Presentation by Andy Zee at the panel discussion:
Life and Death Stakes: Science, Epistemology, Conspiracy, Fascism and a Whole Other Way to Know and Radically Change the World
This fascist “belief system” is buttressed by American chauvinism that refuses to look at the history and present-day reality of the U.S., which has put this country in vampire position of sucking the life blood of the rest of the world… But we also have to look at the epistemology of the progressive and liberal strata, all those who have been outraged at the Trump/Pence regime, but who over four years overwhelming would not recognize or acknowledge what this regime is—a fascist regime with dire consequences for humanity here and around the world… READ THE PRESENTATION
This was the third in a series of discussions that dig deeply into the roots of the fascism that has grown and hardened over the past four years, and is still with us as tens of millions voted for Trump. The previous forums were: What Just Happened: Trump, America, and the Danger of Fascism and Why did 74 million people vote for Trump.
This forum explored the causes and implications of a terrifying situation. At the time of the discussion, the U.S. had the highest number of COVID-19 cases in the world, and the highest number of deaths. This has occurred under a science-hating, genocidally racist, lunatic fascist regime, with thousands more projected to die before Trump leaves office. The Trump/Pence regime, the Republican fascists, and their rabid base spread COVID as a matter of “liberty” – the liberty to infect and kill others. Trump recovered from COVID with the best healthcare in the world and then told his overwhelmingly white followers at a campaign rally in Minnesota that they have “good genes.” The regime’s COVID response concentrates many of the features of this fascist program – white supremacy, hatred of foreigners, a theocratic Christian fascism, and unhinged conspiracy theories.
- How did we get to this point?
- Why have we tolerated a regime that has facilitated the deaths of 300,000, disproportionately Black and brown people?
- Is this deliberate mass murder or is it “collateral damage” in service of a fascist or fundamentalist worldview?
- How do we wage a society-wide struggle for truth, science, and evidence-based epistemology?
The panel was introduced by Coco Das, a writer and also a member of the Editorial board of Refuse Fascism.org. Panelists were:
- Paul Street, historian and author of Hollow Resistance: Obama, Trump, and the Politics of Appeasement, member of the editorial board of RefuseFascism.org and frequent contributor to Counterpunch.
- Dr. Phil Rice, a leading physician of Emergency Medicine in Salem Massachusetts.
- Andy Zee, host of The RNL – Revolution Nothing Less – Show; co-initiator of RefuseFascism.org; spokesperson for Revolution Books.