Advice from Rick Steves

A Plea for Patriotism

“I’m beginning to think that journalists and mainstream media lack the language and analytic tools to describe what is happening.” An anonymous reader comment in the New York Times.

Every so often, a voice breaks through the noise to clarify and explain what’s really going on.

Almost everyone who follows politics is beyond exhaustion by now. The Trump Administration is a wide-open spigot of rambling, disjointed nonsense, and reporters and commentators have run out of words trying to describe the carnage we are enduring.

Enter Rick Steves, the peripatetic PBS tour guide and endlessly entertaining public figure who has spent his career traveling the globe to better understand the nature and promise of American democracy. I’ve watched his travel episodes for years (along with millions of others), and no matter where he happened to be, I always learned something new about the cultures, cuisine and customs of places, most of which I will never have the chance to visit.

One of his most watched episodes, produced seven years ago, is about the rise of fascism in Europe. It marked a departure in Steves’ approach that was consistently non-political and non-judgmental. His behind-the-scenes portrayal of Iran is an especially noteworthy example of the quality of his eyewitness reporting.

His segment on fascism was different; Steves for the first time wasn’t describing the character and culture of nations or cities, Instead, he tackled a political movement — fascism — in his usual straightforward, non-polemical, and educational style. Until I viewed it, I thought fascism had been around for centuries, not the political and cultural residue of the demented mind of Benito Mussolini in post-World War I Italy.

Steves didn’t pull any punches. All the elements of fascism emerged as Mussolini gained power: self-absorbed strutting like a peacock: repression, violence, the silencing of dissent, rampant corruption and an overhanging intimidation of Italians normally celebrated for their lusty love of life. As Steves’ narrative explained, the fascists literally beat up their way to power.

It didn’t last long. Mussolini partnered with Hitler’s Nazi Germany and militaristic Japan, but his military was mostly ill-prepared and uncommitted to world dominance. Mussolini’s experiment collapsed in 1943 when his fascists supporters grew estranged at his unhinged policies. Eventually, partisans captured the dictator and he was hanged, upside down, at a gas station. After World War II ended, Italians voted out royal rule and replaced it with a democratic government that endures today.

Steves recounted all this, and added a warning: Italian fascism may have foundered, but its appeal grew and caught the attention of would-be dictators in Europe and elsewhere . . . Hitler, Franco in Spain, Peron in Argentina and Erdogan in Turkey are among many disciples of despotism, including in Steves’ judgement the creators of Project 2025, which serves as Donald Trump’s blueprint for authoritarian rule.

Steves is now carrying the warnings of fascism to new audiences here and abroad in speaking engagements that are drawing enthusiastic crowds. In January, he appeared at what felt like a political come-to-Jesus event in suburban Seattle, which was captured on video and available on YouTube.

Importantly, Steves’ presentation, entitled “The Traveler & American Democracy,” is premised on his perspective as someone who looks at his native country from outside of it, like a stranger in a strange land. It is searing and troubling, and also encouraging.

HIs presentation is just over 40 minutes; I urge readers to click on the link and listen to his peroration.

The highlight of the speech was his listing of the 15 signs of fascism. OMG, how many speakers dare to warn their audience that they plan to go through such a long checklist! He managed this with aplomb and placed each feature of fascism in the current American context

I won’t plow through all on his checklist. But several of the items on his list are worth repeating:

A Planned Dismantling

To me, Steves’ most compelling insight is that what’a happening isn’t happenstance, but a planed, well-funded and executed dismantling of American democracy. Trump and his backers — mostly the ultra-wealthy — are engaged in a “reordering of our society and world order.” The surprise in this, Steves adds, is how fragile our democracy is.

Intimidation

Steves knows all about the impact of visuals — news videos especially — and he argues that the actions the Trump Administration are intended to intimidate everyday citizens. Masked ICE agents, fetid internment camps, screeching Cabinet officials, and blatant lies and misstatements are examples of how browbeating is the go-to attitude. The tone of media statements, speeches and policy pronouncements are conveyed with nasty truculence designed to frighten citizens and demonize political opponents.

Media Control

Like all authoritarians, Trump despises a vibrant and open media, and Steve’s’ take is clear-headed: rather than shutting down outlets and platforms, Trump partners with billionaires to buy media properties and turn them into state-run megaphones. We’ve seen this most recently in the neutered CBS Evening News and 60 Minutes, along with extortion payments by ABC and NBC for daring to criticize the Trump regime.

Favoritism and Corruption

Steves frames the Trump presidency as the front organization for radical right billionaires who reject democracy in favor of lockstep conformity and scant regulation and oversight. Nearly everything Trump says or does, Steves explains, has a price tag and a quid pro quo deal. Such state-sponsored corruption is part and parcel of totalitarian rule, and in Steves’ recounting, Trump is outdoing even the worst of the worst despots in history.

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Anyone paying attention to current events won’t be surprised by what Rick Steves is saying. But in my mind, this is a fresh and badly needed example of protest that for once is not muted and cautious, but candid and forthright.

Steves has impeccable credentials that stand outside the normal media ecosphere. His travelogues are essentially a teacher’s lesson plan in history and culture. Over many years, his PBS episodes have generated enormous viewership and an unmatched credibility that is positioned outside the partisan political arena. What I find particularly appealing is his scriptwriter’s ear for adjective-free discourse. You won’t be confused about what’s on his mind.

There is an emerging sense that Americans increasingly feel they’ve been sold a bill of goods from Trump. Steves captured this sentiment in the first sentence of his address: “what the hell is going on!”

I urge readers to take the time to listen to Rick Steves’ presentation. As he explained to his audience, the crisis we confront isn’t really political but something deeper . . . it is about patriotism, upholding and cherishing the set of values that have long been our strongest suit: liberty, respect, the rule of law, consent, fairness, pluralism.

If I had to summarize the essence of Rick Steves’ presentation, it comes in his response to an admirer at an earlier event for his courage. “If it’s courageous for me to be speaking out, that’s reason enough for me to speak out.”

It will take only 40 minutes and 33 seconds of your time. Listen, absorb and share with your friends. Rick Steves is speaking truth to power from a fresh perspective that merits widespread viewing.