Day 795, Quasi-Quarantine: Steady Creep Of Fascism Pushes "It Can't Happen Here" From Satire To Contemporary Observation

 

"People will think they're electing him to create more economic security. Then watch the Terror!"

"'Wait till Buzz takes charge of us. A real Fascist dictatorship!'

'Nonsense! Nonsense!' snorted Tasbrough. 'That couldn't happen here in America, not possibly! We're a country of freemen.'"

Serving as a searing social commentary while simultaneously being dense enough to be a slog, "It Can't Happen Here" is a difficult and challenging read that is well worth the effort.

Halfway through, Sinclair Lewis's novel moves from satire to warning when Doremus Jessup's son-in-law is shockingly and swiftly executed. The rise of the Hitler-like Buzz Windrip is largely based on Huey Long, and though the author characterized the story as pure propaganda for American democracy at the time, there are enough parallels to contemporary and current times to be chilling.

"The Senator was vulgar, almost illiterate, a public liar easily detected, and in his 'ideas' almost idiotic, while his celebrated piety was that of a traveling salesman for church furniture, and his yet more celebrated humor the sly cynicism of a country store."

"To the veteran reporters it was strange to see the titular Secretary of State, theoretically a person of such dignity and consequence that he could deal with the representatives of foreign powers, acting as press-agent and yes-man for even the President."

After voters choose "security" over freedom, Windrip's ascendant organization seizes the press and academia, silences opponents, burns books, and builds concentration camps. Before the populace fully realizes it, the government -- enforced by the Stasi-like Minute Men -- has a chokehold on the country, finally leading to the creation of the New Underground as a resistance.

"If I ever hear that 'can't make an omelet' phrase again, I'll start doing a little murder myself! It's used to justify every atrocity under every despotism, Fascist or Nazi or Communist or American despotism, Fascist or Nazi or Communist or American labor war. Omelet! Eggs! By God, sir, men's souls and blood are not eggshells for tyrants to break!"

As the stepbrother of "The Plot Against America," "The Man in the High Castle," and even "The Handmaid's Tale," "It Can't Happen Here" feels like an essential read. Lewis's approach is clever and prescient, brilliant and brutal, allowing him to offer political commentary in the context of conflicted character.

"Cure the evils of Democracy by the evils of Fascism! Funny therapeutics. I've heard of their curing syphilis by giving the patient malaria, but I've never heard of their curing malaria by giving the patient syphilis!"

As a social satirist, Lewis offers no solutions or clear ending, and the brutal depiction of the oppressive regime within America challenges the reader's dedication. Yet nearly 90 years later, "It Can't Happen Here" remains a compelling and important book, lending important context to the current global political landscape.

"'More and more, as I think about history,' he pondered, 'I am convinced that everything that is worth while in the world has been accomplished by the free, inquiring, critical spirit, and that the preservation of this spirit is more important than any social system whatsoever. But the men of ritual and the men of barbarism are capable of shutting up the men of science and of silencing them forever.'"