How Gender-Classification in Counter-Cultural Social Movements is Re-Creating an Environment for the Rise of Fascism

Over and over, throughout our lives, we hear the prophetic words of George Santayana, “Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it…” However, we often neglect to understand the undertones of the statement: Those who do understand history can manipulate those who do not understand to create the selfsame repetition of it. Another crucial social axiom that is happening before our eyes again is, “Bad men need nothing more to [achieve] their ends than that good men should look on and do nothing.” (John Stewart Mill, 1867 – often misattributed to Edmund Burke).

When the ignorance of history and the apathy of good people combine, it is a recipe for disaster, destruction, and (in the present case) clown world – where nothing is as logic would dictate. To overcome the problems we are facing, we must: a) shine a light on those who are corrupting the system, b) be willing to talk about hard solutions for challenging issues and c) be ready to understand that everyone does not get their way every time. Society benefits when we all adhere to the social contract. Those who distort the truth through falsehoods, “make-believe” as well as outright violence are nothing more than ideological bandits who are stealing from the poor for their own ill-begotten gains.

Everything Old is New Again

The historical example of what is happening today happening in the past is the rise of Fascism in Europe. Specifically, it was the rise of Nazism in Germany. The National Socialist (Nazi) Party used several steps to destabilize an already shaky relationship to create an avenue to the rise of power. The pattern of steps were simple:

1. Identify a problem in society – Poverty caused by WWI
2. Find scapegoats – Jews, Communists, Catholics, Homosexuals and Gypsies
3. Create pseudo-science to dehumanize the scapegoats – Eugenics, and Phrenology
4. Place external controls on the scapegoats for “society’s protection” – Concentration camps
5. Isolate or alienate the scapegoats from society – Create an “us or them” mentality
6. Eliminate some or all of the scapegoats to prevent threat of revolution – The Holocaust

If reading over this list is a haunting introspective of what is happening in the United States today, it should be. That said however, one example does not create a pattern or a correlation. Thus, each instance of this happening in the past is supportive of the theory that this is what is happening again. The last time this has happened in the United States was during the McCarthy era.

In this dark time, McCarthy used the same model as Hitler’s Third Reich and would attack those whom he “suspected” were communist sympathizers. Once again, the steps allowed for a person with severe personal problems to get good people to follow along with his plan to “rid the world of X” by following a simple pattern which slowly draws people into the argument. This course of action can potentially infect both people on the right and the left side of the political spectrum. By way of example, and using the steps above:

1. Identify problem – Fear about the Cold War
2. Scapegoat – Americans who were not “Hawks”
3. Pseudo-science – Political Science
4. External controls – Arrests and inquisitions
5. Alienate scapegoats – Cause people to doubt their neighbors
6. Eliminate scapegoats – Executions, imprisonments, and discrediting people

Russia’s Systematic Discrimination

We also saw this pattern happen in Russia in the last century. In Russia after the fall of the Tzars, we saw competition between Bolsheviks and Mensheviks as they batted over control of the Russian Empire. Here is how the steps played out:

1. Identify problem – Starvation and military failure
2. Scapegoat – Mensheviks who did not support the Communist system (Bolshevism)
3. Pseudo-science – Mensheviks were controlled by the Jews through money or magic
4. External controls – Relocation of peasants for their own protection and national structure
5. Alienate scapegoats – Convince people Jews, the religious, and those that did not support Lenin were “evil”
6. Eliminate scapegoats – Gulags and Forced Marches

China’s Turn Running Discrimination Pattern

Likewise, in China, we saw the rise of Mao Zedong who did the same thing to his people. He just chose different scapegoats. Here is his pattern:

1. Identify problem – Western Control and Japan’s invasion
2. Scapegoats – Scholars and Pacifists
3. Pseudo-science – Scholars were “infecting” society with pacifist ideas
4. External controls – Scholars were rounded up
5. Alienate scapegoats – People were made to mock scholars
6. Eliminate scapegoats – Scholars and elders were killed

Abusing the Lessons of History

Regardless of who the target is, the pattern can be followed to deprive people of their humanity and either kill or oppress large tracts of people around the world. To truly understand history, one must realize this is not something that was “new” when the Nazi’s did it. Crazy as he was, Hitler was a student of history and understood the pattern had happened against people in the past:

Going back through the ages, you will find time and time again that people will fall into the trap of attacking their fellow citizens if they are given a “reason” by someone in power or someone they trust. This is a dangerous historical pattern that’s been removed from our history books. It is one of the most essential elements of history that we should educate people about, lest they lack the ability to defend themselves from it.

