In the wake of a new president, administration, policies, and executive orders, the nation appears to be divided between supporting or condemning the new president and his administration. MSU is no exclusion from the divide, as students have rallied in opposition of and for President Trump’s policies and executive orders.
There have been a slew of words to describe President Donald Trump. One word has become increasingly associated with the POTUS in the last month: fascist. According to Google Trends, “fascist” has had a parallel increase in Google searches to “Trump” since President Trump’s election on Nov. 8, 2016.
The political ideology of fascism embodies some of the most extreme beliefs of the conservatively right side of the political-ideology spectrum, but over time, according to Nathan Jun, associate professor of philosophy, fascism has “evolved,” and over time, so have the people who believe in ideology. In a poll held by The Wichitan, 38 percent of the voters said they believe fascism is alive and well at MSU. 30 percent of the voters disagreed, and 32 percent didn’t know what fascism is.
Students like Nissa Khan, psychology sophomore, fear students who believe in the fascist ideals are a danger to people on campus who don’t share similar political ideologies.
“I can’t walk around around campus without seeing someone with a Trump hat or sticker on,” Khan said. “If any of these people were to be carrying a gun, which they are allowed to do according to the conceal carry rule on campus, and they adhere to fascist, racist, xenophobic, Islamophobic, homophobic ideologies they could quite honestly kill or injure people. So yeah, I definitely think students are feeling less safe at MSU.”
Kalli Root, English junior, is disappointed in the current administrations and the “fascist direction” it appears to be headed in.
“I didn’t think any of those things had a place on campus or in American society, but they’re here nonetheless,” Root said. “Of course I’m sure there will always be people who hold fascist or misogynistic or white supremacist ideologies, but the America I believed in was about overcoming those things. The America I believed in champions ideas such as ‘by the people for the people’ and ‘liberty and justice for ALL.’ Fascism is starkly at odds with these principles.”
Safety is a large concern because of fascisms extreme-right political ideologies.
“I feel less safe on campus knowing that there are more than a decent number of Trump supporters here,” Root said. “I don’t necessarily mean to imply that I think everyone who supports Trump is dangerous. In the Cheeto’s own words ‘some, I’m sure, are good people.’ But clearly hate speech and racism and sexual assault isn’t a deal breaker for them if they can support having someone guilty of all of those things in a position of power, and that definitely makes me uncomfortable. I live on campus, so it’s even more disconcerting to know that people with that mentality are so close.”
Jun presented A Field Guide to Fascism: Conservative Politics in the Age of Trump on March 9, proposing the question “to what extent has fascism infiltrated our most powerful and political institutions, chief among them the presidency,” suggesting that President Trump and his administration are mirroring some of the same political ideologies as past fascist governments like Nazi Germany. Jun isn’t suggesting that President Trump wants to commit mass genocide, but that President Trump and his administration share some similarities with the Nazi party such as rampant sexism, control of the mass media, obsession with national security, religion and government intertwine, corporate power protected, labor power suppressed, disdain for intellectuals and the arts, obsession with crime and punishment, rampant cronyism, corruption, and fraudulent elections.
Some have argued against labeling the president a fascist, stating that he and his administration have only adopted some, not all, of the fascist ideologies. President Trump and his administration have moved to completely dissolve federal programs that support the arts, including the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
The tension between supporting and condemning President Trump and his administration is apparent at MSU, where rallies have been performed to speak against some of the actions taken by President Trump, and when there is a rally, there is almost always an opposition, a few students who outwardly support President Trump and his administration’s movements while students speak out against them.
Some students are shocked by the opposition and the amount of people on campus taking sides with President Trump.
“I’ve seen several MSU students make really negative posts on social media, criticizing and trying to discredit campus protesters,” Root said. “I’m consistently shocked by the number of people, especially young people, who are not only ok with, but supportive of an administration that blatantly continues to give misinformation and ‘alternative facts’ to the people it claims to serve.”
Those who support fascism are coming out in support of the president.
“Fascism is alive in the United States,” Jun said.
Some students worry that these supporters include students at MSU, who will have a negative impacts on the lives of other students.
The feeling is mutual among several other students, including Khan, who believes that fascist beliefs on campus negatively effect the lives of students and their experience at MSU.
“I think it does have a negative effect on the student’s experience,” Khan said. “As a diverse and international campus, many of these students are most likely not feeling as safe as they would have before this ideology [fascism] started being more widely accepted.”
In a time when communities, including MSU and Wichita Falls, are becoming more diverse, students believe there is no room for oppressive beliefs.
“Fascism doesn’t have a place in society or on campus whatsoever,” Khan said. “It’s unfortunate that this even still has to be discussed in 2017, but again, as a society and a campus that is becoming more diverse there shouldn’t be room for ideologies that dehumanize certain groups of people. There is definitely room for discussion on all topics but not when it comes to the human rights of all people.”
Nathan Jun • Mar 24, 2017 at 4:06 PM
Remember what I said in my talk about the Alt-Right trolling comments sections? This is totally proving my point…
Madison • Mar 23, 2017 at 12:09 PM
Fascism does not belong in the US. But what about the last 17 years? What about tattle on your neighbor website the last administration put up? Just because the media and political class liked the last president, his actions weren’t fascism? They were big fans of calling out George W. Bush on it, but were completely silent on the last administration, but now, because the media/politicians/self proclaimed “intellectuals” don’t like the president suddenly they have to explain to everyone what he has in common with fascists? If you’re going to have a real discussion on fascism, you must first go over the history of fascism and what it really is, what a fascist system does (remember there were several successful fascist systems- Spain, Italy, not just the German one). Don’t use the politically motivated Joseph Stalin definition that fascism and communism are opposite sides of the political spectrum. You must also show the slow creep that our country has taken towards fascism and show how all presidents of this century and several of the last have edged us closer and closer to fascism. If you want to be honest, you can not just blame one person. You can’t just stand up now, after a more fascist candidate lost the election, and complain about it because you come across as a sore loser if you only talk about the current administration. There is plenty of fascist blame to go around, so if you want to warn people about it, then you’d better be honest about it and not smear just the current administration.
