Orwell said it best: “The word Fascism has no meaning except in so far as it signifies ‘something not desirable.’” Some call his prophetic wisdom a societal indictment, but I call it mighty convenient. If someone has a point I don’t want to contend with, I levy the charge of “Nazism” and can dismiss any well-founded claim they make. So what if it’s every sophist’s dream? Socrates was an old white man who never unlearned his privilege.
Like the last election, and the one before it, this presidential term will be the most consequential of our lifetimes. Both parties, along with extremists who refuse to align with either, have leveled the charge of “Nazism” at those they disagree with.
After Trump’s inauguration, social media was immediately ablaze with charges of Nazism. Elon Musk made an awkward gesture that pundits claimed to be a Sieg Heil. Finally, people who had no problem supporting the Axis of Resistance and those who graffitied swastikas on campus last year realized that Nazis are bad. In response to the controversy surrounding Musk, far-right Twitter accounts unearthed photos of Kamala making a similar gesture. The obvious conclusion is that only the politician that you dislike intentionally replicated a Nazi salute.
My UCLA education has taught me to detect fascism wherever it rears its ugly head, which is shockingly all around us. In one class, I listened to a presentation arguing that pro-life ideology is fascistic. In countless others, the professors made it clear that the Republican Party is long past Paxton’s early signs of fascism. Not to fear, the Democrats aren’t spared either. Our own governor, Gavin Newsom, has exhibited clear-cut fascist behavior in his homeless policy. Twitter said so. Start preparing your attic.
The Daily Bruin proved that international fascism can be detected on campus in an opinion piece last quarter. The author compared the anti-Israel encampments to the genocide in Gaza. It’s true. Any starving Palestinian mother will say their struggles are tantamount to students facing consequences for breaking the law at the #1 Public University.
Once I realized how far-reaching intersectionality can be, I realized that fascism is truly all around me. For example, my coffee took five minutes to order this morning. I don’t know if it’s because I am a woman or because I am a Jew, but that barista must have been a fascist. I’ll be setting up a GoFundMe to help cope with the trauma and provide basic, humanitarian, mutual aid.
Like all good slogans, there is a catch here. Hamas, the terrorist group responsible for the largest killing of Jews since the Holocaust, who explicitly wrote in their charter that they want to kill all Jews, is a warm and fuzzy group. If you oppose Hamas and their explicit genocidal ideology, you “put the motherfucking Nazis to shame,” as one of our judicious student government members eloquently put it.
So go ahead and levy the charge of Nazism from the rooftops. It doesn’t dilute the meaning of the Holocaust at all. Public intellectuals who have criticized the overly capacious nature of Holocaust education simply don’t understand that the more we liken minor inconveniences to the Shoah, the more accurately people grasp its true significance.
If you like my writing, welcome to the right side of history. If you disagree with me or, G-d forbid, find a grammar mistake, I’m sorry to tell you, but you’re a Nazi. We have to do something about these Nazis, for democracy’s sake, of course!
Cover Image: Ted Eytan, Creative Commons
This is a satire piece that is made to poke fun at current events through exaggeration.
