Historically, America has killed fascists

There isn’t a lot Americans agree on. However, up until very recently, there was a broad consensus, among representatives from the socialist left to the neoconservative right, that the United States’ effort to halt the spread of fascism in World War II was laudable. Of course, all violence is a tragedy and, for the religiously inclined, a sin. But if violence is ever necessary, as I sometimes believe it is, surely the campaign to defeat the genocidal far right was one such case.

We can see evidence of this consensus in popular films. Audiences cheered as protagonists killed endless numbers of Nazis in movies like 1967’s The Dirty Dozen, 1989’s Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and 2009’s Inglorious Basterds. Of course, there were other cinematic villains based on real-life geopolitical foes during this period. However, none were as widely understood as unequivocally evil as the fascists of the first half of the 20th century.

I recently attended a protest against President Donald Trump. Besides the occasional driver who cursed at us or swerved at us, it was a great event. I enjoyed talking with others who are similarly concerned with far-right threats to democracy. At one point, members of the picket line in my immediate vicinity were discussing what led to the rise of the current generation of conservatives, who are increasingly open about their authoritarian and racist ambitions.

Activists offered a variety of different explanations, all of which were likely contributing factors. One I put forward was simply those who had fought the fascists of the 1930s and 1940s had largely died of old age. When I was a cub reporter at various Adirondack newspapers in the late 2000s, I was often tasked with interviewing veterans at local events. I made a conscious choice to seek out the most elderly of these, some of whom had served in World War II.

My editors and I were very aware these figures wouldn’t be around much longer. For the most part, their generation is gone now. We’ve lost that direct connection with the prior global struggle against far-right authoritarianism. As a result, today’s conservatives increasingly flirt with outright Nazism. These aren’t fringe characters. Rather they’re people in close touch with the White House. As just one example, look who Vice President J.D. Vance follows on X.

The anti-fascist coalition has an assortment of policy goals. For instance, as an animal activist, I want a massive infusion of state and federal funding into cultivated-meat research. The new protein is grown from livestock cells, without slaughter. I view the developing technology as the most promising means of reducing nonhuman suffering and premature death. But none of our goals can be achieved under a right-wing authoritarian government.

As the Trump administration goes further and further to clamp down on dissent, it’s worth reminding them that, historically, America has killed fascists. If our cultural output is any indication, we’re quite proud of the fact. I pray violence isn’t necessary to defeat the gangsters controlling our government, however, America has fought far-right authoritarianism in the past and is willing to do so again. For their own sake, I hope today’s fascists take this into consideration.