In college, I was looking for something interesting, and cerebral to read and decided to sit down with Sinclair Lewis’ 1935 novel It Can’t Happen Here. Written during the rise of Hitler and Mussolini in Europe at the time, Lewis penned a story that reveals how fascism can metastasize in any country, including the US. Although the novel is a work of fiction, I believe that Lewis’ book is a stern warning for Americans.

The main character in the book, Doremus Jessup, is a newspaper editor, and increasingly becomes shocked and dismayed when many of his friends and coworkers support the candidacy of an overt fascist, Berzelius Windrip. When Windrip wins the presidency, he takes control of all three branches of government, and with his personal paramilitary soldiers, turns the US into a totalitarian state. 

Although Jessup does his best to oppose the new democratically-elected dictator, he is imprisoned, but eventually escapes to Canada.

Some may brand me an alarmist, but we can’t ignore that what Lewis wrote in his novel, is happening here.

Fascist regimes all follow a familiar recipe: Oppression of the press, banning public protests, outlawing opposition parties, labor unions, and the right to strike. Other aspects include extreme nationalism, the establishment of a hierarchy, militarism, the worship of masculinity and the image of the “strong man,” quasi-religious beliefs, as well as attacks against feminism and the LGBTQ+ community. 

According to the International Center for Not for Profit Law, the US is now in fascism’s legal phase.  For example, 45 states have considered 230 bills criminalizing protest, and recently Republicans called for Attorney General Merrick Garland to enforce an obscure 1950 law against abortion rights protesters who gathered in front of Supreme Court justices’ homes after the reversal of Roe v. Wade. Such bills are supported by corporations, in which protests near oil and gas lines have been outlawed. 

Florida’s Gov. Ron DeSantis’ “Stop WOKE Act” is celebrated by the right-wingers for restricting race-based teaching and training in schools, universities, and workplaces. Many GOP-dominated states have essentially legalized the use of cars as weapons for conservatives who wish to violently attack protesters, especially BLM protesters.

Multiple electoral bills have been enacted that enable Republican-dominated state legislatures to overturn their state’s election results. The recent enaction of a 1973 Missouri law stating that a woman cannot get a divorce finalized if she is pregnant (she can file for divorce, but it won’t be finalized if she is pregnant).

Many fascist ideologies strictly enforce patriarchal gender roles, restricting the freedom of women and LGBTQ+ citizens. For fascists, they believe in a “natural order” where men are superior. We have seen this ideology rear its ugly head with multiple states banning abortion and looking into laws that would outlaw contraception and same-sex marriage.

Unionization efforts at Amazon and Starbucks have been met with hostility by their CEOs. For example, when JFK8 Amazon warehouse workers in Staten Island voted to unionize, Amazon fired workers and vowed to fight any vote to unionize.

Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz made negative comments last month about workers’ organizing efforts at 150 stores nationwide. In April, he told workers at a public forum that if they don’t like working at Starbucks, they should seek employment elsewhere. He also claimed that corporations nationwide are “under assault” by unions.

There is a long history of corporate elites backing racism and fascism out of self-interest, with the goal to divide the working class in order to destroy the labor movement.

Right-wing conservatives don’t mention the recent wave of laws ignoring basic individual and human rights, instead, they complain about high gas prices, inflation, and rising interest rates. They do this as they turn a blind eye to the reality that a violent mob led by a populist leader tried to overthrow our democracy.

It can happen here.