Something’s Happening Here

Currently, in the United States, we are seeing this model played out against people who do not support the “agenda” of the extreme left wing of the country. Make no mistake, there are limited attempts at this on the extreme right also. People are being attacked through a complex process of being identified by one’s political beliefs and then condemned based on their demographic identity. The “dual layer” approach is an innovation, whether by choice or necessity, which allows for a degree of separation of the modern model from the traditional model. But to paraphrase Rick and Morty, “It just sounds like systematic discrimination with extra steps.” The best way to expose scammers and frauds is to shine a light on them. Therefore, let us look at the steps via a current contemporary lens:

1. Identify problem – Income inequality and Trump winning election angst
2. Scapegoats –
   • Based on political belief – Conservatives
   • Demonize based on “assigned” demographic identity –
     1. Straight (cis) white men – Alyssa Milano’s “abstinence drive” or the Teen Vogue quote “Not only is white male terrorism as dangerous as Islamic extremism, but our collective safety rests in rooting out the source of their radicalization.”
     2. Black men – Faulted for crime Psychology today
     3. Hispanic men – Attacked LGBTQP members of the migrant caravan, NBC
     4. Asian people – Asians are “white” for the purpose of “white privilege” in college – Vox
     5. Christian people – Christian women do what their husbands tell them to do and undermine feminism, Washington Post
     6. Jewish people who are not Democrats – Insane idea that the Democrats own the Jewish Vote – The Jewish Voice
     7. Other religious people – Religious rights are no longer relevant WND quoting liberal leaders.
     8. Gun Owners – Legal gun owners are terrorists – National Association for Gun Rights quoting Maryland Politician
     9. Trump Supporters – Alyssa Milano is saying, “Red hats are the new clan hood.”
     10. Black people who are not Democrats – Blacks who are not Democrats are wrong – Intelligencer
     11. Hispanic people who are not Democrats – calling Latino republicans “traitors,” “Sellouts,” and other nasty terms – HotAir.com
3. Pseudo-science – Gender Studies including the new hate term “cis” to refer to “straight” people – equivalent of “fag” when referring to a homosexual person. Both are a very offensive term. Also, creating multiple “genders” to confuse children and pressure/force them into making sexual choices at a young age.
4. External controls – Remove free speech from any of the above groups from forums, social media or other platforms as hate speech – even if they are stating facts.
5. Alienate scapegoats – Statements such as “the red hat is the new Klan hood” or “Harass them where they eat or where they pump gas”
6. Eliminate scapegoats – Murders and attacks, such as the mass shooting in Colorado.

As you can see, the pattern is being followed, just with additional steps of identifying scapegoats based on political beliefs and demonizing them based on their “assigned” demographic identity. It is done in the same way that it has been followed throughout the ages. A group with rising power (the social media elite) are striking out against another group (conservatives/libertarians) with the intent of forcing their ideology over the whole of society. This is even though studies and polls have shown that mainstream America rejects the “liberal ideology.”

Worldwide Pattern

This pattern is not only happening in the United States. We see this occur in other countries as well. The model has been followed by the idea of “Islamophobia” in the UK, New Zealand, and Australia. It is also being followed in France, Scandinavia, and Germany with the idea that an “anti-immigrant” population is to be blamed for social problems. Even in the United States, we are seeing a subset of this model, separate from the analysis mentioned above, where Anti-Vaxxers (who are problematic in their own right) are being blamed for outbreaks of disease which we know are being caused by illegal migrants bringing them across the border. Whether a central group orchestrates this symphony of chaos or it’s happening organically as radicals around the world strike at orthodoxy, we know this cacophony of discrimination is keeping countries from moving forward with real social programs.

So how do we deal with this problem? We quit accepting the idea of a clown world. Everyone does not get to do whatever they want irregardless of the consequences. People must follow laws. Everyone, celebrity and common folk alike, must be held to the same standard. The idea that you do not have to hear something because it offends you is problematic. While there are safeguards against obscenity and dangerous speech (both of which have been severely undermined), we must realize the “safe space” mentality we are allowing to infect our society is turning our “nanny” state into a “helicopter parent” state.

The rise of social media has weaponized radicalism in a way that we have not seen in the past. The model used by fascists, radicals, and racists alike throughout history can now be streamlined, organized, and celebrated in chatrooms, photo-sharing apps, and recesses of the dark web. Those of us who value free speech, but also a free society need to stand up to the radicals of the world and build a better system where people are not systematically attacked for expressing their beliefs.

Historical Quotes are Fitting and Need to be Learned

To end, there are two quotes which are salient in this matter. First is a Catholic Christian quote, which if followed, helps people identify if they are being led around by the nose or not: “Hate the sin, love the sinner.” This simple concept tells us that if we must judge, we should only judge the evil act or deed, not the person. How a person thinks is up to them, but the actions that they do have consequences. Just because a person does not agree with you does not make them evil. Evil requires action which hurts others.

The second is a quote from a German Priest name Niemoller, which is often quoted by Eli Wassel: “First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out— because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.”

Radicals and those who hate will always separate, segregate, and use what makes us different to divide us. We can fight this with the realization that it is our differences which make us human; in that humanity, we are united. We need to challenge assaults on people based on who they are. Radicals attack people for what they cannot change – people who are looking for real change hold people accountable for what they choose to do.

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Christopher W Smithmyer

Dr. Christopher Smithmyer is a writer for NRN, the Vice President of International Affairs at Brav Online Conflict Management, and an Adjunct Professor of MBA Business at Doane University. He is also part of the founding team at BlackWalletLTD, one of the leaders in stable coin 2.0 ecosystem maintenance. Dr. Smithmyer’s focus is international business and finance, along with reviews of board games, weapons platforms, and survival items.

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