying the former president fits “into the general definition of fascist” and that he spoke of the loyalty of Hitler’s Nazi generals." - CNN, October 23, 2024
“He says, ‘You’re not going to be a dictator, are you?’ I said: ‘No, no, no, other than day one. We’re closing the border, and we’re drilling, drilling, drilling. After that, I’m not a dictator.’” - Donald Trump and AP News, December 7th, 2023
"Whether or not he was kidding about bringing a tyrannical end to our 248-year experiment in democracy, I ask him, Don’t you see why many Americans see such talk of dictatorship as contrary to our most cherished principles? Trump says no. Quite the opposite, he insists. “I think a lot of people like it.”" - Donald Trump to TIME magazine, April 30th, 2024
Centralized Autocracy:
"Rep. Ogles Proposes Amending the 22nd Amendment to Allow Trump to Serve a Third Term" - Tennesee Representative Andy Ogles: joint House resolution proposition, January 23rd, 2025
"This amendment would allow President Trump to serve three terms, ensuring that we can sustain the bold leadership our nation so desperately needs." - Representative Andy Ogles
Militarism:
Donald Trump deploys National Guard troops to Washington D.C to mobilize against peaceful protesters, on June 6th 2024
Forcible suppression of opposition:
"The state is now the strictest in the country with regard to mail-in voting verification: in a change since 2020, voters must produce a photo ID to vote, whether in-person or by mail. Mail voters must now include a copy of their ID along with a notary’s signature or the signature of two witnesses, and they must be received by Election Day to be counted (previously those postmarked by Election Day were counted)." - Voting Rights Lab, comments on North Carolina mail-in voting, October 7th, 2024
"A 'constitutional sheriff' tried to seize voting machines in 2020. Officials are bracing for a repeat." - NBC News Headline addressing the 'Constitutional Sherriff's' movement and their involvement with the 2020 election denial movement, November 3rd, 2024
And subordination of individual interests for the perceived good of the nation or race":
"Let's be clear. TikTok is absolutely a national security threat," - representative Mike Turner, Face the Nation, January 26th, 2025
"Through an executive order, the Trump administration is attempting to revoke citizenship from some U.S.-born children of immigrants. This right is protected by the 14th Amendment of the Constitution. As of this writing, more than 20 states have already filed suit to challenge the order and uphold this fundamental right. A federal judge has already temporarily blocked the executive order, calling it “blatantly unconstitutional."" - American Friends Service Committee, January 24th, 2025
": Project 2025 calls for more than doubling
the number of immigrants, up to 100,000 on any day, who can be locked up while facing
deportation. It calls for more immigrants to be subject to mandatory deportation,
regardless of whether they are a flight or public safety risk" - The Leadership Conference, August 2024
"Sweeping Raids, Giant Camps and Mass Deportations: Inside Trump’s 2025 Immigration Plans:
If he regains power, Donald Trump wants not only to revive some of the immigration policies criticized as draconian during his presidency, but expand and toughen them." - The New York Times Headline, November 11, 2023
My beloved bookbaggers, I apologize for the cold open, and for the delay on my next post. As you can see from what you've just read, from the news, from the 20 executive orders issued on January 20th, from the 78 executive orders rescinded in the first 48 hours of the 47th President's term: a lot is going on. When I refer to the United States as being a soft fascist regime, or when I refer to our president as a fascist, this is what I mean. What I showed you just now, you and I both know, is only the tip of the iceberg. In the last week, I lost my right to be protected against anti-LGBT discrimination in the workplace, at the doctor's office, and at my school. (Executive order "Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government"). Many of my friends lost their right to have their correct gender marker on their Passports and government documents, as well as their right to use the bathrooms they feel safe in on federal property (which includes federally funded college campuses). I lost the ability to apply for equity-based grants and scholarships to help pay for my college as a member of several minority groups. My community of fellow transgender and nonbinary individuals lost our right to serve our country, should we choose to. (Rescission of Executive Order 14004). I, and other survivors of sexual violence lost valuable protections against harassment in schools. (Resscession of Executive Order 14021). This all happened in 48 hours. In addition to this, an Idaho State House committee overwhelmingly passed a resolution, which calls on the Supreme Court to overturn Obergefell v. Hodges, which nationally recognized gay marriage in 2015. When I tell you I am scared, I mean I am terrified. I mean I am angry. I mean that this hits close to home. I may not ever be able to get married and have that union be recognized federally (if my partner or I was in the hospital I would not be recognized as family, if my partner or I were sick I could not take family leave to care for them, without legally recognized marriage I would be unable to file for joint adoption or foster care if I ever wanted to, I could go on). I will not be federally protected from identity-based harassment at my workplace, my college, or while I am searching for housing next semester. I will, and my community will, and our country will suffer the consequences of this presidency. I can only speak for the effect this is having on me, and the minority groups I belong to. There are millions of Americans and citizens of this country who are impacted differently than I am, and they also deserve to be fought for.
My hope is that, in my saying these things I have made an impact on you. We all know there is much to be lost, and my intention in telling you all of this is not to scare you, nor is it to sensationalize or dramatize the current situation in our country. No, dear bookbagger, my intention is to inspire you. My intention is to provide you with the resources I have found and to hold your hand as we walk into this fight together. The readings in this post are what I like to call my "anti-fascism starter kit". Some of these are slightly unconventional or uncommon, while others, you might have read or heard of in your day-to-day.
The first reading is one that I have been holding close to my chest for the past few weeks: Dylan Thomas' "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night" had a profound effect on me the first time I read it.
"Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light."
