Americans are likely tired of hearing “this is the most important election of our lifetime,” but it remains true. Both democracy and fascism are on the ballot in 2024.

What is fascism? Fascists love to throw around this word to smear their opponents and confuse the facts. Confusing facts with lies may be the biggest hallmark of fascism — alongside the dictatorship, racism and misogyny.

“The center of democracy is truth. You are not free if you’ve been lied to,” explains Jason Stanley, author of “How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them.” “If you’re going to rip the heart out of democracy, you get people used to lies.”

In a nutshell, fascism is the polar opposite of truth, freedom, democracy, civil rights and self determination. It is, as Yale history professor Timothy Snyder calls it, “a cult of unreason.”

Fascism is the ruthless pursuit of power, typically by one charismatic leader. Fascists like to foment fear of “the other” and draw a cult-like following by promising to rid society of the elements they teach their followers to hate/fear.

Once entrenched in power, fascist dictators insist on complete loyalty. They despise freedom of the press and freedom of thought. They despise thought, period. And teachers who try to teach critical thinking skills. And education. And books. And journalists. And any person who refuses to blindly follow. Fascists hate democratic norms and institutions, and quickly dismantle them. The free press dies, and schools quickly morph into propaganda machines under fascism.

Hitler and Mussolini were of course fascists. Putin has become fascist: Elections in Russia are not free or fair, political rivals are jailed or killed and freedom of speech and assembly do not exist.

Fascism is easy to spot when you know the signs.

Writing for “Free Inquiry” in 2003, author Lawrence Britt detailed 14 early warning signs of fascism that were reprinted on a poster once sold in the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. His work resurfaces often on social media. The 14 signs Britt identified from his historical (and more recent) political research include the following. I’m paraphrasing a little and adding my own asides here:

1. Fervent nationalism. Think: Flag-waving coupled with a distrust/hatred of all things foreign.
2. Distain for human rights. You can’t pit people against one other if all men and women are created equal.
3. Enemies as a unifying cause. Mostly commonly demonized as enemies are: Immigrants, minorities, liberals, intellectuals, LGTBQ people and Jews. Of course, political opponents are the ultimate enemies, and all enemies are dehumanized.
4. Military supremacy. Tactical gear, guns galore and shady militias are an important part of militaristic control and violence directed at enemies.
5. Rampant sexism. Yes, this includes calling any woman “nasty” who speaks up or out. But the bigger goal is controlling women’s bodies and not allowing women to make choices about their own healthcare. It starts with abortion bans (including for victims of rape and incest and even forcing the huge number of American women who have miscarriages to possibly die of an infection rather than perform a dilation and curettage procedure to clear the uterine lining) This ideology proceeds to bans on birth control. The easiest way to control women completely? Keep ’em barefoot and pregnant.
6. Controlled mass media. Fox News — plus social media algorithms from X and Meta — provide a 24/7 propaganda machine pushing lies and disinformation about everything from science to political opponents.
7. Obsession with national security. “Convoys of immigrants are flooding into America!” even when they aren’t.
8. Marrying church and state. Christian nationalism thrived in Nazi Germany for a reason. Any “Christianity” that conveniently ignores that woke lib Jesus Christ is a big red flag.
9. Protection of corporations. Corporations are people, thanks to John Roberts’ Citizens United ruling. Under fascism, billionaires/oligarchs become the elite ruling class.
10. Suppression of labor unions. Fascism recruits the working class by telling them they are victims of the “enemies.” But real organized labor is too democratic and unions can’t exist.
11. Demonizing artists and intellectuals. Artists are mocked. Teachers are forbidden to teach America’s whole history. Books are banned.
12. Obsession with crime and punishment. A criminal is anyone who does not comply with the regime.
13. Rampant cronyism and corruption. Good government doesn’t exist in this system. Fascism is the ultimate power grab tied to the ego of one person. Government is all a grift. Later, maintaining total power over people gets expensive, and the poorest will pay the most.
14. Undemocratic elections. Fascists convince the masses that elections are “rigged” so they can rig them in the future. Lawrence Britt explains this as: “Maintaining control of the election machinery, intimidating and disenfranchising opposition voters, destroying or disallowing legal votes, and, as a last resort, turning to a judiciary beholden to the power elite.”

Only one big thing is missing here, and that’s: 15. Lies are facts: Up is down. Greed is godly. Compassion is weakness. Journalists are “enemies of the people.” Truth is fake news.

Timothy Snyder, Yale University history professor and the author of many books on fascism, totalitarianism and European history, explains it like this: “Fascists calling other people “fascists” is fascism taken to its illogical extreme as a cult of unreason. It is a final point where hate speech inverts reality and propaganda is pure insistence. It is the apogee of will over thought,” he explains.

In 2018, Yale University’s Jason Stanley wrote  “How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them,” laying out what he views as the 10 pillars of fascism. Stanley’s list includes: A Mythic Past (Make America Great Again); Unreality (obsession with QAnon and mindless consipiracy theories); Anti-intellectualism and Victimhood (the far-right’s defense of its violence).

To test whether a political candidate turns the dials on the fascism meter, try asking these questions:

1. Does the candidate tout the Big Lie despite no credible evidence of fraud that would have changed the 2020 election outcome? Did he or she support the Jan. 6 insurrection with words or actions?
2. Has the candidate ever encouraged supporters to commit acts of intimidation or political violence?
3. Does the candidate openly admire authoritarian leaders — Putin, Orban, etc.?
4. Does the candidate have an interest in public policy/governing or is only against what political opponents are doing to govern?
5. Does the candidate care about human rights or equality?
6. Does the candidate prioritize public service, or does he or she only seem to be interested in attaining personal power and wealth?

Democracy is difficult to restore once it’s lost. This is Ken Burns’ message from his documentary “The U.S. and the Holocaust” about how America dealt with —fought with and flirted with — fascism during World War II. He found too many modern-day parallels with Americans’ acceptance of fascism during those dark days.

Please vote, while democracy is still an option.

Read more:

Garrett Graff: America Tips Into Fascism. In his Aug. 25, 2025, “Doomsday Scenario” Substack column, this journalist and author notes America is definitely now living under an authoritarian government. Graff writes: “Do we end up “merely” like Hungary or do we go all the way toward an “American Reich”? So far, after years of studying World War II, I fear that America’s trajectory feels more like Berlin circa 1933 than it does Budapest circa 2015.”

New York Times: We Should Say It. Russia Is Fascist. In a guest essay for the New York Times, Timothy Snyder, Yale University history professor and the author of many books on fascism, totalitarianism and European history, argues fascism is back. “A time traveler from the 1930s would have no difficulty identifying the Putin regime as fascist,” he writes. Snyder also explains the nonsensical way fascists deflect criticism by calling their enemies fascists. “Fascists calling other people “fascists” is fascism taken to its illogical extreme as a cult of unreason. It is a final point where hate speech inverts reality and propaganda is pure insistence. It is the apogee of will over thought,” he explains.

The Guardian: America is now in fascism’s legal phase. Yale University historian and author Jason Stanley writes: The history of racism in the US is fertile ground for fascism. Attacks on the courts, education, the right to vote and women’s rights are further steps on the path to toppling democracy.

Madeleine Albright’s Fascism Warning Is More Pertinent Than Ever