How “Freedom” Was Distorted in the American Mind and Fueled Fascism

When fascism arose in Europe a century ago and escalated to the horrors perpetrated by Nazi Germany, Americans said to themselves: “It can't happen here.”

Think again.

In two articles published in September by leading Yale scholars, philosopher Jason Stanley and historian Timothy Snyder argue that the myth of American exceptionalism makes the country especially fertile ground for fascist weeds to thrive. In “Erasing History,” Stanley shows that recent attacks on public education are the result of fascist policies dating back to the Reagan administration. “On Freedom” explores a path away from such tendencies, while Snyder sets out to define “positive” freedom—not just rejecting autocratic government, but moving toward liberty.

Both Snyder and Stanley argue that American notions of “freedom” ultimately stifle individual liberty, and both see changes to the social contract under President Reagan as setting the stage for this moment of increasing attacks on education, civil rights, and the free proliferation of ideas.

In part, they blame journalists. By covering book bans and curriculum restrictions as isolated problems driven by white, Christian populism, the news industry fails to connect the dots: These incidents are focused on a common goal of a government based on a fusion of corporate and fascist ideas and have been funded by tech billionaires and right-wing groups representing moneyed interests. That is the path to fascism.

To understand how fascist ideals have been adopted at all levels of American society and governmentIt is useful to reacquaint ourselves with what fascism is: an authoritarian and ultra-nationalist system of government that promotes theories of “racial purity” and hypermasculinity, which naturalizes oppressive internal policies.

In my own education on 20th century fascism, I came across the work of Umberto Eco: 1995 essay on the topic be a great synthesis of its objective. In line with that article, Stanley draws up a list of 21st century criteria for recognising fascismHe highlights how notions of racial superiority drive fascist ideology. Like Snyder, he is less concerned with semantics than with pointing to the authoritarian, even totalitarian, regimes that have emerged in Russia. Hungary, India, Turkey, Israel and ItalyIt's a Growing globally threat. can It happens here

Stanley focuses on the ideological and political battles being waged across the country over education. She explains how her goals of creating a single narrative of American history are part of a larger project to create a docile electorate that will follow a charismatic politician who promises to simplify a complex world. Examining historical precedents and examples of countries where similar attacks on education have been successful, she points to five characteristics of a fascist education: “national greatness; national purity; national innocence; strict gender roles; and vilification of the left.”

The movement against multicultural gender (and transgender) interpretations of American history, including the attack on Project 1619 and a deliberate misinterpretation of critical race theory, seeks to create an extreme conservative and fundamentalist Christian representation of the United States as “an exemplary nation“America is a nation that is not …

In his compelling and readable prose, Stanley connects Nazi methods (rewriting German history to exclude Jewish contributions and asserting a right to other nations' lands) to modern American trends, such as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' efforts, which include Book banstry to delete mentions of career either sexuality and gender in public schools and the dismantling of Florida higher education institutionsOther states have suffered similar policies.

As both scholars argue, these attacks on education soften the ground for totalitarianism by further dismantling notions of what constitutes fact, along with the claim that the only truth is official truth. When traditional sources of knowledge, such as the media, public education, and scientific expertise, are discarded, fascists can create their own reality and get away with much. We have already seen this in the United States: Russian disinformation campaigns fueled false “debates” about the Kremlin’s sovereign right to annex Ukraine, and so what is a simple fact – Russia has no right to invade its neighbors – became a point of debate, weakening international support for Ukraine.

When Snyder writes about these and similar efforts, we are offered a “reassuring story”: “The policy can safely be placed in legend. Time goes back to a mythical moment when the tribe was great. What has been lost since then is the fault of some other group.”

Snyder’s work on German and Soviet history led him to write earlier books about how those nations’ regimes eroded freedom. His insightful political and philosophical analysis of how to do the opposite — how to create and maintain freedom — offers a hopeful vision for the future. The work may intimidate some readers, but like Stanley, Snyder translates complex political theories and philosophical debates about epistemology and ethics into friendly language that engages and educates.

One such example is the radically new interpretation of the founders’ worldview. Rather than embracing “freedom to,” our understanding of the Constitution and political culture is based on notions of “freedom from.” As a result, American conservatism has been based on notions of economic restraint as a guarantee of the rights of the individual—as if people were free if they were free from taxes, government regulation, and the needs of others. After 9/11, many Americans became convinced that it was right to give up civil liberties in exchange for “security.” Snyder observes that such negative notions of freedom also convey that the U.S. government and other Americans are a constant threat.

Snyder argues that positive freedom is necessary for the creation of the whole self. Freedom to become a mature individual requires access to nutrition, health care, education, and financial resources. No individual is free when basic survival is a struggle.

Snyder focuses on a chapter in American history when a negative conception of freedom was taken to the extreme: the Reagan years, when “me, me, me” thinking prevailed. White members of the baby boom generation, who directly benefited from government programs that nurtured and protected them, quickly climbed the ladder when they voted in favor of Reagan’s plans to dismantle the federal government. The vast economic disparities of the 2020s are their result.

Negative visions of freedom foster a zero-sum mentality, as if each of us should strive to free ourselves from the burden of being part of a society. This fuels racism, xenophobia, and misogyny as tools to prevent others from getting a slice of the pie. A population so resentful of the progress of others is an easy target for leaders who promise strict government rule to limit others’ access to education, health care, and security. Even now, mass incarceration mimics an apartheid state, depriving millions of civil rights like the vote, largely on racial grounds.

Snyder takes readers through historical and contemporary examples to demonstrate how we can progress and benefit much more if we embrace positive liberties. A positive liberty that guarantees everyone access to affordable health care would give many members of the middle class the freedom to pursue career opportunities without losing health benefits. Developing children's minds in well-funded schools ensures creative, thoughtful individuals inventing new solutions that will benefit our nation's future.

What we see in America today — attacks on government institutions that support everyone and the rise of an education system dedicated to maintaining white supremacy — deprives the American people of the fundamental skills they need to recognize authoritarian rhetoric and see the promise of democracy and equality.

Lorraine Berry is a writer and critic living in Oregon.