I just can’t even right now – a Yale professor who studies fascism is leaving the US to work at a Canadian university because of the current US political climate, which he worries is putting the US at risk of becoming a “fascist dictatorship”. And let me tell you, I am NOT surprised. I mean, who wouldn’t want to get out of this crazy country? Jason Stanley, who wrote the 2018 book How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them, has accepted a position at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy.
And what really gets my goat is that he’s leaving because he wants to raise his kids in a country that is not tilting towards a fascist dictatorship – I mean, who can blame him? But seriously, Columbia University’s recent actions were the final straw for him. They gave in to the Trump administration by agreeing to a series of demands in order to restore $400m in federal funding. These changes include crackdowns on protests, increased security power and “internal reviews” of some academic programs, like the Middle Eastern studies department. By the way, have you seen the prices of coffee lately? Ridiculous!
But, I digress. Stanley said that when he saw Columbia completely capitulate, and he saw this vocabulary of, well, we’re going to work behind the scenes because we’re not going to get targeted – that whole way of thinking pre-supposes that some universities will get targeted, and you don’t want to be one of those universities, and that’s just a losing strategy. And I’m like, YAAAS, finally someone is speaking truth to power. He added that you’ve got to just band together and say an attack on one university is an attack on all universities. And maybe you lose that fight, but you’re certainly going to lose this one if you give up before you fight. Preach, Stanley, preach! You can find more information on Yale professors warning international students about the new Trump travel ban.
And, let’s be real, the university politics in the US are a complete mess. I mean, what’s next? Are they going to start burning books again? Stanley said he wasn’t concerned about his ability to continue his scholarship at Yale, but the broader climate against universities played a role. He praised other faculty at Yale for standing up against the attacks on their profession and said he wished he could stay and fight with them. But, how could you speak out loudly if you’re not an American citizen? And if you can’t speak out loudly if you’re not an American citizen, when will they come for the American citizens? It’s inevitable. You can learn more about authoritarianism and its effects on society.
But, what really gets me is that Stanley recently wrote about a new Department of Education directive that said teaching about systemic racism and other topics could be grounds for a civil rights violation, according to the Trump administration’s legal interpretations. Stanley said this order sets the country “on a path to educational authoritarianism”. I mean, what’s next? Are they going to start teaching creationism in schools again? You can find more information on Canada and its stance on education.
And, I have to ask, what does it say that a scholar of fascism is leaving the US right now? Said Stanley: “Part of it is you’re leaving because ultimately, it is like leaving Germany in 1932, 33, 34. There’s resonance: my grandmother left Berlin with my father in 1939. So it’s a family tradition.” I mean, wow, that’s deep. You can learn more about fascism and its history.
But, in all seriousness, this is a big deal. A scholar of fascism is leaving the US because of the current political climate. What does that say about our country? What does that say about our politics? I mean, we should be ashamed. We should be ashamed of what we’ve let our country become. You can find more information on Columbia University’s recent actions and how they’re affecting the academic community.
And, finally, I just want to say that we need to wake up. We need to wake up and realize what’s happening in our country. We need to realize that we’re on a slippery slope and if we don’t do something about it, we’re going to end up in a fascist dictatorship. And, trust me, you don’t want that. You can learn more about fascist dictatorship and its effects on society. So, let’s get educated, let’s get informed, and let’s take action. We can’t just sit around and wait for someone else to fix our problems. We need to take responsibility for our country and our politics. And, who knows, maybe we can learn from Canada and its approach to education and politics.