Like many of you, I watch the implosion of the United States in horror. It seems like madness. And on one level, it is. But on another, it is not. What I mean by the latter is that what is happening isn’t some random craziness. It is a calculated plan. It is the “tear it all down in order to build it up” approach, similar to how other fascist and authoritarian regimes operate.

These regimes see any democratic institution as an impediment to the glory of the state or the empire. Consolidation of power is viewed as the only way forward for saving it. Thus, the oligarch Elon Musk has been tasked with the unraveling. He has been given the keys to the kingdom. And like a petulant and sociopathic child, he has gone inside, turned over the crockery, fired all the servants and dumped out the treasure chest.

And this brings me to the Maga phenomenon. Because this is the heart of this particular iteration of fascism. “Make America Great Again” is of course a silly and sophomoric bit of nonsense. Which era of “greatness” do they mean? Indigenous genocide? Slavery? Lynching? Jim Crow? Red Scare? Bombing dozens of nations?

In reality, the only “great” part of America has been the magnitude of its scope, scale and power. If there is any noble greatness, it has come from its oppressed peoples. From Indigenous, Black, Brown, working class women, LGBTQ, and other marginalized communities who resisted the brutality of the American boot on their necks. Certainly not the ruling class that runs corporations and both political parties.

To the leadership of this cult of Maga, it is not only about demonizing, otherizing, scapegoating and persecuting anyone who is not white, cis-male, Christian, capitalist and heterosexual. This part is an essential characteristic of fascistic rule. But it is also about bullying the vassal and client states of the American Empire into submission. It knows it can’t do this with its own oligarchy, so it focuses on tributes, concessions and relinquishing of territory from rivals and allies. Its “great” past was one brimming in arrogant and unmerciful dominance. And this is the one they want to return to.

The problem is that the world is different now. The American Empire is in steep decline. Its prominence and prestige are waning. Even its vaunted dollar is increasingly tenuous. The unilateral hegemony it once knew is crumbling while other empires and coalitions rise. So, it is doing what all dying empires do. It installed a madman to restore its greatness.

And we should not think this madman is holding the US hostage. His approval rating among Americans has been mostly positive in these first few weeks. He embodies the very worst characteristics of the American stereotype. He is boorish, intolerant, anti-intellectual, averse to facts, arrogant and ruthless. And he is admired for this. This should not be surprising as all fascist leaders share similar traits and they enjoy cultish devotion because of them.

The problem with madmen is that they have a tendency to burn things down far greater than they build or rebuild things. And once fascism makes a home in a country it becomes exceedingly difficult to remove it. 

Kenn Orphan, February 2025

*title image is from the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC.