How did we get to the point where the fascists are back!

I’ve been away for a while, but now I’m back. I’m hoping to do Mad Sociologist in the News more often. I’m also thinking about a podcast, but we’ll see how that works out.

This video essay had a couple of goals.

First: How did we get to the point where our political economy is such a mess that we’re actually seeing a rise in right-wing extremism, heretofore referred to as “fascism”?

Secondly: Why is it that fascism spreads faster and more effectively than left-wing democratic socialism?

Sources

https://www.history.com/topics/gay-rights/the-stonewall-riots

Obergefell v. Hodges

https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2022/11/15/about-six-in-ten-americans-say-legalization-of-same-sex-marriage-is-good-for-society/

Click to access State-Trends-Public-Support-SS-Couples-Apr-2015.pdf

https://www.npr.org/2021/06/09/1004629612/a-record-number-of-americans-including-republicans-support-same-sex-marriage

https://news.gallup.com/poll/350486/record-high-support-same-sex-marriage.aspx

https://www.hrc.org/press-releases/human-rights-campaign-on-desantiss-dont-say-gay-or-trans-law-going-into-effect-targeting-lgbtq-youth-and-turning-back-the-clock-on-equality

https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/5050/florida-republican-governor-desantis-attack-trans-rights/

https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/florida-ban-transgender-health-care-treatments-minors-92686507

https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2021/democracy-under-siege

https://www.idea.int/news-media/news/global-democracy-weakens-2022

https://www.npr.org/2021/12/01/1059896434/united-states-backsliding-democracy-donald-trump-january-6-capitol-attack

https://www.brookings.edu/research/is-democracy-failing-and-putting-our-economic-system-at-risk/#footref-4

https://morningconsult.com/2021/06/28/global-right-wing-authoritarian-test/

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/fixgov/2018/03/13/is-public-sentiment-shifting-toward-support-of-authoritarianism-not-really/

Click to access National-Strategy-for-Countering-Domestic-Terrorism.pdf

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2022/01/05/assessing-the-right-wing-terror-threat-in-the-united-states-a-year-after-the-january-6-insurrection/

https://www.frbsf.org/economic-research/publications/economic-letter/2021/october/is-american-rescue-plan-taking-us-back-to-1960s/

https://www.frbsf.org/economic-research/publications/economic-letter/2022/march/why-is-us-inflation-higher-than-in-other-countries/

Profits, wages, and inflation: What’s really going on

https://www.epi.org/blog/corporate-profits-have-contributed-disproportionately-to-inflation-how-should-policymakers-respond/ s

The global chip shortage: What caused it, how long will it last?

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-08-25/us-corporate-profits-soar-taking-margins-to-widest-since-1950

Click to access HHRG-117-GO05-Transcript-20220922.pdf

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/apr/27/inflation-corporate-america-increased-prices-profits

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/11/04/house-analysis-confirms-corporations-use-cover-inflation-raise-prices-excessively

https://www.businessinsider.com/corporations-using-inflation-as-excuse-to-reap-fatter-profits-reich-2021-11

The Economic Lessons of Star Trek’s Money-Free Society

https://www.statista.com/chart/27610/inflation-and-wage-growth-in-the-united-states/

Beyond Trump

https://www.dataforprogress.org/blog/2020/10/21/our-government-isnt-progressive-but-america-is

Books Referenced 

Klien, Naomi. The Shock Doctrine

Hochschild, Arlie. Strangers in their own Land

Images Adapted from

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1b21Rq11cRNKJtDbZ8qJqK0QHuZqYJfo5UYLhz19S8_g/edit

https://theconversation.com/scruffy-boris-johnsons-man-of-the-people-look-is-part-of-a-long-british-tradition-168773

https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/slavery

https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/world-war-ii-battles-timeline

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/where-the-buffalo-no-longer-roamed-3067904/

https://www.thecollector.com/environmental-impact-industrial-revolution-pollution/

https://legacyprojectchicago.org/milestone/stonewall-riot

https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna26884523