Opinion: Three years after Jan. 6, Trump’s grip on the GOP is firm. Are we descending into fascism?

Three years ago today, then-President Trump’s months-long attempt to overturn his 2020 election loss culminated in the storming of the U.S. Capitol. Two weeks later, the president left Washington hours before the inauguration of Joe Biden, humiliated and shunned even by members of his own party who had, before Jan. 6, indulged his election conspiracy theories.

Today, on Jan. 6, 2024, Trump’s grip on the Republican Party is firm. Facing multiple criminal trials, he has a good chance of winning back the presidency in 10 months. What was obvious three years ago — that the storming of the Capitol to thwart Congress’ ratification of Biden’s victory was plainly an insurrection against the U.S. government — is now disputed by those who would vote to put Trump back into the White House.

As we begin another election year, the United States embarks into uncharted territory. For all the wishes of “happy new year” this week, there was plenty of grumbling over what kind of year this would be. On our op-ed page, historian Benajmin Carter Hett compared the trajectory of the U.S. in 2024 to those of Germany in the 1930s and Italy in the 1920s, prompting dozens of readers to weigh in on the state of our union in the new year.

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To the editor: Benjamin Carter Hett does an excellent job of drawing some of the parallels between the electoral, cultural and social landscapes during the rise of the original fascists and those who exist in today’s United States.

One parallel Hett missed was the difference in fascist Germany between the voting patterns in rural and urban areas. We have seen some of the same patterns in the last several election cycles here.

The social, cultural and political implications of the urban-rural divide is a more useful tool for understanding election results than the divergent voting patterns displayed by “educated” and “uneducated” voters. Hett is perpetuating (perhaps unwittingly) a view that is insulting and smacks of elitism.

It also contradicts everyday experience. I’m sure everyone knows plenty of stupid people with a college degree, as well as plenty of smart people without a diploma.

David L. Clark, Ventura

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To the editor: My answer to Carter’s question, “Is America doomed to go the way of Hitler’s Germany or Mussolini’s Italy?” is no — that is, as long as we understand what is fascism and we absorb the historical lessons of what caused it.

Fascism must be based on a mass movement that tries to obliterate democracy by suppressing and destroying unions, the voice of working people. It comes about as the last resort for capitalists to maintain their profits. This is what happened in Germany.

It is not all about whether Trump is elected as president. Fascist currents grow when people feel besieged and desperate because of housing crises, layoffs, gentrification and cuts to social, health and mental health services.

Fascism is an economic system that forces workers to rescind their economic gains, and therefore the union movement plays a critical role in fighting it.

Even if Trump gets reelected, there is still hope that we can defeat fascism. History has taught us that it will take a united front of those who provide the labor and who want to be free of all kinds of discrimination — and want an alternative anti-capitalist party to vote for.

I am optimistic that in 2024, that we can come together to build a powerful united front to stop fascism in its tracks.

Yolanda Alaniz, Los Angeles

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To the editor: I had to chuckle when Hett raised concerns about Trump being some kind of dictator. Was it not Gov. Gavin Newsom who locked down 40 million Californians without a legislative vote?

Lloyd Forrester, Simi Valley

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To the editor: After reading the opinion piece and how easily our democracy could slip away, I have some questions for people who want a dictator to head our country.

Why would you want to lose your freedom to vote?

What does a dictatorship offer you?

How long before a dictator betrays you?

Do you perceive that having someone telling you what to do, when to do it and removing all choice is what you truly want?

If you must choose a dictator, why would you choose a person of such low moral character?

Have you looked at other countries with a dictator? How are their economies?

I know that some areas of the country are suffering economically. But to turn our country into a dictatorship because of it is indefensible.

Linda Shabsin, Diamond Bar

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To the editor: The idea that election results are a remedy powerful enough to cure the current Republican Party’s “nazification” problem seems more wishful than likely.

The decisiveness of the last election did nothing then or since to minimize the MAGA wing’s influence on the Republican Party. In fact, it did the opposite.

The record is clear: Losing elections, no matter the margin, has only made Trump’s admirers more loyal and more willing to subvert any democratic norms not deemed favorable to them.

I’m not sure there’s a rational fix for that.

Ted Rosenblatt, Pacific Palisades