Andy Douglas

Writers' Group

We’re seeing the rise of right-wing fascism around the world these days. Jair Bolsonaro, reversing years of progressive movement in Brazil, suppressing the voices of people of color, women and the LGBTQ community. Benjamin Netanyahu, winning his fifth term in Israel with significant help from the US and intimidation of Arab voters, while promising to annex settlements in the West Bank.

Despots suppress citizens in Saudi Arabia and Egypt, while US foreign aid props them up.

In parts of Europe, anti-immigrant fever is running high. Romania has closed its borders. A common and useful theme for right-wingers, this "fear of the other" spills over into violence and hatred. Of course, Europe’s historical context creates a lot of anxiety around the resurgence of fascism.

Steve Bannon trots the globe, fancying himself an architect of right wing revolution, spreading white supremacist ideology. His most recent project is to back an "academy" in Italy, aimed at giving students tools to “defend the Judeo-Christian West.”

And then there’s our man in the White House. Trump’s administration is the most anti-democratic, nepotistic, anti-human, anti-ecological we’ve seen in a long time.

Scholar Roger Eatwell argues that the far right has four major traits: anti-democracy, nationalism, racism and the strong state. Fascism takes that an extra step in its regimentation of society and violent suppression of opposition. (Remember Trump’s campaign rallies where he urged supporters to beat up protesters?)

Perhaps it’s not fair to say Trump expresses fascism in the classical sense, since he hasn’t imposed his stamp on the society as a whole, just on his followers. Better to say he has fascist tendencies. It’s heartening that so many people are resisting him, but also disheartening that the Republican Party has pretty much rolled over and done his bidding.

Just as white nationalists marching in Charlottesville have been emboldened by Trump’s ascendance (since these folks are prone to infighting, a charismatic leader offers a chance to coalesce), far right leaders around the world take courage in each other’s example.

Trump has an affinity for strongmen, and he has extended a warm Washington welcome to many. Leaders set the tone for their societies; more than that, they consciously or unconsciously create energy around ideas and ways of being. What else explains the rise in hate crimes? For the first time in 27 years, the US was named a top human rights threat by Human Rights Watch.

Like many politicians, Trump has figured out how to get people to vote against their own interests, utilizing trigger issues, whipping up patriotism, and yes, racism.

At this point, he must still deal with democratic institutions, unlike some other strongmen, but he’s learning workarounds with “voting rights reform,” executive orders, stacking his cabinet with yes-men, and other gambits.

I’m careful not to lump everyone of a conservative stripe into a far-right, or fascist, camp. However, in Trump’s case there does seem to be a link between the worst excesses of capitalism, and the spurious use of the state to further these interests. There’s money to be made tearing down regulations and ignoring environmental and labor protections. Capitalism may also be a good delivery system for ceding greater power to those who thrive on control and fear.

Human beings can either meet their needs through love, creativity and spirituality, or the ego gets stuck in the driver’s seat: the need to dominate, the craving for attention, kicks in, instead of altruistic instinct. Perhaps psycho-physical factors are involved, an undeveloped amygdala, the brain area that regulates fear and rage.

The upshot is that these trends threaten democracy and undermine our sovereignty as citizens. They diminish our spirit.

What can we do? Know history. Educate each other about the positive effects of immigration. Stand up to hatred and right-wing threats. Understand how right-wing populism works. Build connections with people in other countries.

Cultivate our souls in the face of this rise of soullessness.

Writers' Group member Andy Douglas is the author of "The Curve of the World: Into the Spiritual Heart of Yoga."