Erasing History: How Fascists Rewrite the Past to Control the Future

A fast paced and engaging crash course on how far right (and you could give it to any political or ideological movement that goes too far to a extreme) politics erase critical parts of history to benefit themselves and create a very narrow view of the truth, making people more suceptible to believe and elect them, with the charade of fair democracy. As Jason Stanley says, there are five major themes in fascist education:
-National greatness
-National purity
-National innocence
-Strict gender roles
-Vilification of the left
Be honest, how many goddamn podcast have you heard with these five items, or at least some of them, repeated again and again?
It gives different examples in history like Nazi Germany, England's erasure of the Kikuyu in show more Kenya, the Gulags, and put them into perspective with Donald Trump and Maga, and Putin. I had a little trouble with some concepts or frases sometimes, they appeared very lefty ivy league American college to me, but it wasn't intrusive to the argument, or it wouldn't even be an argument if it was. But it gives a clear understanding of what fascists movements do to education and why. It's scary, and it's happening right now all over the world, and we are to blame when we elect them. Just look at my dear Argentina and now Germany, and we'll see what happens in the USA.

In other words, if there is no state to support citizens in need, they will be obliged to fall back on their families and religious communities for support. This has the effect of reinforcing traditional social values, since it puts these families and communities in a position to condition their support on the rejection of certain beliefs, identities, or ways of life that they may find objectionable. A robust system of public goods gives citizens the necessary support structures to make their own choices - and to take full advantage of democracy's freedoms. And this is exactly why social conservatives and libertarians alike find democratic forms of education so threatening. show less

Thoroughly researched, Jason Stanley presents a book with the possibility of an authoritarian regime in America. He shows how omitting critical parts of shared history in schools and universities is a strategy developed by leaders in the world who have been able to manipulate and control societies.

I thought: “What can he say that I don’t know already?” A lot. He educates the reader with what has happened in the world with countries such as China, India and Russia that are controlled by authoritarians. Some examples were noted with Hitler’s movement during WWII, McCarthy era in America and Putin’s war in Ukraine.

Stanley provided steps that authoritarian governments have used to change democracies with examples from Project show more 2025. There were classifications that were new to me such as Supremacist Nationalism. It was distressing to read: “America’s greatness stems from both its whiteness and its Christianity” knowing that my ancestor, Thomas Harris, nearly escaped after refusing to join the religious group at a placed called the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the 1600s. I learned more about Hungary’s prime minister Viktor Orbán recent speech at a Dallas, TX political event attacking the idea of a mixed race. This book revealed historical accounts of the Native Americans and Black slavery that is an important part of our past.

The truth can be overwhelmingly depressing. This book entails a lot of information that can hit hard with reality that made me pause with my own questions. How do we fight back for public education and free-speech at universities? The author said American style liberal arts colleges do not exist in authoritarian countries.

Stanley was raised with ancestors who suffered greatly from Hitler and Stalin. He has spent years studying the effects of an authoritarian government and has presented a solid analysis of his findings in this book. He provides evidence of what’s happening in America and helps the reader to understand how we are moving in a direction of Christianity in southern schools and erasing parts of history that can later be manipulated.

The author has continued the work of his late father, Manfred Stanley, a Syracuse professor who taught about the meanings of democratic citizenship. Our world is changing with Artificial Intelligence and the massive amounts of internet news along with the bias news from the media. It’s important that we keep informed with the truthful past and present.

My thanks to Atria Books and NetGalley for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book with an expected release date of September 10, 2024. show less

This is a rather short work and during the 1st hour or so of the audiobook I thought it may be too cursory and high-level to recommend or to rate four starts. However, by the end my opinion improved on the work by this Professor of Philosophy at Yale University witness as we all are to MAGA but also has lived and taught in Ukraine where we see the tragedy of fascism ignored.

As said, Trump's fascism is pointed out and placed into context of Putin's Russia-first expansionist fascism. This is compared to India's Modi and his nativist spin on the Hindu vs. Muslim divide in that democarcy. Modi belongs to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a right-wing Hindu nationalist paramilitary volunteer show more organization. BJP has been the ruling political party in India under the incumbent Modi and is aligned with right-wing politics.

It is interesting having considered this when recently reading South Africa and All the Shah's Men how British imperialism up through the 20th century was fascistic and just like we no longer see England, Japan, Germany, Italy etc. as fascist threats the "exceptionalist" USA could also redeem itself.

The author pains the populist neo-fascist plan as controlling a nation by dialing up resentment (otherism, grievance) by a charismatic leader who enacts policies to reduce education (modern book burning) and organization (labor, NGOs, etc.) resulting in a malleable populace. A "Great Replacement Theory", indeed. show less

Stanley quit Yale for the U of Toronto in April 2025.