It’s hard to imagine a non-fascist America if Trump seizes a second term. Every day brings renewed audacity to his campaign: his death squads – in various forms – already roam the US, threatening and murdering with near-impunity. The right to dissent has been met with barely-bridled ferocity.

Children forgotten in cages, and destruction of regulatory watchdogs across the board, leave little doubt in my mind regarding Trump’s agenda. Post-election passing of laws against any form of opposition seems to be within easy reach of the GOP and their Democratic Party enablers.

The increasingly loud voice of the armed forces – although parading “stern criticism” of Trump – may give comfort to those who believe their purpose is to “defend the Constitution,” but the military’s ascension to power in the Arab Spring countries (Egypt, Libya) has been disastrous.

Pointing to crucial distinctions between fascist Germany and Trump’s America merely implies that the American ruling class learned nothing from the Nazi experience. The German ruling class, faced with potential socialist revolution, supported a fascist movement in response. The neo-liberals at the American helm – with their plans to pillage the public realm and build white supremacist rule – anticipated socialist rebellion and got the jump on it by creating a broad fascist movement before the need actually arose.

Trump isn’t quite goose-stepping on the White House lawn, and perhaps the distinctions are more important than I realize, but it’s a new world, and I think we face fascism with a slightly-altered face. In 2016, public revulsion for Trump convinced people that Hilary couldn’t lose. Biden is so weak on every level – his political record is appalling – that he’s barely putting up a fight. So rather than soothe with theoretical bromides about Bonapartism, we’d better get busy for what may be the final struggle.

If you leave the urban centers you will find widespread (or at least open) support for Trump. Some of his support is from rural worker/farmers who have been overlooked and are very angry. Neither of the capitalist parties (nor most of the Left) has a rural program or an understanding of this group of workers.

Clearly Trump is an unabashed rallying point for overt fascists and David Duke has said “Our people got him elected”. Trump never disavows this support and may form his own party at some point, I suspect.

Other supporters are simply conservatives who see the world through that lens and are traditional (in a sense) Republicans who have core issues such as antiabortion, small government, safety in a scary world, etc.

Much of the support reflects a deep alienation from capitalism as evidenced by a much broader rejection of the capitalist institutions of Congress and the media. Off the top of my head, I think the polls of all Americans rate both institutions in the 30-40 percentile for trust.

But here I do just a variation on “listing” again and this is the problem. I do not have a grasp of the underlying dynamics that explain Trumpism at this time in history. We have not faced Bonapartism to my recollection. The nascent fascist movement is a reflection of the underlying tensions. At the same time, what is the class understanding of these phenomena? It has an “objectively” anti capitalist feel as it is very much opposed to the status quo but seeks right wing solutions. It is noteworthy that Trump defeated the “best and the brightest” of both bourgeois parties in 2016…with some electoral college assistance.

In part this is due to a non-existent Left (DSA is in formation still) and a political vacuum. This does not explain the Republican capitulation to Trumps reorientation to the right. The Democrats are the Keystone Cops in this environment and cannot begin offer an overview. But even they don’t address the essence of Bonapartism (they would never use the term but the descriptors are clear as Barry explained them)

In short, I am hoping for input on a deeper Marxist analysis of this time period. Why Trump, why now? I guess I am surprised at my being surprised by Trumpian Bonapartism.