Three years ago today, then-President Trump’s months-long attempt to overturn his 2020 election loss culminated in the storming of the U.S. Capitol. Two weeks later, the president left Washington hours before Joe Biden’s inauguration, humiliated and rejected even by members of his own party who, before January 6, had given in to his electoral conspiracy theories.
Today, January 6, 2024, Trump’s control over the Republican Party is firm. Facing multiple criminal trials, he has a good chance of regaining the presidency within 10 months. What was obvious three years ago – that the storming of the Capitol to thwart Congress’ ratification of Biden’s victory was simply an insurrection against the US government – is now questioned by those who would vote to return Trump to the House. White.
As another election year begins, the United States enters uncharted territory. Despite all the “happy new year” wishes this week, there was a lot of complaining about what kind of year this would be. On our opinion page, historian Benajmin Carter Hett compared the trajectory of the United States in 2024 to that of Germany in the 1930s and Italy in the 1920s, prompting dozens of readers to weigh in on the state of our union in the new year.
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To the editor: Benjamin Carter Hett does an excellent job of drawing some of the parallels between the electoral, cultural, and social landscapes during the rise of the original fascists and those that exist in the United States today.
One parallel that Hett overlooked was the difference in fascist Germany between voting patterns in rural and urban areas. We’ve seen some of the same patterns in recent election cycles here.
The social, cultural and political implications of the urban-rural divide are a more useful tool for understanding electoral outcomes than the divergent voting patterns displayed by “educated” and “uneducated” voters. Hett is perpetuating (perhaps inadvertently) a view that is insulting and smacks of elitism.
It also contradicts everyday experience. I’m sure everyone knows a lot of stupid people with a college degree, as well as a lot of smart people without a diploma.
David L. Clark, Ventura
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To the editor: My answer to Carter’s question: “Is the United States doomed to follow the path of Hitler’s Germany or Mussolini’s Italy?” It is no, as long as we understand what fascism is and absorb the historical lessons of what caused it.
Fascism must be based on a mass movement that attempts to destroy democracy by suppressing and destroying unions, the voice of the workers. It emerges as the last resort of capitalists to maintain their profits. This is what happened in Germany.
It’s not just about whether Trump is elected president. Fascist currents grow when people feel besieged and desperate due to housing crises, layoffs, gentrification and cuts to social, health and mental health services.
Fascism is an economic system that forces workers to give up their economic gains, and therefore the union movement plays a critical role in their struggle.
Even if Trump is re-elected, there is still hope that we can defeat fascism. History has taught us that it will take a united front of those who provide the labor and want to be free from all types of discrimination, and want an alternative anti-capitalist party to vote for.
I am optimistic that in 2024 we will be able to come together to build a powerful united front to stop fascism in its tracks.
Yolanda Alaniz, Los Angeles
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To the editor: I had to laugh when Hett expressed concern that Trump was some kind of dictator. Wasn’t it Governor Gavin Newsom who locked down 40 million Californians without a legislative vote?
Lloyd Forrester, Simi Valley
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To the editor: After reading the op-ed and how easily our democracy could disappear, I have some questions for people who want a dictator to run our country.
Why would you want to lose your freedom to vote?
What does a dictatorship offer you?
How long until a dictator betrays you?
Do you realize that what you really want is for someone to tell you what to do, when to do it, and to eliminate all your options?
If a dictator must be elected, why would he choose a person of such low moral character?
Have you looked at other countries with a dictator? How are your economies?
I know that some areas of the country are suffering economically. But turning our country into a dictatorship for that reason is indefensible.
Linda Shabsin, Diamond Bar
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To the editor: The idea that the election results are a powerful enough remedy to solve the Republican Party’s current “Nazification” problem seems more wishful thinking than probable.
The decision of the last election did nothing, then or since, to minimize the influence of the MAGA wing in the Republican Party. In fact, he did just the opposite.
The record is clear: losing the election, no matter the margin, has only made Trump’s admirers more loyal and more willing to subvert any democratic norms they don’t consider favorable to them.
I’m not sure there is a rational solution for that.
Ted Rosenblatt, Pacific Palisades
