Part of the Series
The Public Intellectual
A right-wing extremist ideology has taken hold of the Republican Party, and the United States has become a locus for the revitalization of white supremacy, the normalization of state violence, the reproduction of the carceral state and staggering forms of economic inequality.
The United States is also serving as a toxic model for making oppressive forms of education central to a politics that undercuts the capacity for producing critical and engaged citizens while normalizing the unthinkable. These alarming developments must all be understood as part of a larger shift politically and educationally in the United States toward a deeply rooted authoritarianism and updated form of fascist politics.
In the conversation with Sonali Kolhatkar shared here, which aired this week on Rising Up with Sonali, we discuss three fundamentalisms that have driven the transformation of the Republican Party into a neofascist party and the United States into a deeply authoritarian social order: free-market fundamentalism, religious fundamentalism, and the fundamentalism of manufactured ignorance.
Free-market fundamentalism separates economic, political and educational activity from any viable notion of social and ethical responsibility while destroying all notions of the common good.
Religious fundamentalism collapses the line separating the church and state while waging a war against economic equality, social justice and democracy itself. This is a fundamentalism rooted in the notion of the theocratic state designed for white Christians that justifies the regressive notion of a holy war against anyone who is not white and a Christian fundamentalist. Coupled with a market fundamentalism that places profits above human needs, religious fundamentalism provides some of the oxygen for justifying violence as a solution to all social problems.
The final fundamentalism — manufactured ignorance — is an educational fundamentalism that wages a war against reason, critical consciousness and any notion of agency that is both critical and willing to hold power accountable. Market and religious fundamentalism now merge with a massive assault on the public imagination in the form of another fundamentalism — the drive to produce a collective consciousness rooted in manufactured ignorance.
At work here is a political formation that is symbolic of the rot produced by neoliberalism — an economic, political and educational formation that trades in civic illiteracy, depoliticization, the normalization of racial hatred and the legitimation of a culture of mass violence, all designed to benefit and concentrate wealth and power in the hands of a financial elite and ruling class. The U.S.’s long history of fascist ideologies has come home to roost, and the problem is as much educational as it is political.
Help us Prepare for Trump’s Day One
Trump is busy getting ready for Day One of his presidency – but so is Truthout.
Trump has made it no secret that he is planning a demolition-style attack on both specific communities and democracy as a whole, beginning on his first day in office. With over 25 executive orders and directives queued up for January 20, he’s promised to “launch the largest deportation program in American history,” roll back anti-discrimination protections for transgender students, and implement a “drill, drill, drill” approach to ramp up oil and gas extraction.
Organizations like Truthout are also being threatened by legislation like HR 9495, the “nonprofit killer bill” that would allow the Treasury Secretary to declare any nonprofit a “terrorist-supporting organization” and strip its tax-exempt status without due process. Progressive media like Truthout that has courageously focused on reporting on Israel’s genocide in Gaza are in the bill’s crosshairs.
As journalists, we have a responsibility to look at hard realities and communicate them to you. We hope that you, like us, can use this information to prepare for what’s to come.
And if you feel uncertain about what to do in the face of a second Trump administration, we invite you to be an indispensable part of Truthout’s preparations.
In addition to covering the widespread onslaught of draconian policy, we’re shoring up our resources for what might come next for progressive media: bad-faith lawsuits from far-right ghouls, legislation that seeks to strip us of our ability to receive tax-deductible donations, and further throttling of our reach on social media platforms owned by Trump’s sycophants.
We’re preparing right now for Trump’s Day One: building a brave coalition of movement media; reaching out to the activists, academics, and thinkers we trust to shine a light on the inner workings of authoritarianism; and planning to use journalism as a tool to equip movements to protect the people, lands, and principles most vulnerable to Trump’s destruction.
We urgently need your help to prepare. As you know, our December fundraiser is our most important of the year and will determine the scale of work we’ll be able to do in 2025. We’ve set two goals: to raise $115,000 in one-time donations and to add 1365 new monthly donors by midnight on December 31.
Today, we’re asking all of our readers to start a monthly donation or make a one-time donation – as a commitment to stand with us on day one of Trump’s presidency, and every day after that, as we produce journalism that combats authoritarianism, censorship, injustice, and misinformation. You’re an essential part of our future – please join the movement by making a tax-deductible donation today.
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