"Rage, rage against the dying of the light". This specific line jumped out to me immediately on my first read. As someone who has studied history practically their whole life (thank you Mama for the head start!), there are recognizable patterns. One such pattern is complacency. When people in positions of power choose not to act when they see violence and oppression, this only feeds the flame. Oppression thrives on non-intervention, it thrives when people disregard what they are seeing for the sake of preserving the status quo. I would highly recommend giving this poem a quick read, so perhaps you too can repeat this in your head as we rage against the dying of the light.
The second reading is one I completed quite a while ago. After reading Elie Wiesel's Night in my high school English class, I felt compelled to find more of his work. I worked my way through the whole Night Trilogy and eventually found my way to his play: The Trial of God.
The Trial of God is set in a fictional environment (constructed within Eastern Europe in the 1640s) but is based on the events that Weisel witnessed as a teenager in Auschwitz. This play is less focused on the idea of sparking a revolution and more invested in the theoretical. In the play, God himself is indicted for allowing his children to be massacred. The play, like the rest of Wiesel's writing, gives an equally interesting and heart-wrenching perspective on the concept of religion. Wiesel's characters: three Rabbis, spend several nights putting the divine itself on trial, which is both conceptually fascinating and bleak. This play is incredible, and if you haven't read "Night" yet, I would strongly recommend you read that as a precursor, as I believe The Trial of God will leave more of an impact after reading Wiesel's journey with his loss of faith inside Auschwitz.
The third reading is quite literally a handbook on anti-fascist ideology. I do not recommend this one to you in hopes that you will agree with everything that is said, but to provide you with valuable knowledge about the anti-fascist movement as a whole: where it started, how it works, common misconceptions about the movement, etc. I want to preface this recommendation by sharing with you that "Antifa" is not an official organization (they have no internal hierarchy, nor do they have a universal set of practices or beliefs). Rather, it serves as an umbrella term for far-left people who are resisting neo-nazi movements and white supremacy. So again, I recommend this reading in hopes that you can learn more about this specific sector of the anti-fascist movement, not necessarily to identify with it or join it yourself. The Anti-Fascist Handbook was published in 2017 by author Mark Brey, who does a fantastic job summarizing the history of anti-fascism into the modern era. Brey also uses the book to pose important questions about the nature of free speech, analyze ineffective strategies employed against discrimination, and to push the reader to think about their own deeply held convictions (political, moral, social, or otherwise). I really enjoyed reading this book because it forced me to ask uncomfortable questions about myself and my country. It caused me to pose the question: "How free is our 'free' nation"? If you're ready to learn some new history and peek into an often mischaracterized movement, then I would encourage you to give this book a read! You can find a PDF for free online with a quick Google search, which is one of the nice things about socialist-leaning literature, the authors are almost always willing to put out free copies.
My last book recommendation for you is an autobiographical work that I am currently reading for my History of Western Civilization course. The interesting narrative of the life of Olaudah Equiano was published for the first time in 1789, and was written by Olaudah Equiano (also known as Gustavus Vassa). Equiano writes about his childhood, growing up in a Nigerian village with his father as the Cheif, how his sister and he were kidnapped into the slave trade in their youth, his experience as a slave in Virginia and on British navy vessels, and his life after he eventually gained his freedom back. Equiano's narrative is unique in that he takes a very different approach to telling his story. Equiano writes objectively, forgoing to elaborate on much of the abject horror he was exposed to, and preferring to talk about the cultural progression he witnessed within his communities. Equiano explains to the reader how the cultural progression of enslaved communities was nonlinear and often eclipsed by the overall progression of Western society. He is revolutionary in that he tells his own story (rather than having someone retroactively and impersonally write about his life), and in that he can paint himself as a flawed character. Equiano takes an interesting approach to narrating his life, and I ask you to go give his book a read, as I cannot do his story justice, nor would I try to when he has already done so himself.
And finally, bookbaggers, I do have some song recommendations for you! If you've made it this far, I appreciate you immensely for sticking with me and my political nature, and I would like to push you towards the music I've been listening to as of late so you may share in my world.
The first song is one you'll likely have heard if you've ever had the displeasure of riding in the passenger seat of my car (deemed the "jerk mobile" by my younger brother as I struggled to learn to drive stickshift over my winter break). "Bang Bang" by Momma is a brain worm with an incredible guitar riff and bridge to back it up, and I have truly listened to it a ridiculous amount of times since the new year rolled around. The melody of the song is both sultry and energetic, and it draws you in from the first second with its interesting backing track. I adore this song, and I hope you will too!
The second song is one that a certain radio segment host showed to me and one that has continued to grow on me since the first time I heard it. "Dance in Room Song" by Sipper evokes a feeling of driving in your car on a rainy night, watching the streetlights smudge in your windows. If that makes any sense at all, go give this one a listen! The song may be short, but I always turn up my volume when it comes on!
The final song recommendation never fails to make me tear up, as its grief-infused lyrics hit so close to home. I believe the song is about the concept of "via negativa" which is a method of religious reasoning where the divine is described not for what it is, but for what it is not. Despite this likely being the true meaning of the song, the lyrics feel like a nearly universal description of grieving. Though it does not make much sense to say this logically, if you turn this one on, you'll understand. The song is titled "Not" and it is written by Big Thief, I'd love to hear your thoughts on it :)
With that, my bookbaggers, I thank you for staying with me till the end of this month's issue, I hope you can find inspiration not just within my words, but within the writing I have shared with you today. Do not go gentle into that good night my reader, stand with your community, and with the groups who are fighting for justice in this country and around the world. No one is free until we all are, this is essential. I wish you a wonderful rest of your day! Thank you for sharing some of it with me, and with Bookbaggin it!
