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ananda

(35,830 posts)
Sat Jun 20, 2026, 12:19 PM Jun 20

Were we meant to become Mussolini's Italy?

Feel free to talk me down on this any way you want.

I just hcan't get it out of my head that this whole
fascist experiment was driven by a desire to become
like Mussolini's Italy. Trump has always reminded me
strongly of Mussolini, but he's too old and demented to
carry it through himself.

JD Vance, however, is a whole nother story. Look at how
he became a Catholic and joined Opus Dei, and how he's
always trying to get the pope onside.

Look at how he's trying to get our elections gamed for him.

And believe me, Vance really would be an effective monster.

10 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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wcmagumba

(7,009 posts)
1. Like someone in another post said, "JD Vance is a turnip"...
Sat Jun 20, 2026, 12:27 PM
Jun 20

He thinks he will get trump's Maga but I don't think he will get all of them...JD has zero charisma...

ananda

(35,830 posts)
2. That may appear to be true now...
Sat Jun 20, 2026, 12:30 PM
Jun 20

but absolute power changes the dynamic.

And we're not talking about free and fair elections
here.

But since your point about Vance is basically true,
it's also true that the power structure would be
equally turnipy.

It would all depend on whether hardcore fascist
competent people would take it on.

surfered

(15,091 posts)
3. The term "fascism" comes from Mussolini's political party.
Sat Jun 20, 2026, 12:36 PM
Jun 20

The Fasci Italiani di Combattimento (English: Italian Fasces of Combat, also translatable as 'Italian Fighting Bands' or 'Italian Fighting Leagues'[21]) was an Italian fascist organisation created by Benito Mussolini in 1919.[22] It was the successor of the Fasci d'Azione Rivoluzionaria, being notably further right than its predecessor. The Fasci Italiani di Combattimento was reorganised into the National Fascist Party in 1921

ananda

(35,830 posts)
4. Thanks. Mussolini was in power for 18 long years.
Sat Jun 20, 2026, 12:40 PM
Jun 20

I don't know how Italians took it so long.

They were big on deporting people too.

ananda

(35,830 posts)
6. I don't see them as mutually exclusive.
Sat Jun 20, 2026, 12:56 PM
Jun 20

There were strong fascist movements across
Europe during the first half of the 20th century.

It's just that Trump clearly modeled himself
on Mussolini... but being Trump, he has
completely bastardized the imitation, making
it more of a clown Mussolini show.

displacedvermoter

(5,237 posts)
8. I believe Mussolini called his movement
Sat Jun 20, 2026, 01:13 PM
Jun 20

Corporatist, meaning a unification of a strong and centralized government joined with economic and industrial interests.

Which, is kinda what you got going here...

J_William_Ryan

(3,653 posts)
7. "Look at how he's trying to get our elections gamed for him."
Sat Jun 20, 2026, 01:05 PM
Jun 20
“Although fascist parties and movements differed significantly from one another, they had many characteristics in common, including extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy and the rule of elites…”

https://www.britannica.com/topic/fascism

Which is why it’s appropriate to refer to conservatives, Republicans, Trump supporters, and others on the right as fascist – a movement both illiberal and anti-democratic, hostile to free and fair elections.

Moreover, fascism in America goes beyond Trump and Vance – where conservatism will remain a threat to democracy, the rule of law, and the protected liberties of the people well after both are gone.

ananda

(35,830 posts)
10. And don't forget that behind fascism is corporatism.
Sat Jun 20, 2026, 01:44 PM
Jun 20

Big money interests promote fascism by dividing
people against each other.

Unless people join together and decide to bring
it down, we're in for a long, painful history.

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