Don’t Conflate Effective Governing With Fascism, Be Upset Your Side Failed To Govern Effectively

If Donald Trump is a fascist is a question I have no plans of answering in this article, not because I find that question unimportant but instead due to it simply not mattering for what is being discussed. You see, during the rather effective early Donald Trump government, some commentators have looked at how the President actually manages to get things done and called that fascism — or, at least, authoritarianism — on its own.

On 2/16/2025, a fellow by the name of Javier Corrales posted a thread on Twitter regarding how a democratic nation becomes authoritarian. He specifically lists eleven things — all of which Donald Trump either has done or is laying the groundwork to do. The thread is certainly worth consideration, but what caught my attention was how generic the first two points were: “President thinks he is saving the country” and “Ruling party acts like a rubber stamp. They like his policies and/or fear his retribution. Either way, they never say never.”

It should be noted that going along with a President because you like his policies is rather different from doing so due to a fear of retribution, and these would communication incredibly different states of the nation. Similarly, it should also be acknowledged that one of the reasons why people…