(2025-08-13) We Live In A Fascist Nation What Now

Chris Armitage: We live in a fascist nation. What now? I researched every Democratic attempt to stop fascism in history. the success rate after fascists were elected was 0%. Once they win elections, it’s already too late.

Not once. Ever.

Every single conservative who thought they could “control” or “moderate” Hitler was either dead, in exile, or groveling for survival by 1934.

Italy was even dumber, if that’s possible

Spain might be the worst because everyone saw it coming.

Want something more recent? Look at Hungary. Orbán won democratically in 2010. By 2011 he’d rewritten the constitution. By 2012 he controlled the media. By 2013 he’d gutted the judiciary. It’s 2025 and he’s still in power.

Finland 1932 is the only clean win I can find. The fascist Lapua Movement tried an armed coup before they’d secured government power. The military stayed loyal to democracy, crushed the rebellion, and banned the movement. That’s it. That’s the success story. One time out of roughly fifty attempts

France in 1934 looked like a victory for about five minutes. Fascist leagues tried to storm parliament on February 6th. Six days later, twelve million workers went on general strike. Twelve million. The entire country stopped. No trains, no factories, no shops, nothing. The fascists backed down. Great victory, right? Except those exact same fascists enthusiastically collaborated when the Nazis invaded six years later. They just waited.

Every single time it goes like this: Conservatives panic about socialism or progressives or whatever. They ally with fascists as the “lesser evil.” Fascists take power. Fascists immediately purge anyone who stands in their way. Then it’s 30–50 years of dictatorship. This happened in Germany, Italy, Spain, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Greece, Portugal, Croatia, Romania, and Hungary.

Another tough pill to swallow? Violence works. For them. Fascists use violence while claiming to be victims. They create chaos that “requires” their authoritarian solution.

But here’s the thing: we already missed our chance. The window isn’t closing; it’s closed.

The Supreme Court declared Donald Trump above the law.

So let’s stop pretending we’re in the “prevention” phase and start talking about what you do when fascists already control the institutions but haven’t fully consolidated power yet.

No wealthy democracy with nuclear weapons has ever fallen to fascism. The 1930s examples everyone cites were broken countries. Weimar Germany was weakened by World War I and hyperinflation. Italy was barely industrialized. Spain was largely agrarian. They didn’t have the world’s reserve currency. They didn’t have thousands of nukes. They didn’t have surveillance technology that would make the Stasi weep with envy.

America has all of that. Plus a population where 30–40% genuinely wants authoritarian rule as long as it hurts the “right people.” The historical playbook is useless here. We’re in unprecedented territory.

But that also means the old rules about what’s possible might not apply.

Option 1: The Blue State Coalition

California’s economy is bigger than the UK’s. New York controls global finance. The blue states collectively represent over 60% of America’s GDP. They could, theoretically, make the federal government irrelevant.

Imagine if California, Oregon, Washington, New York, Massachusetts, and others started coordinating directly. Ignoring federal mandates. Creating their own interstate compacts for everything from climate policy to civil rights.

The precedent? The way Northern states nullified fugitive slave laws in the 1850s. The way states are currently ignoring federal marijuana prohibition. But coordinated and comprehensive.

Option 2: Selective Compliance and Irish Democracy

The Irish called it “Irish Democracy” when they were under British rule, the silent, dogged resistance of millions who simply ignored laws they found illegitimate. Don’t protest. Don’t riot. Just don’t comply.

Doctors in blue states could ignore abortion restrictions. Teachers could ignore curriculum mandates. State police could refuse to enforce federal laws. Not dramatically, just… incompetently. “Sorry, we couldn’t find them.” “The paperwork got lost.” “Our systems are down.”

Option 3: Secession

We already have two incompatible visions of what America should be. One side wants a modern democracy with a social safety net. The other wants a white Christian ethnostate with unlimited corporate power. These cannot coexist indefinitely.

What if blue states started seriously discussing secession? Not threatened as political theater but actually planned. Constitutional conventions. Referendums. Negotiations for national debt division. Military base transfers. Currency agreements.

The mere serious threat might be enough to force structural changes. Quebec nearly left Canada twice and got massive concessions both times just from credible threats.

Option 4: International Intervention

Blue states could request UN election monitoring. They could sign their own climate agreements with the EU. They could create alternate diplomatic channels.

California could request Canadian peacekeepers for “election security.” New York could invite European observers for “financial transparency.”

The Uncomfortable Truth

We’re past normal. The fascists already won round one. They control the institutions. They have their judges. They have their media ecosystem. They have their army of true believers who will excuse anything.

But they don’t have the money. They don’t have the cities. They don’t have the educated workforce. They don’t have the young. And most importantly, they don’t have legitimacy in the eyes of the majority.

The question isn’t whether these options are extreme. They are. The question is whether we’re ready to admit that normal is already gone

Saving our future means strategically advancing ahead of our opponents, rather than constantly playing the games they choose.

Flip the chess board over and smack the fascists in the face with it.