'Right To Discriminate' Bills

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Were I hearing voices in my head I should seek medical advice, but maybe that's just me.

Isn't it lovely that people who want to control uteruses think oversight of dangerous industries is excessive?

 

[quadraginta]

"It can't happen here."

You know, I recently found out something very interesting about this phrase. It's the title of a Sinclair Lewis book about the rise of an American dictator, something I was vaguely familiar with in the back of my mind. But I only recently found out about one of the central plot points of the book: the conspiracy to take over the US is led by Rotarians. Yep: Rotarians were the threat we needed to guard against, lest we become fascists.

This is an interesting description of the book. Also wrong and misleading.

At the same time as it trivializes it also misrepresents.

The protagonist was a con artist who used populism as a road to political power. His being a Rotarian was not significant. He could have as easily been a Moose or an Elk or a Knight of Pythias. The important part was that the support of populism and fascism can be found in the most mundane of places (hence the title.)

Lewis, who only a few years earlier had been chosen as the first American writer to win the Nobel prize, was a keen observer of American culture.

In this case he was specifically interested in the political strategies of Huey Long, who had made clear that he wanted to try for the presidency in 1936.

Fascism was clearly rooted in populism. The evidence was all over Europe at that time, and only the hypocritical or the willfully ignorant could evade that realization. The book was a cautionary tale couched as a political satire. Its purpose was to try and correct that ignorance.

It is sad that it has become so obscure. It certainly wasn't when it was first published. There was a stage adaptation which played across the country and MGM was starting on a movie. At least 'til Louis B. canned it because the Nazis didn't like the idea.

And its message is every bit as true and relevant today as it was then.

As this thread has made evident.

 

[Ziggurat]

The protagonist was a con artist who used populism as a road to political power. His being a Rotarian was not significant. He could have as easily been a Moose or an Elk or a Knight of Pythias. The important part was that the support of populism and fascism can be found in the most mundane of places (hence the title.)

But the thing is, it can't. Fascism rising from the Elks lodge is just as absurd. All those institutions are fundamentally traditionalist, and they're also dominated by older men who are well-connected within their communities. Fascism is fundamentally revolutionary, and it's primarily a youth movement that feeds off feelings of alienation. Just saying "populist" doesn't really capture the essence in any meaningful way.

And its message is every bit as true and relevant today as it was then.

Well, that much is true, but not in the way you intended.

As this thread has made evident.

Whatever the merits of government intervening to prevent discrimination, it's not a prophylactic against fascism. The opposition to such intervention (certainly as expressed here) is based upon the idea that government's role should be limited. And that's antithetical to fascism.