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The Road to Fascism Is Lined With Liberals Demanding Civility
Liberal civility politics silences the oppressed while giving a megaphone to the fascists
Say what you want about old-school fascists, but they wear their hatred and their bigotries on their sleeve. They scream their transphobia, their racism, their misogyny, their ableism, their nationalism, and their authoritarianism from the rooftops with their chests fully out.
That’s the good thing about old-school fascists. They’re easy to spot. Their ideas aren’t usually cloaked in niceties, but stated clearly, the horror is clear for all to see. It’s easy to point to fascist ideas and say “Wow, that’s pretty disgusting”.
At least, it’s easy to point out fascist ideas and denounce them when they come from frothing-mouthed extremists.
Not so much when those same horrible ideas are given a civil veneer — spoken from the mouths, or pages, of so-called liberal institutions and talking heads “just asking questions” or hearing “both sides”.
The thing is, when one of those “sides” wants the other groups wiped off the face of the planet, hearing them out isn’t balance, it’s tacit support. It’s the platforming of harmful ideas as if they’re equal to marginalised peoples’ demand for rights and…
