A few days ago I sat in a meeting with an area business man. He recalled that I had moved to Nova Scotia from the United States...then said, “Trump scares the hell out of me!” This fellow then recounted the many ways Donald Trump has acted in an outlandish manner – from bragging about his ability to grab women in their privates to putting a totally unfit jurist in the Supreme Court – and now justifying doing business with a country that carried out the savage execution of an international journalist.
Truth be told...Trump also scares the hell out of me. It seems beyond belief that he currently sits in the office of President of a democratic country; and at the same time shows complete disregard for the ideals of that country. It is incomprehensible that there are people – his base – that still choose to believe his lies. Some how they haven't figured out that his big permanent tax cuts for the very wealthy will benefit only the very wealthy. The small temporary tax cuts for the middle class will be eaten up with inflation. Chances are pretty good that Trump is not about to share the additional wealth he has put in his own pocket.
Even more incomprehensible is the fact that Donald Trump has actually taken over the Republican Party. In part, Trump accomplished this by making all Democrats the enemy...and as soon as he took office proceeded to denigrate Obama and attempted to rescind any, and all programs instituted during the Obama presidency. The fact that there are still some of the “old boys” sitting in congress, continuing to show their racist, anti-immigration, and anti-feminist bias has emboldened Trump.
At the same time the Fascist ideas Trump has spouted has brought groups like the Proud Boys and Neo-Nazi's out of the woodwork. They now spew their hate in the open. Among their targets are Jews, any minorities, and gays and lesbians. The Proud Boys proudly state they are chauvinists. They have also been involved in beatings of those who oppose them.
I just finished reading Madeleine Albright's book, Fascism – A Warning. She wrote, “To create tyranny out of the fears and hopes of average people, money is required, and so, too, ambition and twisted ideas. It is the combination that kills. In the absence of wealthy backers, we likely would never have heard of Corporal Mussolini or Corporal Hitler. In the absence of their compulsion to dominate at all costs, neither would have caused the harm he did.”
Fascism is a politics of nationalism and racism. There is a belief in natural social hierarchy and the rule of the elites. Free press is not part of a fascist society, and in its most extreme totalitarian form those who speak out are not allowed to live. Donald Trump has been very verbal about his enemy...the fake news. He would like the news...with its criticism of his actions to go away. He has also been attempting to defend Saudi Arabia - as information has come forth regarding the slaying of journalist, Jamal Khashoggi.
I will repeat myself. Trump scares the hell out of me. What is equally scary is that he has been allowed to destroy the credibility of the United States. On Nov. 6 we will hear what the voters in that country have to say. I hope some of my fear will be alleviated.
Shirley Hallee is a freelance writer living in Amherst. Her column appears weekly in the Amherst News.