You're Comparing Trump to the Wrong Fascist Dictator

"In a deeply divided democracy, an aspiring authoritarian seizes new powers, often by declaring "emergencies" when none exist. This is only possible after he cobbles together a strong alliance of far-right forces in the military, conservative religious nationalists, a few massively wealthy oligarchs, and some centrists spooked by the specter of "socialism." Freedoms are curtailed, institutions are undermined, and critics become "enemies of the people." Before long, troops are in city streets-and not too long after that, democracy is gone."

"While Donald Trump's authoritarian ambitions frequently win him comparisons to Adolf Hitler, that is too far a stretch. Given Hitler's well-deserved status as the shorthand for absolute evil, even the mention of Hitler can derail any conversation, with Trump's camp rightly complaining of hyperbole or hysteria. However, a much better comparison is with Franco, whose contemporaneous rise to power is eerily similar to what America faces today-with a warning about what could come next."

"In the early 1930s, Spain was fractured. The reformist government (the Republicans) supported workers' rights, pressured wealthy landowners to divide their land more fairly among the people, and aimed to loosen the grip of the Catholic Church by enforcing the separation of church and state. Franco and his nationalist allies decried these reforms as a socialist threat and promised to restore the traditional power structure of the country."

An aspiring authoritarian in a polarized democracy seizes power by declaring false emergencies and assembling a coalition of far-right military forces, conservative religious nationalists, wealthy oligarchs, and centrists fearful of socialism. Civil liberties are curtailed, institutions are undermined, and dissenters are labeled "enemies of the people." Military presence in cities follows and democratic institutions collapse. The 1930s Spanish case shows how Franco opposed Republican reforms on labor, land, and church-state separation, framed them as a socialist threat, and promised to restore traditional hierarchies to justify a coup. Democratic breakdown can proceed incrementally through legal and extralegal measures that concentrate power.

Read at Slate Magazine