Thursday, June 1, 2017

Is Fascism Already Here?

We are living through complicated political times. It’s a time when ideas like “post truth,” and “alternative facts” are seriously debated on the nightly news. A time when a private bodyguard of the President is sent to fire a member of the government who was confirmed by the US Senate.

A time when the press, the courts and other institutions which support our separation of powers are under siege. But haven't we been here before?

From the earliest alien and sedition acts, through to the modern era and interment, Mccarthyism, and Nixon, we as individuals and our institutions have proven to be resilient.

Sinclair Lewis is reported to have said that “when fascism comes to America it will come wrapped in a flag and carrying a cross.”

On Wall Street, four of the scariest words you can hear, are “this time it’s different.” We’re going to talk about how scary those four words can be, not on Wall Street, but in in Washington, with Yale history professor Timothy Snyder. He’s the author of On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century

My WhoWhatWhy conversation with Timothy Snyder: