Astral Codex Ten Podcast

Fascism Can't Mean Both A Specific Ideology And A Legitimate Target

Published: November 8, 2025

Duration: 11:37

The following three things can't all be true simultaneously: Many Americans are fascists Fascists are an acceptable target for political violence Political violence in America is morally unacceptable (at the current time)

I thought about this while following the Twitter spat between Democratic hopeful Gavin Newsom and Trump advisor Stephen Miller. Newsom called Miller fascist; Miller accused this of being a call to violence which placed "a target" on him.

Miller is hardly sympathetic here - he's called people fascist himself in the past, and later suggested Newsom should be arrested for his speech (if only there...