But I thought fascism was only going to happen if Trump is elected? Guess it’s already here, now what do we do??
I know!
let’s not vote and get trump elected so that instead of just being arrested, these people are shipped off to a gulag.
That will fix everything!
I think you need a literal rebellion to get the change you want. Glad I don’t live there, watching America decay is something else.
It’s sad. Like watching a sibling turn into Alex in A Clockwork Orange.
Can we first try passing electoral reform at the state level and get rid of the spoiler effect inherent with a First past the post voting system?
How can we steer this car away from the cliff if we are bound and gagged in the back of the cop car?
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This isn’t fascism. These people will get a slap on the wrist and be sent home in a day or two. Under fascism these people would never be heard from again.
So punishing free speech and protest is not fascist provided that they are “only” in jail for a couple of days? Seriously?
Obviously cracking down on protests doesn’t mean it’s 1930s Germany but it’s part of the same playbook, surely?
I’m certainly not defending the silencing of protest. It’s just that all fascism is authoritarian, but not all authoritarianism is fascist. Fascism has a specific definition and it’s a whole other degree of bad.
Fair enough. It is being used more colloquially in this case, you’re right. I retract the accusation of fascism and substitute “an unjust authoritarian crackdown on the right to freedom of speech and expression, undermining the very tenets of democratic society. A national embarrassment.”
100% agree with you then.
would you be able to link to a page that helps describe fascism as you say: that relies on severity of consequence?
asking because whilst i agree that fascism is specific - and this doesn’t cover it - im not sure that degree of severity is part of the definition and that could be a dangerous precedent to set because the other parts of fascism about control and quashing dissent enable the severe consequences once they are present
I usually go by Umberto Eco’s Ur-Fascism essay for a definition.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ur-Fascism
Suppression of protest would fall under #4 “Disagreement is Treason”. Under fascism it is not enough to silence opposition. They must be treated as enemies of the state and be eradicated.
really appreciate you taking the effort! i see where you’re coming from with the “enemies of the state” part, and think that id agree there
It was at a private college campus and the dean suspended all the students protesting and requested to have NYPD come remove them. In other words, the property caretaker was being a dick and had them removed from the premises.
Hmmm… well that almost sounds like capitalism in a Republic democracy. Shit, now what?
Keep doing it until almost the entire student body is suspended, or protest off campus?
Sounds like a plan! Can’t suspend alumni, so I’m game
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This is fascism-lite. Just because people aren’t disappeared doesn’t mean it’s not in the same category. And the only way we can hope to stop from getting to “actual” fascism is by resisting shit like this.
Exactly.
Fascism doesn’t come in detended stages, it’s tiny increments where the state seizes more power and restricts rights gradually until suddenly you notice that people are disappearing and everyones primary emotion is fear
I don’t disagree that silencing protest is bad. It’s just not fascism. Fascists kill dissenters.
Treating protestors like this is the norm (though it always must be fought). It’s how they were treated during Occupy Wall Street. It’s how they were treated during Vietnam and the civil rights fight. Authoritarianism can come from both the left and the right. Fascism is always from the right.
Fascists kill dissenters.
Not in the beginning. In the beginning it’s more about the economic side of fascism. And that has definitely happened in the US. For decades now.
Boot licker
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Y’all need to hear the fable of the boy who cried wolf.
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The right to free speech and peaceful protest, what a funny joke.
Hey now, don’t go spreading misinformation.
You can still have protests and not get attacked by cops; it just has to be a neo-nazi protest.
The cops will still be there, though not officially on duty
Some of those that work forces…
So ACAB, and we are a country with stupidly low quality of freedom despite the morons who just think guns=freedom, and fuck this was a BS move.
However, the Constitution states only that the government will not pass laws that interfere with freedom of assembly. Courts have decided that this includes protests, picketing, labor strikes, etc.
Courts have also concluded that this doesn’t mean you can assemble wherever you want, namely on private property. These students were essentially just trespassed by the university. Can’t really blame the policeor government for this one, unless you want to lean more extreme that they should be saying “fuck off, we disagree”. But I’d rather have a system where the police follow the law because I don’t trust any of them to make any good decisions on their own morals.
The chief even came out with a statement that was a dig at the university president that he only observed peaceful protest, not the bullshit she was claiming.
UT-Austin is public. University of Minnesota is public. Ohio State is public. All of these schools receive billions in government funding.
But the article is about Columbia University. A private institution. It is not a public university
God this server is stupid as fuck
Public property is fair game.
Columbia University is not public space
I just feel the need to tell OP that they are appreciated for posting this, as well as their work in the comments section. Thanks.
Campus protests are close to my heart.
And not a single one of the articles OP posted refer to these as anti-genocide protests.
Every media outlet who keeps framing this as students supporting Palestine or opposing Israel is burying the lede, that these students wouldn’t be supporting or opposing anything if there wasn’t a fucking genocide.
Thats why after years of tiktok bans being non starters the shit suddenly happened in like a week - its the only platform they can’t bully into censoring any mention of genocide.
I’m a Columbia alum. Thank you op for continuing to bring this story and similar ones from all over the country to Lemmy. Hats off to The Spec for still covering the situation on campus. Shefik somehow hasn’t tried shutting them down just yet.
I’m still shocked to think NYPD was actually brought into South Lawn. Even there police chief said everyone was peaceful and they were only there because the president called them in.
