The Optics of Weakness and Bringing a Rope to a Sword Fight [View all]
As I consider my situation, a private citizen who would like to combat and discourage the rise of fascism in my country, and the tools that I have at hand, including my fellow citizens who are also not fans of fascism, there is one weapon in my arsenal that consistently lets me down. It is sword-shaped, but has the consistency of an over-boiled noodle. Fighting fascism is completely impossible with it. And it is the national leaders and the political elite in my country who (theoretically) wield a lot of power but are either on board with fascism or are too afraid to fight it.
Is there any situation in which our nominally anti-fascist political elite would present themselves as STRONG rather than WEAK? Every response to the proto-fascism in this country is marked by weakness, by capitulation, by caution, by inaction. Can we not fashion an action that would both fight fascism and also appear STRONG to our benighted citizenry? It doesn't take much. It doesn't even require actual strength, just the appearance of strength.
Can't we muster a show of strength in our dedication to not become the Fourth Reich that signals to our people that fighting fascism is worth it? Or did that die after WWII?
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