Harvard's resistance
In the midst of an ideological offensive against universities and thought in general, Trump has encountered resounding resistance from Harvard University, which has refused to accept the demands placed on it—directly impacting the freedom of research and programming—in order to receive state funding. And it is alarming that it has been the only university that has reacted openly in defense of the very existence of academic institutions.
These facts erase any doubt about the existence of a conservative current that is now penetrating even the liberal press and that seeks to deny the obvious: that the authoritarian restoration led by Trump is a nuanced mutation of liberal democracy that dovetails directly with the fascist tradition. Siri Hustvedt says: "In my Brooklyn neighborhood, everything seems seemingly the same, and yet routine is tinged with fear."
When Trump warns that scientists cannot publish information on sensitive topics without government authorization, he is attacking the most basic freedom of research. When he demands the end of university programs dedicated to diversity, equity, and inclusion, he is destroying the most basic foundations of the relationship between academia and society. When he promotes a list of 199 banned words and denies legitimacy to any contribution that questions his strategic vision, and stakes everything on those who subscribe to his obsessions, taboos, prohibitions, and whims, he is positioning himself in the realm of post-democratic authoritarianism, which is the renewed formula of the fascist tradition: all evil. A delirium that culminates in something incompatible with any democratic regime: the denial of the separation of powers.
Trump believes that the legislative and judicial branches—which are responsible for acting against violations of the law—should be subject to his decisions. And be totally accommodating to him. This degradation becomes evident when any judicial decision affecting the president and his cabal is immediately disqualified, and when the House of Representatives and the Senate are permanently under threat. And even the liberal press is already showing signs of adapting to that music.
That Harvard was the only one to stand up to it says little for an educational system that had acquired a universal reputation and is reeling from the first shock of authoritarian insolence. Let's call a spade a spade: neo-fascism has taken power in the United States, and the rapid adaptation of media outlets recognized as benchmarks is astonishing. And what about civil society? Can we still talk about it, or has it already been colonized by the magnates who brought the emperor to power?