I would just say there are some differences even still. Trump is massively losing support even with the republicans, because most care more about the economy and inflation than whatever random agenda trump decides on that day. The firehose of falsehood I agree with, but it seems they’re incompetent even at that because most still blamed the government shutdown on Republicans. Many states are fighting against the consolidation of power and the illegal acts, like California’s redistricting and the massive protests around the country.

I’m aware of the polyanya principle but in this case it feels like most of the country isn’t just unified in not supporting him, it seems most are actively against him. The no kings protests were the 2nd largest in US history, and all the people actively fighting against ICE shows me people aren’t afraid to fight back. Also just the incompetence, ICE is a bunch of untrained overweight thugs, rather than a strong military force. The national guard being deployed to Oregon is maybe a special case since the idea that Portland was a war zone somehow was a conspiracy for quite a while. If that happened across the country I think we’d see massive revolt.

What actually happened here? Rights were flagrantly violated, then they soft backtracked, and then they issued the same threats again (on going) where they will likely backtrack less this time, and so on.

I mean maybe it’s similar to what happened in China, where they can suppress it but everyone has phones so it’s extremely difficult to actually hide it. Pretty much everyone in America heard about the Jimmy Kimmel firing, and if something like that happens again it’s a free viral story. I would agree they’re trying to normalize it, and they will try to keep taking it further and further, but we still have a ways to go considering the country’s reaction.

If it practically doesn’t, it practically doesn’t.

I mean not false, but to some people it really matters the reason. If you tell an average person “trump is a fascist” they may or may not believe you, but if you say trump is a narcissist who wants to be surrounded by yes men and fires anyone who disagrees with him and tries to get more power, almost everyone would agree. The effect is essentially the same but the intent behind it makes it feel different to people. I think maybe I would say they’re trying to be fascist, but they don’t have the support /brainpower or the ability to hide it very well.

I mean I really don’t really disagree it just doesn’t feel exactly right to call it that, I guess I can give some reasons for it. For instance only about 35% of the population even voted for Trump, so he doesn’t really have the support of the people. Our democratically elected officials are still voting on bills, and they are still (mostly) being signed off by the president. The FCC did TRY to silence someone, but the will of the people made it not happen. They do try and suppress protestors from speaking against the government, but it’s been largely pretty ineffective, minus the random brutality.

I think it’s also just the reasons someone is doing something matters, even if it practically doesn’t. If trump fires all the judges that disagree with him and appoints people that agree with him, the reason is narcissism and hurt ego, and the effects are fascist. Which is why I would say fascist actions rather than a fascist, which might be a meaningless distinction but to some it’s not.

Adhd and autism are only considered disorders in the dsm 5, which there are many papers written about how it’s a failure There’s a reason people call those neurodivergences and not something like schizophrenia.

Most people have it in them to act like animals if they get the right encouragement.

Sure? But most times I’ve seen someone being rude it’s because they totally missed what the other person is saying. Which is extremely common with autism which is extremely common on lemmy. It has nothing to do with being right or wrong or stupid or smart, that’s just how they interpreted the other persons words. Again not saying there ISN’T groupthink and tribalism, but 95% of the time I’ve said something politely and with evidence I have not been downvoted or removed.

example: (I don’t comment on politics that often)

A websites users downvoting and removing comments is not fascism because a website is not a government, and was not ordered to by the government. If the FCC threatens a broadcasting company because they don’t like what someone said, that IS a fascist action because it’s a government agency threatening a private company for saying something the government agency didn’t like. If the president breaks the law and ignores court orders, that IS a fascist action. Same with firing all judges that don’t agree with the president, same with denying to swear in certain elected officials, that is centralization of power. If someone does 8 by definition fascist things, and someone else does 0, if I call the first person a fascist I’m not calling everything I don’t like fascist, and the word has meaning because those WERE fascist actions. You can say it’s unfair because it’s only 8 fascist actions, but that doesn’t mean they’re calling everyone a fascist, just people who took 8 fascist actions in a row.

Also “I will not tolerate the intolerant” is not the same as “I will not tolerate trans/gay people existing, or people trying to say that’s wrong.” There is space for differing opinions as long as your opinion doesn’t infringe on other people existing. I can say something like I think we should spend more on schools than climate change, but I can’t say I think trans people are fake, or gay people are an abomination, or say climate change is a hoax. Would you prefer a society where an every day conversation is “should nagijala exist? It’s a horrible thing to be one of those people. Truly disgusting, it’s an affront to God.” And you hear that daily and fear for your life? Or allow vaccine misinformation so measles come back like it is in Florida. Personally I don’t want to live in that society. I have also never had my comment deleted and rarely get downvoted, while expressing a different opinion to the majority in almost every comment. I can show examples if you want.

I’m not really sure, maybe it’s just the extent or the amount of incompetence that makes it different to me. It’s sort of like fascism-lite, because even if trump WANTS all trans people taken away / treated as undesirables and has caused a lot more people to hate them, he hasn’t been able to enact “if you are trans you will be killed” like I would expect under fascism. I also don’t feel like even the crazy maga people want the democratic party to not exist, they just want democrats to “stop being stupid.”

I was listening to an expert on cults talk about trump and MAGA, and he said trump plays to the crowd rather than saying what he believes. For instance when he said "I hope you’re all vaccinated " in Missouri i believe, the crowd booed him and he quickly changed to “you should have the freedom to choose.” I think narcissistic con man fits everything he does more accurately than fascist, but still that’s why when someone calls him a fascist I don’t really complain.

I’m pretty happy but not that healthy from a chronic illness so maybe you have a point.

Idk I’ve had I would say a majority good interactions on lemmy, I’ve definitely seen people being cringe and rude but that doesn’t seem to be the norm. Maybe it’s just because I qualify what I say a lot to not be misunderstood idk

Some examples:

me raising a point counter to the post and generally nice replies

friendly discussion on lemmys user numbers

Me responding slightly rudely to someone discrediting protestors

Idk man some people myself included like discussing and/or arguing something. A lot of people argue impolitely or misrepresent points, but a huge portion of lemmy users have autism or other neurodivergence, so sometimes they’re not good at picking up nuance or what the other person actually meant. Also, most people in general are tribal so I think what you’re asking for might be impossible on an unrestricted platform.

I have had tons of actually good discussions on lemmy, I can link you some if you want, but it sounds like you’re seeing people say “trump just broke 5 court orders and fired all the judges who disagreed with him, then illegaly sent the national guard to Oregon. This is fascism” and saying “you can’t call everyone you don’t like a fascist!!” Those at least fascist-leaning actions. Do I think it’s actual fascism? No. But all of those actions are the dictionary definition of fascism, so if someone calls someone taking many fascist actions in succession a fascist… idk maybe hyperbole but not that extreme. It’s like calling Bernie sanders a socialist. It’s like well not really but I know what you mean.

I’ll be at 0 score from the person im arguing with and still be like “what was wrong with my comment!!”

I think it’s fair if it’s really not obvious at all but yeah kinda ruins the joke a lot of the time