Fascism doesn’t storm the gates—it’s invited in through them. Hitler didn’t seize power through a coup. He was democratically elected, legitimized by law, supported by industry, and welcomed by millions who thought they were saving Germany. He used the tools of democracy to destroy it from within.
1. Suppression of Free Press
• Nazi Germany: The press was seized, turned into state propaganda. Journalists arrested or killed.
• U.S.: “Enemy of the people” rhetoric. Arrests at protests. Propaganda outlets flood the airwaves with lies.
• Status: Sliding into Fascism
Why It Matters: Truth becomes treason. And when that shift locks in, it takes generations—and often revolutions—to unmake.
2. Undermining Judicial Independence
• Nazi Germany: Courts transformed into Nazi tools. Legal system bent to ideology.
• U.S.: Supreme Court overturned Roe. Legal precedent discarded for political goals. Judges threatened and discredited.
• Status: Sliding into Fascism
Why It Matters: A rigged court isn’t just unjust—it’s irreversible. The law becomes violence in slow motion.
3. Erosion of Electoral Integrity
• Nazi Germany: Democratic elections used to secure power, then abolished.
• U.S.: Voter suppression. Gerrymandering. Election denial normalized. Jan 6th was a dry run.
• Status: Sliding into Fascism
Why It Matters: Elections no longer function if losers rewrite the rules. This is the death of democracy in procedural disguise.
4. Marginalization & Control of Women (Abortion Frontline)
• Nazi Germany: Women glorified as mothers, stripped of independence.
• U.S.: Roe repealed. Abortion criminalized. Contraception, IVF under threat.
• Status: Sliding into Fascism
Why It Matters: Control of reproduction is control of the future. When the state owns your body, you’re already property.
5. Consolidation of Executive Power
• Nazi Germany: Hitler used the Reichstag Fire to grant himself dictatorial authority.
• U.S.: Trump attempted a coup. Plans in motion to purge federal agencies and centralize control.
• Status: Sliding into Fascism
Why It Matters: Power taken once is never freely returned. Fascists don’t step down. They entrench.
6. Militarization of Society
• Nazi Germany: Paramilitary violence normalized. Armed civilians backed by the state.
• U.S.: Police militarized. Armed far-right groups act with impunity. Vigilantes celebrated.
• Status: Sliding into Fascism
Why It Matters: Civil society cannot coexist with state-backed terrorism. Once fear rules, consent is irrelevant.
7. Rise of Nationalism and Xenophobia
• Nazi Germany: Racial superiority and ethnic cleansing. Jews and others dehumanized.
• U.S.: “Replacement theory.” Immigrants and refugees demonized. Anti-Muslim and anti-Semitic violence rising.
• Status: Sliding into Fascism
Why It Matters: Every genocide begins with a slogan and a silence. Don’t mistake this for rhetoric.
8. Destruction of Public Education
• Nazi Germany: Schools used to indoctrinate, not educate. Critical thinking crushed.
• U.S.: Book bans. CRT panic. Teachers silenced. Whitewashed history replaces truth.
• Status: Sliding into Fascism
Why It Matters: A democracy without education isn’t a democracy. It’s a cult waiting for orders.
9. Targeting of LGBTQIA+ Communities
• Nazi Germany: Paragraph 175 criminalized queer people. Thousands imprisoned and killed.
• U.S.: Over 600 anti-LGBTQ+ bills. Trans care banned. “Groomer” rhetoric mainstreamed.
• Status: Sliding into Fascism
Why It Matters: Once queerness is criminalized, persecution follows fast. This isn’t about disagreement. It’s about eradication.
10. Control Over Religion
• Nazi Germany: State-aligned Christianity used to justify power. Other faiths oppressed.
• U.S.: Christian nationalism driving legislation. Theocracy creeping into law.
• Status: Warning Signs
Why It Matters: When God is weaponized, there’s no appeal to reason. Secular law collapses under divine decree.
11. Corporate-State Alliances
• Nazi Germany: Corporations funded fascism and profited from it.
• U.S.: Billionaires bankroll propaganda. Tech platforms shape reality. Government bows to corporate interests.
• Status: Warning Signs
Why It Matters: Capital will back fascism if it protects wealth. And it rarely switches sides once bought.
12. Mass Surveillance and Policing
• Nazi Germany: The Gestapo knew everything. No one was safe.
• U.S.: Protesters surveilled. Abortion seekers tracked. Facial recognition normalized.
• Status: Sliding into Fascism
Why It Matters: When the state sees everything, dissent dies in the shadows.
13. Censorship and Cultural Erasure
• Nazi Germany: “Degenerate” art banned. Books burned.
• U.S.: Libraries purged. Queer and Black stories erased. Teachers criminalized for telling the truth.
• Status: Sliding into Fascism
Why It Matters: You can’t preserve democracy while deleting history. Cultural genocide is already policy.
14. Encouragement of Vigilantism
• Nazi Germany: Civilian enforcers terrorized “undesirables.”
• U.S.: Kyle Rittenhouse celebrated. Texas abortion bounties. Armed mobs threaten queer spaces.
• Status: Sliding into Fascism
Why It Matters: When the mob takes over justice, fascism doesn’t have to lift a finger. Fear enforces the line.
15. Weaponization of Law and Bureaucracy
• Nazi Germany: The Nuremberg Laws legalized apartheid.
• U.S.: Laws target LGBTQ+ people, immigrants, reproductive freedom. “Morality” weaponized to punish.
• Status: Sliding into Fascism
Why It Matters: When law is violence disguised as order, there are no rights—only permissions.
This is not a drill. This is a descent. Germany didn’t realize what it had become until it was too late. By the time dissent was impossible, so was escape. When we say “it can happen here,” we’re not talking about the future. We’re describing the present.
Fascism doesn’t ask permission. It doesn’t declare itself in headlines. It arrives dressed in patriotism, tradition, “family values,” and the illusion of safety. It uses courts, cops, churches, and classrooms. It tells you it’s protecting your children while it’s criminalizing your neighbor. And by the time everyone admits it out loud, the door has already been locked behind them.
The longer people wait to “be sure,” the deeper we go. There is no peaceful end to fascism. It doesn’t retire. It doesn’t apologize. It has to be stopped while it’s still forming, or we become the next generation begging our grandchildren to forgive our silence.