Sean • Mar 23, 2017 at 4:21 AM
“Fascism doesn’t have a place in society or on campus whatsoever,” Khan said.”
That’s funny, a lot of communists and fascists in history said the same thing. “Safety” is always the justification used for oppression.
They also tended to target one or more “out-groups” that threatened or challenged their ideology. Whether it was against people of a certain race, ethnicity, religion, nationality, culture, political party, ideology, or social class- the goal of every fascist was to redefine the very *existence* of the out-group as an inherent threat. The role of xenophobic and bigoted propaganda was to criticize not the actions of an out-group, but their mere presence. They did this mostly by projecting conspiratorial and evil motives onto them.
And this was how they rationalized suspending human rights, and taking pre-emptive violence against their targets of oppression. Even if “those people” seem to be peaceful, it’s only a matter of time before they stab us in the back and start killing us. Hence the Nazis portraying the jews as subversive ticking timb bombs. Hence the speakers in this article categorizing people in Trump hats as ticking time bombs
Maybe instead of an article inviting students to speculate about the political beliefs of other students, the writer could have just….you know, interviewed some conservative students? It probably would have been more productive than casting them as school shooters in the making
Florian Schnell • Mar 22, 2017 at 8:19 PM
I am not a student on your campus, but a student at a German university. Yet it would be kind if you would read my words / let them be published. I have some – though not perfect – knowledge on fascism, having read several books on Hitler as well as Hitlers “Mein Kampf”, as well as discussing it in lectures.
It is true that Trumps administration shares some similarities with fascism, but I would not interpret too much into them. Most of them are non primary indicators. Look at the three major fascist movements that rose to power – Italy, Germany and Spain. In all three of them a core element was a complete disdain for democracy, instantly abandoning it and building a dictatorship once they were in power. Even before that, it was one of their main campaigning points that set them apart from others (in the case of Hitler / Mussolini). Most of the points that were listed in the article as being signs of fascism (rampant sexism, control of the mass media, obsession with national security, religion and government intertwine, corporate power protected, labor power suppressed, disdain for intellectuals and the arts, obsession with crime and punishment, rampant cronyism, corruption, and fraudulent elections) are only true at certain points in time.
As my knowledge of the NSDAP (the Nazi party) is best, I am using them as a comparison point. Points like control of mass media are definitely true – yet I don’t think you could say that’s true in the US considering the amount of negative coverage. Suppression of labor power is partially true – the NSDAP started out as a non-communist, non-religious nationalist labor movement. In the time they were in power they heavily suppressed communists. Disdain for intellectuals is completely wrong – fascism was open for intellectuals that followed the party lines and ideas, but suppressed those that weren’t – similar to most autocratic ideologies. A disdain for intellectuals is something different, I would more see it in line with Pol Pots communist regime. The basic ideas (follow the parties way of thinking) were not different for intellectuals as for any other person in the state. Similar for arts – certain arts were seen as highly valued by society and greatly supported, while others were suppressed. Sexism is true if you see it as men and women having distinct roles in society, yet especially in Germany both were considered very important and highly valued. The other points are mostly accurate.
I am not advocating for people to “love Trump” or to not oppose him. I just want to point out that the comparison to fascism is really bad. As much as you dislike Trump, he’s still the president of a democracy and not a dictatorship. If you apply the judgement of being “fascist” to other countries on the basis of so few primary and some secondary similarities, then most European countries would be fascist. I do not think that is a view anyone truly holds. Dislike Trump, hate him, oppose him or whatever – but please do not label his government as fascist, as that waters down the meaning of that despicable ideology.
The Mirror • Mar 22, 2017 at 6:14 PM
It is glaringly obvious that none of these foolish students who feel that individual rights should be dictated by their collective feelings (including the author of this article) even know the actual definition of Fascism. Just like Racist, Sexist, and Nazi, they use them in ad homenim smears to vilify their opponents in order to sidestep actually debating their ideas, and to excuse themselves for their violent attacks, because you don’t need to keep asking yourself if your actions are morally justifiable if you believe your enemy is evil incarnate.
Fascism is the intolerance of dissent, opposition, or criticism. Period. A fascist movement does not permit the existence of those that oppose or criticize it, it seeks to remove it by any means necessary. Some examples are no-platforming, yelling/screaming to drown out your opponent’s voice, violently rioting and attacking your opponent’s audience, tearing down fliers advertising for your opponent, and abusing positions of authority to allow these tactics to go on unhindered or excuse ideological allies from being punished, or legitimize censorship and administer punishments to opponents via a kangaroo court.
Some people may recognize these as the tactics used by those known as the regressive left, aka SJWs, political ideologues for whom identity politics is practically a religion, and as such refuse to question their beliefs or subject them to scrutiny, and accuse everyone who disagrees of being bigots if they’re straight/white/male or traitors if they are LGBT/non-white/female. So fascism does exist on campus, it’s just the regressives that are perpetuating it.
Robert • Mar 22, 2017 at 2:34 PM
What a bunch of ignorant folk who clearly do not know what fascism means. Apparently it means, to them, something with which they disagree!