Book contents
- Fascism in America
- Fascism in America
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part I Strategic Thinking about Fascism
- 1 Liberalism in Crisis
- 2 Anarchy and the State of Nature in Donald Trump’s America and Adolf Hitler’s Germany
- 3 “America First”
- Part II Homegrown Nazis
- Part III White Antidemocratic Violence and Black Antifascist Activism
- Part IV Countering Fascism in Culture and Policy
- Select Bibliography
- Index
2 - Anarchy and the State of Nature in Donald Trump’s America and Adolf Hitler’s Germany
from Part I - Strategic Thinking about Fascism
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 September 2023
- Fascism in America
- Fascism in America
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part I Strategic Thinking about Fascism
- 1 Liberalism in Crisis
- 2 Anarchy and the State of Nature in Donald Trump’s America and Adolf Hitler’s Germany
- 3 “America First”
- Part II Homegrown Nazis
- Part III White Antidemocratic Violence and Black Antifascist Activism
- Part IV Countering Fascism in Culture and Policy
- Select Bibliography
- Index
Summary
This chapter argues that looking at how Donald Trump and Adolf Hitler approached the state of nature brings to the fore where the two political leaders converge and where they diverge. Sharing a belief in the existence of a quasi-Hobbesian state of nature, they disagree how to respond politically to that state of nature. Whereas Hitler thought that domestically the state of nature could be overcome through a strong state and through strong communitarian bonds holding people together, and whereas internationally he believed peoples simply had to live with the continued existence of an unregulated state of nature, Trump’s conclusions are different. He puts little faith in the existence of the state. Yet he believes that both domestically and internationally the state of nature can be tamed through an intricate web of power relationships within groups as well as between groups that creates a relatively stable system. Trump is part of two quintessential American traditions rather than of fascism: the Mafia subculture of New York City and the extreme individualism of Ayn Rand. The concept of fascism thus ultimately distorts our understanding of today’s America.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Fascism in AmericaPast and Present, pp. 78 - 106Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2023