How the U.S. Became Fascism’s Greatest Success Story

It’s 2025, and ‘the land of the free’ is dead and gone. Kaput. The once-inspiring ‘shining city on the hill’ has vanished. So has the American dream of a wondrous ‘land of opportunity.’

These American attributes or ideals were never fully realized, sadly, but at least the promise was still there — until recently. Now, they have all faded or crumbled away. Yet this was not a natural progression or inevitable decline. No, the truth is that these admirable goals, values, and attributes were deliberately sabotaged and destroyed.

This essay will show exactly how the ‘land of the free’ was undermined, subverted, and finally torn asunder and in effect… murdered.

Our flirtation with fascism turned deadly serious — and destructive

The reason the far-right takeover of the U.S. is fascism’s greatest ‘success story’ is simple: the U.S. is both the world’s foremost (former) bastion of democracy and by far the largest nation (population: 347,000,000) to ever succumb to autocratic fascism. If a vast ‘freedom-loving’ nation like the U.S. can be successfully converted to fascism and autocracy, it conclusively shows that such a takeover can occur anywhere. No nation or society is safe from such predatory politics and abhorrent, inhumane policies.

Yet the U.S., in truth, is no stranger to fascism. In the period prior to WWII, the American Nazi party — known as the “German-American Bund” — was quite influential and garnered support from many financiers and politicians. Overall, the U.S. has always maintained an uneasy balance between far-right, fascism-friendly groups and more ‘liberal’ and progressive groups, with the balance shifting back and forth between fascist/racist tendencies and inclusive, equalitarian aims.

In 1935, the famed author Sinclair Lewis penned a dystopian novel titled “It Can’t Happen Here” (of course, in his book, fascism does happen here). A contemporary of his, author Upton Sinclair, is often quoted as saying, “When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.”

Of course, they were both exactly right. That is precisely what has happened and accelerated over the past 40+ years. There was a decades-long period of gradual democratic decline — but the process of full autocratic takeover intensified greatly during Trump’s first term (2017–2021), and then took off like a rocket the instant Trump assumed office again in January 2025 — while democratic, social, environmental, and even many legal processes were ignored or trampled.

Autocratic fascism has no patience with, or use for, the ‘rule of law’ — and sees it primarily as a hindrance to executive power and their own party’s unsavory goals. Since any workable democracy depends totally on the effective rule of law, this vital component of democracy is always attacked and sabotaged by the far right. It’s one of the primary democratic features that ‘has to go’ to ensure the success of autocratic fascism.

In this dark pursuit, Trump, Fox ‘News,’ MAGA, and far-right ‘influencers’ have been wildly effective — though their seditious sabotage is always well-disguised and comes “wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.”

Our excessive individualism/capitalism paved the way for fascism

What made the U.S. a prime target for a fascist takeover? In my opinion, our super-individualism and its alter-ego, late-stage capitalism, paved the way and made U.S. fascism almost inevitable. Both systems — one social, the other economic — are based on selfishness, greed, and endless competition. Both see human life as a perennial state of conflict in which the ‘strong’ constantly subdue the ‘weak,’ with the wealthiest CEOs and oligarchs being the ‘strongest’… and most deserving of massive ‘success.’

Put differently, our American social and economic systems depend on and exacerbate class warfare, highly unfair wealth disparities, endless roadblocks against equality, and an ubiquitous ‘me against everyone else’ mentality. Unfortunately for democracy and true egalitarian governance, such a mentality utterly contradicts the essential values that underlie modern America — values such as fairness, equality, inclusiveness, and mutual respect among the varied ethnic groups, creeds, and religions that make up our multi-cultural ‘modern society.’

It should be obvious that a selfish, greedy ‘me first’ attitude is NOT compatible with a caring, sharing, and inclusive democracy. It’s quite obvious to many other societies and ethnic groups, all around the world — but it is not obvious to us ‘free’ Americans. We even despise and resist any communal efforts and community-oriented policies, often tarring them with the dreaded ‘socialist’ label.

Of course, most Americans haven’t the faintest idea what ‘socialism’ really is or what it looks like — but that doesn’t prevent us from hating it, despising the ‘socialist’ Democrats, and yelling about the dire ‘socialist takeover’ of America.

Funny thing about that supposed ‘socialist takeover’: it doesn’t exist! Over the past four decades, U.S. society has shifted far to the right in most instances (except for protections for gay marriage, which the fascists are itching to reverse). MAGA’s and the GOP’s image of despicable ‘socialism’ is what folks in most other (sane) nations call ‘normal life in society’!

Meanwhile, life in the U.S continues to deteriorate. Our accelerating loneliness epidemic and lack of connection have us all craving and needing the ‘warm blanket’ of social connection. But since the ‘socialist’ (normal) forms of increased connection and sharing are verboten here… the only thing left to us is the camaraderie and (fake) shared purpose promised by racist tropes, partisan hate, fascism, and its strutting dictator wannabes.

