The alarming rise of the Strong Man

I’m watching the rise of Trumpism with increasing dismay, not entirely devoid of horror.

Here are two very serious articles that deserve attention:

“Donald Trump’s Terrifying and Distinctly American Authoritarianism”

Thanks to “Mike” for calling this one to my attention.  I’m happy to see Jacob Weisberg notice the fact that Trumpism has attracted support from people who are ostensibly on both the political right and the political left.  It isn’t a product pur sang of conservatism.

“It’s Not Just Trump.  Authoritarian Populism is Rising Across the West.  Here’s Why.”

Thanks to Adam N. Davis for alerting me to this article.

It should be noted that the murdered Pym Fortuyn, the Dutch populist mentioned in the article above, is often associated with the political right because of his anti-immigration and anti-Muslim positions, but that the reality was far more complex.  He came from a Marxist background, for example, and was openly gay.  In fact, his opposition to Islam rested at least in part because he feared that increased Muslim political power in the Netherlands, and particularly in Dutch cities, would result in restrictions on homosexual behavior.

I don’t like Hitler comparisons.  But sometimes Trumpist parallels to fascism and Nazism virtually force themselves on somebody like me, who has paid a lot of attention to history and, as it happens, specifically to the rise and nature of European fascist movements in the twenties, thirties, and forties of the last century.  National Socialism, too, was a weird amalgam of a kind of socialism (see its name), and hence a form of leftism, and a nationalistic desire to make Germany “great again, which is typically associated with the political right.  It’s disconcerting, in that light, to see reports of violent thuggery at Trumpist rallies — of which this is, sadly, not the first.

This is deeply serious business.