Fascists just love and adore fake appearances. They are all about the propaganda and getting their hardcore base to rally around a common cause. That’s why the Reichstag fire was so effective for Hitler, it was easy to scapegoat the communists and old government and get the base to support the idea of taking complete power.
Sure, trump could just declare martial law and seize everything. But it would be significantly easier and longer lasting if he has a Reichstag fire to rally up a January 6th 2.0.
It doesn’t matter if the excuse is plausible. People who want to show their loyalty can do it by claiming to believe the unbelievable thing.
Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition, to wit: There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect. – Frank Wilhoit
By claiming to believe the lie, you also lay a claim to being part of the in-group so the rules (like telling the truth about things) don’t apply to you. Of course, the truth is that 99.9% of the people who think of themselves as part of the in-group were never part of it, and will eventually be treated the same as the people who they’re trying to trample on.
Fascists just love and adore fake appearances. They are all about the propaganda and getting their hardcore base to rally around a common cause. That’s why the Reichstag fire was so effective for Hitler, it was easy to scapegoat the communists and old government and get the base to support the idea of taking complete power.
Sure, trump could just declare martial law and seize everything. But it would be significantly easier and longer lasting if he has a Reichstag fire to rally up a January 6th 2.0.
It doesn’t matter if the excuse is plausible. People who want to show their loyalty can do it by claiming to believe the unbelievable thing.
By claiming to believe the lie, you also lay a claim to being part of the in-group so the rules (like telling the truth about things) don’t apply to you. Of course, the truth is that 99.9% of the people who think of themselves as part of the in-group were never part of it, and will eventually be treated the same as the people who they’re trying to trample on.