Public Libraries of Suffolk County, New York

On fascism, 12 lessons from American history, Matthew C. MacWilliams

eng

Includes bibliographic references and index

index present

non fiction

On fascism

bibliography

Matthew C. MacWilliams

12 lessons from American history

"The United States of Lyncherdom, as Mark Twain labeled America. Lincoln versus Douglas. The Chinese Exclusion Act. The Trail of Tears. The internment of Japanese-Americans. The Palmer Raids. McCarthyism. The Surveillance State. At turning points throughout history, as we aspired toward great things, we also witnessed the authoritarian impulse drive policy and win public support. Only by confronting and reconciling this past, can America move forward into a future rooted in the motto of our Republic since 1782: e pluribus unum (out of many, one). But this book isn't simply an indictment. It is also a celebration of our spirit, perseverance, and commitment to the values at the heart of the American project. Along the way, we learn about many American heroes - like Ida B. Wells, who dedicated her life to documenting the horrors of lynching throughout the nation, or the young Jewish-American who took a beating for protesting a Nazi rally in New York City in 1939. Men and women who embodied the soaring, revolutionary proclamations set forth in the Declaration of Independence and the Preamble to the Constitution. On Fascism is both an honest reckoning and a call for reconciliation. Denial and division will not save the Republic, but coming to terms with our history might."--Amazon

Author note -- Index of American authoritarian attitudes -- Introduction: Pogo knows -- Lesson 1: American enlightened or authoritarian? Lincoln vs. Douglas -- Lesson 2: fomenting fear: inauguaration day 2017 and the paranoid style -- Lesson 3: all lies matter: the father of hate radio and deep-state conspiracies -- Lesson 4: gagging the press, quashing dissent: seditious libel, 1798 -- Lesson 5: taking what is rightfully ours: America's lebensraum and the "treaty" of New Echota, 1835 -- Lesson 6: using fear and violence to control and subordinate others: the United States of Lyncherdom -- Lesson 7: the driving out: Chinese persecution, exclusion, and massacre -- Lesson 8: fear as a path to power: the Palmer raids -- Lesson 9: galvanizing group identity: a Nazi demonstration of true Americanism -- Lesson 10: silence of the law: the internment of American Japanese and the ugly abyss of racism -- Lesson 11: fear breeds repression; repression breeds hate; hate menaces stable government: Senator Joe's enemies from within -- Lesson 12: the surveillance society and the big lie: total information awareness -- Conclusion: Pogo was wrong? Fear, polarization, the 1619 project, and ten steps to strengthen America -- Appendix 1: measuring commitment to democracy -- Appendix 2: casuality and authoritarianism -- Appendix 3: authoritarianism: definition, study, and measurement -- Acknowledgments -- Notes -- Index