Only three months into Trump’s presidency, the U.S has made headlines almost each and every day outlining the gross abuse of power and oligarchic nature of his Project 2025 agenda. The discussion surrounding the legitimacy of American democracy is not new. Scholars and intellectuals alike have described the Trump regime as authoritarian plutocracy, and many are pointing out the fascist actions and attitudes that are so currently prevalent. These attitudes are permeating American Universities, where student’s and faculty’s right to free speech is being challenged. Trump’s language surrounding federal judges and his army of billionaire friends having access to the White House are making many people question if we can continue to confidently call America a democratic state.
Democracy is the belief in freedom and equality between people. In a democratic country, everyone has equal rights and opportunities (i.e. equity). The Cambridge dictionary also says that democracy is the belief that everyone in a country has the right to express their opinions and that power should be held by those who are elected. There are several obvious issues with the way America is being governed right now. I want to talk about why the idea of free speech, one of the main points of Trump’s campaign in 2024 is now a lost concept, and why democracy could be a lost concept as well with the recent rise in fascist sentiment.
Jason Stanely is a Yale University professor who is leaving the U.S to teach at the University of Toronto. He was recently a guest on the CBC’s Front Burner podcast to discuss the rise of fascism in America. Specifically, he talked about the use of antisemitism to attack intellectuals. As someone who researches heavily on the topics of human rights, international law, Palestinian self-determination and Israeli authoritarianism, it is unsettling to see the treatment of students and faculty by universities in the U.S. He points out that while fascism is a European idea, Black Americans have historically called the authoritarian racist society “Jim Crow fascist”. Stanely, a lifelong philosopher of fascist thought demonstrates how Black and Indigenous intellectual thought is what has truly critiqued the myths of America. The far-right attack critical race theory because it teaches the true history of America; the gruesome truths that America was built on slavery and genocide. It is no wonder then that the current administration is so against the demonstrations in support of a free Palestine; these protests directly call out the government and private institutions who have financially backed Israel, resulting in more than 60, 000 Palestinian deaths since October 7, 2023. Students and faculty who demand transparency, divestment, and the end of the genocide happing in Palestine are being silenced, some by force and some by threats of deportation. How would one describe a country which punishes people who disagree with the actions of their government, and who express their first amendment right?
John W. Whitehead says, “At its core, the First Amendment is intended to protect the right of all Americans to criticize government officials without fear of retaliation.” He goes on to say that the first amendment essentially makes it a civic duty to criticize the government.
The targeting of intellectuals, students, and faculty alike has many people leaving the U.S to pursue their education and research elsewhere, like Columbia University Ph.D. student Ranjani Srinivasan, who fled to Canada after she was accused of being a terrorist sympathizer by the Department of Homeland Security. In a recent NPR podcast, Columbia University professor Reinhold Martin describes these recent events as a concerted assault on the institutions of higher education in the U.S.
The discussion surrounding the legitimacy of American democracy is not new. Former President Joe Biden warned that an oligarchy is taking shape, and there is no question that handing power over to unelected billionaires like Elon Musk does nothing more than hand power over to a concentrated elite, who have no bearing on the everyday lives of working Americans. Not only does this affect American citizens, but Trump’s authoritarian attitudes are impacting people globally. Time will tell if the democratic institutions in America can still be strengthened, or if Trumpism will rule over.
