Oops, they did it again: Trump's refusal to wear a mask as a signal to fascism
Trump's refusal to wear a mask isn't just vanity — it's also a fascist rejection of the duty to protect others
AMANDA MARCOTTE
Salon.com, MAY 8, 2020 5:02PM (UTC)
Excerpt...
But Trump and his most ardent supporters seem almost physically repulsed at the very idea of wearing a mask. One Republican Ohio state legislator even claimed that since "we are all created in the image and likeness of God," covering the face with a mask is an affront to God's creation. (Many have noted that this same argument could be made against the practice of wearing pants.)
Ultimately, the rejection of mask-wearing really goes back to the fact that Trump, Ingraham and their most faithful followers are guided by fascist impulse, even when they don't or can't articulate a fully fleshed-out fascist ideology. Above all other things, the fascist personality is one that rejects even the possibility of sickness. To wear a mask is to publicly admit that one's body is suspectible to illness, which is coded as "weak" and therefore unacceptable.
Natascha Strobl, an Austrian political scientist who is an expert in far-right organizing and rhetoric, had an important English-language Twitter thread in early April about why the far right was embracing the view that the coronavirus should simply be allowed to run wild. From the beginning, this has been the view Trump clearly prefers on an emotional level and has pushed federal policy toward all along. While Strobl didn't mention masks, her observations also help explain why these same folks are repulsed by mask-wearing.
The fascist narrative, Strobl explained, is that "men aren't men anymore, but nervous, urban, overly intellectualized and (here it comes) sickly weaklings.
"Weakness is never worthy of protection and has to be cast out. This is fascism," she continues. The fascist believes that those viewed as "weak" have an obligation to die "without protest for the greater good" and that if "they don't do it, they are weak and the weak drag everyone else down and therefore must be done away with."
To wear a mask, in other words, indicates a belief that your personal body can become infected. A fascist-minded person like Trump cannot admit such a thing, either because he genuinely believes he is too strong to be affected by the virus or because he fears looking weak in public. Just as important, wearing a mask indicates care and concern for others, especially those who are high-risk. But the fascist-minded person doesn't want to protect those viewed as "weak" — in fact, those people are expected to die so as not to be a burden on others. As Strobl points out, the far right believes that by becoming seriously ill or dying in service to some warped conception of the greater good, the "weak" can prove themselves strong through their sacrifice.
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https://www.salon.com/2020/05/08/oops-they-did-it-again-trumps-refusal-to-wear-a-mask-as-a-signal-to-fascism/
Kipling’s
The Man Who Would Be King describes what came to such who thought themselves superior to their fellow human beings. Great film with Caine and Connery, too.
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