Can It Happen Here?

Some Americans would give an emphatic "No" to the question "Can fascism come to America after it has been defeated abroad?" https://twitter.com/gdfuego/status/1264934073480499201

They would say that Americans are too smart, that they are sold on the democratic way of life, that they wouldn't permit any group to put fascism over in America.

Fascism, some might say, is something peculiar that you find only among people who like swastikas, who like to listen to speeches from balconies in Rome, or who like to think that their emperor is god.

Their reaction might be that it is something "foreign" that Americans would recognize in a minute, like the goose-step. They might feel that we'd laugh it out of existence in a hurry.

(Question: Do all fascists come from Germany, Japan, or Italy?)

In a good many European nations, the people felt the same way some of us do: that fascism was foreign to them and could never become a power in their land.

They found, however, that fascist-minded people within their borders, especially with aid from the outside, could seize power. The Germans, of course, made efficient use of fascist-minded traitors whom we have come to know generally as "the fifth column."

In France, which was considered a leading democracy of Europe, the betrayal was spearheaded by a powerful clique of native "100 percent French" fascists. Norway had its Quisling who was as "pure-blooded" a Norwegian as Laval was a "pure-blooded" Frenchman.

The Netherlands' Musserts were "100 percent Dutch," Belgium's Degrelles "100 percent Belgian," and Britain's Mosleys "100 percent British." The United States also has its native fascists who say that they are "100 percent American."

There were native fascists in the Philippines, in Thailand (Siam), in China, in Burma, in many other countries—all waiting to become the willing puppets of the Axis. Not one of these fascists is a "foreigner" who had to be imported from Germany, or Japan, or Italy."