Fascism Can't Mean Both A Specific Ideology And A Legitimate Target

Astral Codex Ten Podcast

The following three things can't all be true simultaneously:

1. Many Americans are fascists
2. Fascists are an acceptable target for political violence
3. Political violence in America is morally unacceptable (at the current time)

I thought about this while following the Twitter spat between Democratic hopeful Gavin Newsom and Trump advisor Stephen Miller. Newsom called Miller fascist; Miller accused this of being a call to violence which placed "a target" on him.

Miller is hardly sympathetic here - he's called people fascist himself in the past, and later suggested Newsom should be arrested for his speech (if only there were a word to describe the sort of person who supports that kind of thing…)

Still, I found myself able to see things from both perspectives.

https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/fascism-cant-mean-both-a-specific