NATIONALISM, MILITARISM, WARMAKING, WHITE CHRISTIANITY V. DEMOCRACY,
Hitler and Trump v. Democracy
In Preparing for War: The Extremist History of White Christian Nationalism—and What Comes Next, Bradley Onishi argues that the insurrection at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, was the outcome of years of a subculture’s preparation for war to overthrow the US democracy. The eleven chapters take us from the rise of White Christian nationalism’s reaction to the social rights revolution of the 1960s to the reactionary insurrection of January 6, 2021. At the center of the bifurcation of the nation into pro- and anti-democracy, Onishi sees the expanding myth of the White Christian nation. Chapter 2, “Extremism Is a Virtue”; Chap. 3, “The New South Rises”; Chap. 4, “Segregation Is a Religious Right”; etc.
Chap. 10 concentrates on the crucial role of myths in this radical transformation. “MAGA Myths” it is titled, for it suggests the “deeply alarming” parallel of the rise of Hitler and that of Donald Trump in their use of myths to gain control of their respective nations. German militarists sought to punish those who caused Germany’s defeat in WWI and rallied those who resented defeat in war, democracy, and immigrants. Trump and Trumpists consolidate resentment against those who had upset the established, unjust, hierarchical, racial order The movements led by Hitler and Trump created sympathy for insurrectionists and legitimated violence. The Nazis and military leaders stressed the ”stab-in-the-back” by Jews, communists, traitorous politicians. Hitler and his followers attempted a coup in 1923, which failed, and Hitler was sentenced to prison, but his brief incarceration produced Mein Kampf to propagate his myths of politics of resentment and of democracy as hopelessly inadequate for a great nation. He called his followers “to make Germany great again.” [I recommend Benjamin Hett’s masterful account of Hitler overthrowing the Weimar Republic, The Death of Democracy.
Onishi’s conclusion: Germany’s experiment in democracy failed in the face of an authoritarian leader whose myth telling and charisma had already persuaded the German people to accept nationalist, totalitarian, racist, xenophobic Nazi ideology. USA’s experiment in democracy similarly failed. Politicians, media voices, religious leaders, and celebrities failed to form a united front “that barred Trump and anyone who advocated for the attempted coup from serving in political office.” “Like the 1923 Beer Hall Putsch in Germany, the 2021 Capitol insurrection may have been a ‘failure’ only for a time.” Trump “remains the leader of the [Republican] party. The Big Lie [Biden lost the election] is the foundation of the MAGA movement. And January 6 is viewed as the first battle in the war for the country” (187). (–Dick)
RESISTING THE RIGHT: How to Survive the Gathering Storm by
ROBERT EDWARDS. Foreword by JAMES CARROL. OR Books, 2024.
Publisher’s description (I will order and report on the book). As a right-wing take-over of the United States government appears ever more possible, this eloquent and incisive handbook shows how it can be combatted.
“Combines the revelations of unfolding tragedy with the artistry of a story-teller. ”Bill Moyers. “Profoundly disturbing” –—Kai Bird.