Historically, American reactionaries were Democrats, and pretty peaceful. Today, they’re Republicans; they’re angry; they’re running the country, for the most part; and they’re demanding even more. What happened? Are they fascists?
The answer to the first question is that the country and the world changed, as follows:
- DEMOGRAPHIC CHANGE: America will be a majority minority country in about 20 years. That scares the hell out of reactionaries, for obvious reasons.
- ECONOMIC CHANGE: Globalization and the evolution of the knowledge economy have significantly reduced the value of the skills of American men with limited education, who are disproportionately reactionaries.
- LEGAL CHANGE: Some of the PC agenda (gay marriage, for example) is now the law of the land.
- CULTURAL CHANGE: Back in the day, reactionaries were certain they were the “moral majority.” Today, not so much. Practicing Christians are a minority in this country, and their numbers are dwindling by the day.
Reactionaries consequently feel threatened, and they’re lashing out. It is clear that they attach more importance to their social, economic, and political primacy than to the Constitution. They have already bought into the notion of illiberal democracy. Could they be pushed a step further, into outright fascism? Can you imagine gangs of white thugs in orange shirts beating up minorities and pledging their complete loyalty to Orange Jesus?
It would take a national catastrophe the likes of which we haven’t seen yet to get there. It would be further complicated by the fact that Trump’s strongest supporters are elderly. But yes, you can imagine it without too much difficulty.