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Comment by drstewart | Hacker News Reader

Your entire argument boils to the fact that you live in Austria and that makes you an expert on fascism and if anyone tries to refute you then it immediately means they're in denial.

Which is, of course, non-sensical.

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That isn't true at all. Some of the argument relies on the experience of an Austrian education, but we are also encouraged to refer to other provided sources if we choose to seek other opinions.

Italian here, and I know a few things about fascism not just because of that. Yes, what is happening in the US is the rise of a fascist state controlled by a small minority of very wealthy and powerful people purely for economical reasons with Trump being just a tool in their hands. As with happened in my country back then, there are only two possible reasons for endorsing it: being part of the cult, or being part of the club. That's why I stopped long ago any attempt at reasoning with apologists.

Your nationality is not a credential, I don't know why Europeans can't understand this.

Of course it is. States that overcame fascism put a lot of emphasis in detecting the early stages of fascism and how to stop it from take it over again in their educational system.

States that haven't had that issue before, on the other hand, have a population that is woefully naive to the dangers.

Having one of grandparents being part of the resistance and the other one helping it covertly, then spending a lot of time talking with them, something new generations miss a lot, counts however. This made me later extremely biased, of course, however as with many teens fascinated by fake ideals just because they make you look cool I experienced the fascism lure back in the early 80s, and actually embraced it for years because of immaturity, so I wasn't exactly immersed in a one sided environment (did I mention that my father sold his very profitable business because he feared that communists would rise in power and nationalize it?). What is happening in the US has been clear since January-February when they reached the point of no return; there are points a government must follow to become an oppressive regime, and the US govt checked all of them long ago. Once they start they can't stop until they either reach a tipping point of self preservation North Korea style, which is the more likely scenario, or they escalate further and further tightening their grip on the population to the point they screw it up entirely and a full scale revolution is ignited. One thing is certain: they can't go back: they broke so many laws that going back would mean prosecution for many of them.

I never said I live in Austria. I don't. But having grown up in Austria, the rise of fascism was the major theme of my entire education.

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