Ep. 151: Sliding into Fascism One Bill At a Time

EQ: In what ways is the US political landscape a foreshadowing  of fascism?

In today’s episode Hope and Megan discuss how the political climate feels like a slide into fascism. In particular, they center the conversation using Tim Snyder’s 20 Lessons from the 20th Century. By framing it this way, they also encourage listeners to find ways to fight this slide.

Snyder’s 20 principles are listed below:

1. Do not obey in advance.

2. Defend institutions.

3. Beware the one-party state.

4. Take responsibility for the face of the world. 

5. Remember professional ethics. 

6. Be wary of paramilitaries.

7. Be reflective if you must be armed.

8. Stand out.

9. Be kind to our language.

10. Believe in truth. 

11. Investigate.

12. Make eye contact and small talk.

13. Practice corporeal politics.

14. Establish a private life.

15. Contribute to good causes. 

16. Learn from peers in other countries.

17. Listen for dangerous words.

18. Be calm when the unthinkable arrives.

19. Be a patriot. 

20. Be as courageous as you can. 

Playbooks On Fascism:

• How Democracies Die: What History Tells Us About Our Future, Steven Levitsky

• Anatomy of Facism, Robert Paxton

• On Tyranny, Timothy Snyder

• How Fascism Works, Jason Stanley

Topics referenced:

• Gun Violence in the United States

• Nashville, Tennessee - 6 murdered, 3 children

• Tennessee Three in the Tennessee State Legislature 

• Louisville, Kentucky - Bank shooting

• Tacoma - more than half of the reported homicides in Tacoma over the last 3.5 months are under 18 years old

• Tacoma had the highest rate of gun violence in history last year

• Washington State passed one of (if not the) strongest action of firearms in the country.

• It is likely this law wouldn’t stand up to the SCOTUS, but it is something

• Tacoma Cease Fire

• SafeSt - Non-Profit in Tacoma 

• LGBTQ+ attack on Trans Community

• There are now reports of the inner-workings and behind the scenes communications of the groups that are championing the anti-trans movement happening across the country. It is more organized and calculated than somebody would think.

• “The Indiana law, effective July 1, requires children currently taking medications to assist in transitioning to stop doing so by the end of the year. And the Idaho law, which will go into effect next January, makes it a felony crime to administer gender-affirming care to minors.”

• 496 Anti-Trans 

• NE lawmaker, Michaela Cavanaugh

• Attack on Free Speech - book banning and attacking the media

• Hitler Era ‘Lügenpresse’ (Lying Press) was the rallying cry in the early years of Hitlers rise to power

• As Musolini rose to power, he increasingly put restrictions of school curriculum

• Restrictive curriculum bills tripled in 2022 in the US

• Idaho - Legislation that would allow parents to sue the librarian if their child checked out a book that they “harmful”