A long list of actions lifted straight from the ’dictator’s playbook’

My point is, ALL the preconditions were there for a gradual — but relentless — fascist takeover of the U.S. When DJT threw his hat in the ring in 2015 and then was elected president — and even more when he was re-elected last November — the die was cast.

All along, DJT has relied on and enacted the perennial ‘dictator’s playbook’ as if it were created just for him. He follows it that closely. His secondary playbook, the far-right Project 2025, just ‘fleshes it all out’ for him and his subservient minions.

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My sense of this awful transformation, just from observing what unfolded in the U.S. over the past decade, is that several crucial dictator-friendly patterns (that DJT embodies and excels at, not coincidentally) all came together to help fascism thrive here. My list of these patterns— which may differ somewhat from others’ lists — includes:

1) Keep pushing a dark ‘us vs. them’ scenario that paints non-Whites as ‘bad,’ immoral, or ‘un-Christian.’ Always depict illegal immigrants as rapists, drug runners, and criminals. Stoke intense partisan and racial divisions.

2) Attack the free press and media as ‘fake news’ and make sure that Americans believe you rather than seasoned reporters. Sue news organizations for defamation when they tell the truth about your horrid ideas, policies, and outright lies.

3) Attack our election processes, insist any election you lose was ‘rigged,’ and persist in fraudulently claiming our elections are riddled with fraud. The goal is to foster intense distrust of democratic systems and processes. Work hard to disenfranchise as many dark-skinned Americans as possible.

4) Make it A-OK for Americans to indulge in hate, racism, and paranoia about the supposed ‘Deep State.’ Encourage belief in bizarre right-wing conspiracy theories like ‘Birtherism’ and QAnon. Slyly encourage and normalize right-wing political violence.

5) Attack and undermine legitimate science, education, and medical knowledge about vital issues as disparate as vaccines, climate change, contraception, CO2 pollution, etc. Push the idea that ‘My ignorance is just as good — or better — than your knowledge.’ Encourage mass denial of reality and truth.

6) Attack and undermine the judiciary and the rule of law. DJT and MAGA have intensified their ferocious attacks on the federal judiciary over the past year — with the clear aim of discrediting judges and the rule of law and paving the way for brutal, unaccountable ‘strong man’ rule.

7) Reduce our vaunted ‘separation of powers’ to an impotent, empty shell, in which the Congress and judiciary keep ceding and losing their power while the executive branch seizes more power and control.

8) Fire any officials or political appointees who oppose or criticize you, and replace them with loyalists and ‘yes-men’ (or women).

9) Never admit mistakes; always blame another person, group, or party for any perceived problems — and then attack, attack, attack without pause. Project all issues or problems onto vile ‘others’ — mainly illegal immigrants, liberals, and ‘socialists’ — and encourage total hatred of these ‘others.’

10) Continually abuse our free speech protections to accomplish all the above goals and keep spreading hate, racism, division, and sly sedition.

11) While performing all these horrible, anti-democratic, and deeply UNpatriotic actions… keep crowing about how ‘patriotic’ you and your followers are. No matter what, always depict ‘your side’ as good, divinely guided, and the only possible antidote to all the socialist, ‘woke’ horrors inflicted on innocent White Christians. Make sure the fascist, hateful reality you are imposing or inciting is hidden behind a fine, upstanding (illusory) ‘patriotic’ veneer.

The U.S. is morphing into fascism’s greatest success story

I could keep going, but I’m sure you get the idea. DJT, MAGA, and almost the entire GOP are fully on board with this rampant, fascistic madness. Meanwhile, most U.S. citizens seem too dumbed-down to fully grasp what’s going on or what we are quickly losing: vital things like human rights, the rule of law, abortion rights, voting rights, and other basic democratic freedoms.

It’s amazing that the U.S. fell this far and this fast into abject submission to the illegal and unconstitutional maneuvering of Trump 2.0. But this could only occur after decades of persistent right-wing propaganda paved the way and made it all possible. DJT now controls or blatantly ignores the Congress, the courts, the press, and our immigration and deportation processes.

He is in a position now to do whatever he wants, whenever he wants, to whomever he wants — with much support from our Supreme Court and GOP-led Congress. There are no ‘adults in the room’ anymore to stop or restrain him. And he has a vast army of rabid supporters and sycophants to back him up and enable ALL of his horrifying actions, deceptions, and ‘regal pronouncements.’

I’m sorry to say it, but this nasty pattern is the very definition of autocratic fascism. As of today, June 30, 2025, the U.S. is already 90% ‘there’ — and its current ruling party, the GOP, seems firmly committed to enabling outright autocracy and fascism. There is very little daylight showing between our current ‘state of the union’ and other repressive, tyrannical regimes.

The U.S. is already on its last legs, and our vaunted ‘American Dream’ has become an ugly dystopian nightmare. We are, indeed, morphing into fascism’s greatest success story.

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This post was previously published on The Left is Right.

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