I am tired of pretending that's an overlooked and hypocritical coincidence. It's a playbook and everyone knows it, but pretends it isn't.
this post was submitted on 18 Dec 2025
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I think I got a name for the beard: "similar historical conditions".
This is just an informal observation from my part, as an external observer (to USA, Italy and Germany), but I've noticed two "patterns" behind countries falling into fascism. The relevant one here is the same as you see in Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany:
- quick expansion in territory and population
- stagnation due to external forces preventing it from expanding further
- the State keeping its "we need more power!" mode boiling its engines for a century or so
- an internal shift from "we need to control more people" to "we need to control people more"
- the erosion of democratic institutions and power checks, since they "get in the way"
- the acceptance of increasingly more authoritarian leaders, as the democratically-minded ones are seen as "weak" and "inept"
- the population shifting its Overton window towards authoritarianism, and further tolerating extremist groups and agendas
When the fascist coup happens, people don't ask "why". They ask "why bother" — because the coup replaces an elite like "nooo, we aren't fascists! We do everything fascists do, except $small_thing" with one that is like "yes, we are fascists. We do everything other fascists do, including $small_thing".
Similarities between #7 and that "America first", IMO, are not a coincidence.
Excellent observation AFAIK. The catch might also be that at the "Why bother?"-stage, a significant democratisation would already feel like a revolution/regime change.
There's also what you mentioned in the thread, the "playbook": USA elites emulating the ones from 1920~30 Germany, and trying to provoke similar conditions there. I'm paranoid enough to think the AI bubble might have to do with this — if they can't predict when a Great Depression will happen, they cause one instead.
Typical Theodor Seuss Geisel W
As long as you recognize there's some pretty big Ls in there too
Pobody's nerfect
It's almost like the Nazis saw the native American genocide and said "oh shit that's a good idea, let's get that living room."
Don't forget Jim Crow!
Woth today's more disgusting fascism, it's tied by public hairs instead of beards, but the effect is the same
why does the nazi look like a jewish caricature lol
Huh, that's actually a really good point. Guess Seuss was just working on force of habit.
Looks familiar