How to Be an Anti-Fascist: A Gentle Rebuttal to Billionaire Strongmen and Their Twitter Cosplays

By Carl Tuckerson

Good evening, radiant souls.

Tonight, I want to talk about something serious—but not in a shouty, vein-popping way. In a warm, clear-eyed, candle-lit kind of way. Let’s talk about fascism. And more importantly, how to stand firmly, nonviolently, and stylishly against it.

First, a definition. Fascism isn’t just people yelling on the internet or wearing weird hats. It’s a political disease—authoritarianism drenched in nationalism, allergic to diversity, and obsessed with power. It’s rigid. It’s cruel. It thrives on fear.

History, of course, gave us the ultimate case study: Adolf Hitler. A man who turned wounded ego and racist paranoia into a genocidal regime. Let’s be uncomfortably clear: fascism starts with rhetoric and ends in blood. It wears suits at first. Then it builds camps.

Which brings us to the now. To a peculiar blend of self-pitying billionaires and spray-tanned demagogues playing dictator on easy mode.

Let’s start with Elon Musk.

Here’s a man who once inspired us with rockets and electric cars—and now spends his time posting “anti-woke” memes like a Reddit troll who just discovered Ayn Rand. Elon claims to love “free speech,” unless that speech critiques him or his companies, in which case he’ll fire you, shadowban you, or awkwardly reply with a meme of Pepe the Frog.

You can’t be a free speech absolutist and also an insecure billionaire who throws tantrums when journalists ask questions. That’s not libertarianism. That’s narcissism with a Wi-Fi signal.

Then there’s Donald Trump.

The man who said he’d “drain the swamp” and instead held cocktail parties in it. Who said he loved “the people” but spent four years helping billionaires and banning brown kids. Who said he was “tough on crime” while pardoning white-collar felons and cozying up to actual Nazis at campaign rallies.

You don’t get to call yourself a patriot while trying to overthrow democracy. You don’t get to wrap yourself in the flag while selling fascist cosplay to a base too traumatized to see the grift. And no, calling your opponents “fascists” doesn’t make you less of one. That’s what projection looks like, not principle.

So… what does it actually mean to be anti-fascist?

It’s not just wearing black or smashing Starbucks windows (though I get the temptation). It means:

Refusing to dehumanize. Even when it’s easier.
Defending institutions of democracy while pushing them to do better.
Confronting power with truth—especially when that power has a blue checkmark and a bunker.
Building diverse communities where all people—not just rich white dudes with podcasts—have a voice.
Educating yourself. Read. Listen. Learn from those who’ve lived through real authoritarianism. Hint: it wasn’t your uncle who got suspended from X.

And look, I get it. It's easy to feel hopeless. To doomscroll and despair. But the antidote to fascism isn’t more fear. It’s radical hope. It’s showing up. It's organizing mutual aid. It's hugging someone at a protest. It's running a book club. It’s standing in solidarity instead of standing by.

So if you’re wondering how to be anti-fascist?

Start by being anti-ego. Anti-greed. Anti-cruelty. Anti-lie. And yes, sometimes that means being anti-Musk. Anti-Trump. Anti-anyone who thinks oppression is a branding opportunity.

We’ve tried letting billionaires be our heroes. It didn’t work. Maybe it’s time to try being each other’s heroes instead.

Stay soft. Stay loud. Stay antifascist.

We’ll see you tomorrow.

— Radical Kindness Carl