The truth is that we’re at a moment of societal crisis. We’re on the brink of a fascist state and we must fight back.

AMERICAN RULE is the story of how we got here, a dissection of our myths that empower fascism, and a guide to how we can survive. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/611439/american-rule-by-jared-yates-sexton/

Americans must stop living in denial of our current crisis and our history that led us here. Trumpism is fascism. Pure and simple. It’s a weaponized nostalgia and a paranoid movement drowning in conspiracy theories and a need for preemptive violence.

This is where we are.

America is not immune to fascism. We’re especially vulnerable to it and have seen multiple proto-fascistic and fascistic movements bloom and take power here. We are inextricably linked to the development of fascism and our denial has allowed it to take hold again.

There’s a reason Trump is pushing “patriotic education.” It’s propaganda, indoctrination, brainwashing to ensure the whites supremacist control over history and reality can continue. It’s fascist re-education, and it is an existential threat to our society.

The myth of American Exceptionalism, that we are ordained by God to be a champion, has legitimized slavery and genocide and oppression here and around the world. When these myths falter, fascism feeds off the fall and uses calls to violence and paranoia to gain power.

By continuing to live in the white supremacist reality, Trump’s reality, we are damned to succumb to fascism. There’s no other way as long as we allow them to control history and our story and by proxy our politics and society.

Trumpism is a weaponized denial that the myths of exceptionalism and white supremacy have failed us and led to this moment where America is failing. It’s the powerful blaming the vulnerable and demanding more power, demanding the ability to dole out violence and death.

Fascists will threaten you until you accept their twisted reality, intimidate and beat you, and if you refuse they will imprison or kill you. This is a full scale battle over reality and the future. We have to know our past to know where we’ve been and where we’re going.

Those of us who’ve been warning you for years haven’t been hysterical. We’re not grifters. None of this was hidden. History tells us how this happens and Trump has told you every step along the way who he is. It’s time to see this for what it is before it’s too late.

People ask what we can do. Vote, fundraiser, volunteer. These are all vital.

Here’s what I know. The antidotes you’re fascism are knowledge, community, and love. We have to get educated, get angry, and get organized. We have to learn the truth and repair our bonds.

That demoralization you feel is by design. Fascists atomize society, turn it into a living war that dominates every second until you either pick up a gun or give up hope entirely. Apathy and powerlessness are cornerstones of an authoritarian society.

Do not give in.

You need to understand that Trump is desperate, that he’ll try anything, including sanctioning violence and stealing the election. We see undeniable evidence by the day. We’re at a moment of truth and this will reverberate for generations.

Get educated, get angry, get organized.

Do not let yourself look back on the Fall of 2020 and regret that you didn’t do more, that you didn’t recognize what was happening.

We’re not immune, we’re susceptible.

You’re not powerless and this fight is not over.

Get educated. Get angry. Get organized.