{"id":81424,"date":"2025-04-07T06:24:28","date_gmt":"2025-04-07T05:24:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/?p=81424"},"modified":"2025-04-07T06:24:28","modified_gmt":"2025-04-07T05:24:28","slug":"i-dont-know-if-youre-a-fascist-but","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/2025\/04\/07\/i-dont-know-if-youre-a-fascist-but\/","title":{"rendered":"I don\u2019t know if you\u2019re a fascist, but\u2026\u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>One of the perverse facts in our society is that it is, apparently, worse to call out a racist than it is to be a racist.<\/p>\n<p>Similarly, it is worse to call out a fascist than it is to be a fascist.<\/p>\n<p>The lesson on how to manage this issue was provided by the amazing black rights campaigner, James Baldwin. This is from an interview he gave on the Dick Cavett show in the 1960s:<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"James Baldwin Discusses Racism | The Dick Cavett Show\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/WWwOi17WHpE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The most famous quotation to come out of this was Baldwin saying \u201cI can't believe what you say, because I see what you do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The argument Baldwin made was so powerful because the citation of its source of authority was implicit within it. The actions of the person about whom the comment is made provides the evidence to validate the observation.<\/p>\n<p>So, instead of calling out the fascist these could be said:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>I don\u2019t know if you\u2019re a fascist, but I see you promote the cult of an infallible leader.<\/p>\n<p>I don\u2019t know if you\u2019re a fascist, but I see that you treat migrants as enemies to be removed.<\/p>\n<p>I don\u2019t know if you\u2019re a fascist, but I see that you\u2019re attacking women\u2019s rights.<\/p>\n<p>I don\u2019t know if you\u2019re a fascist, but I see that you are seeking to control what universities and schools can teach.<\/p>\n<p>I don\u2019t know if you\u2019re a fascist, but I see you promote the role of Christian religion within the state.<\/p>\n<p>I don\u2019t know if you\u2019re a fascist, but I see you have a disdain for the rule of law.<\/p>\n<p>I don\u2019t know if you\u2019re a fascist, but I see you are opposed to human rights.<\/p>\n<p>I don\u2019t know if you\u2019re a fascist, but I see that you\u2019re opposed to free speech and the right to protest.<\/p>\n<p>I don\u2019t know if you\u2019re a fascist, but I see that you\u2019re biased towards the interests of those with wealth.<\/p>\n<p>I don\u2019t know if you\u2019re a fascist but I see you\u2019re dedicated to creating narratives about the enemy within.<\/p>\n<p>I don\u2019t know if you\u2019re a fascist but I can see you promoting false narratives.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Thoughts?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One of the perverse facts in our society is that it is, apparently, worse to call out a racist than it is to be a<br \/><a class=\"moretag\" href=\"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/2025\/04\/07\/i-dont-know-if-youre-a-fascist-but\/\"><em> Read the full article&#8230;<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[215,16,203,106,75],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-81424","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-age-of-aggression","category-ethics","category-fascism","category-politics","category-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81424","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81424"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81424\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":81426,"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81424\/revisions\/81426"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81424"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81424"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81424"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}