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2 - Anarchy and the State of Nature in Donald Trump’s America and Adolf Hitler’s Germany

from Part I - Strategic Thinking about Fascism

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 September 2023

Gavriel D. Rosenfeld
Affiliation:
Center for Jewish History, New York and Fairfield University, Connecticut
Janet Ward
Affiliation:
University of Oklahoma
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Summary

This chapter argues that looking at how Donald Trump and Adolf Hitler approached the state of nature brings to the fore where the two political leaders converge and where they diverge. Sharing a belief in the existence of a quasi-Hobbesian state of nature, they disagree how to respond politically to that state of nature. Whereas Hitler thought that domestically the state of nature could be overcome through a strong state and through strong communitarian bonds holding people together, and whereas internationally he believed peoples simply had to live with the continued existence of an unregulated state of nature, Trump’s conclusions are different. He puts little faith in the existence of the state. Yet he believes that both domestically and internationally the state of nature can be tamed through an intricate web of power relationships within groups as well as between groups that creates a relatively stable system. Trump is part of two quintessential American traditions rather than of fascism: the Mafia subculture of New York City and the extreme individualism of Ayn Rand. The concept of fascism thus ultimately distorts our understanding of today’s America.

Type
Chapter
Information
Fascism in America
Past and Present
, pp. 78 - 106
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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