American Samizdat: Fascismo Intellettuale

1791-94 Whiskey Rebellion. "Famous whiskey insurrection in Pennsylvania", an illustration from Our first century: being a popular descriptive portraiture of the one hundred great and memorable events of perpetual interest in the history of our country by R. M. Devens (Springfield, Mass, 1882). Unknown artist. New York Public Library Digital Gallery

And perhaps one day, looking serenely at the past, it will be judged that the test we are now enduring, harsh and painful to us, was a stage that Italy had to go through to rejuvenate its national life, to complete its political education, to feel more severely its duties as a civilized people.

— Benedetto Croce

Among the common critiques of Trumpism, which includes in its critical attention Trump’s supporters, is the broad claim of their ignorance — ignorance of facts, ignorance of specialized knowledge about which they are easily influenced to hold opinions they cannot support, ignorance of both world and contemporary history, ignorance of t…