It’s the economy, fascist
How to actually defeat Trump’s authoritarianism
By Jesse F. Ferguson
Can you imagine a moment when an authoritarian regime was undone from within—where its public support collapsed and its regime crumbled? No, this isn’t futurecasting or wishcasting for the end of the Trump administration. This is looking in the rearview mirror at the triumph over the USSR, 35 years ago.
In the Americana version of the retelling, it was the triumph of democratic ideals over authoritarian control, the power of freedom defeating oppression. But the scholars who actually examined the evidence found something important in how it got done. As economist János Kornai documented, the USSR’s collapse stemmed from something far more mundane and far more powerful: empty shelves and broken promises.
In the view of economist historian Michael Kort, once the Soviet economy began to stagnate, it could no longer satisfy the growing consumer demands and the regime began to lose their support—an erosion that contributed to the USSR’s ultimate collapse.
The lesson is clear: Authoritarianism doesn’t fall because people reject it in the abstract. It falls when it fails to put food on the table.
This matters right now because we’re watching Donald Trump’s second administration embrace increasingly authoritarian tactics. Many of us—me included—are deeply concerned about threats to democracy, the erosion of norms, and the dangers of fascism. These concerns aren’t wrong. They’re real and they’re urgent.
But they’re not enough. And if we’re being honest, they’re not what most Americans are thinking about when they wake up in the morning.
I’ll admit something uncomfortable: Much of the Democratic political class, including me, doesn’t necessarily live in a world where the cost of living has to be our first or only concern. We can afford to think abstractly about democratic institutions and constitutional principles. Most voters can’t. They’re thinking about whether they can afford gas, whether their kids’ schools are good, whether they’ll have enough money for retirement, and whether they can pay for health care when they get sick.
The polling data makes this brutally clear. According to Navigator Research, 61% of voters say inflation and the cost of living is most important for the President and Congress to focus on. But only 25% think Trump and Republicans in Congress are actually focused on it. That’s a 36-point gap between what people want and what they’re getting. On healthcare, the gap is 27 points. On Social Security and Medicare, it’s 24 points. On jobs and the economy, it’s 22 points.
Meanwhile, Trump is over-focused on immigration by 43 points and on transgender issues by 17 points. He promised to focus on costs. Instead, he’s focused on culture wars and authoritarian power grabs.
And here’s the thing: Voters are noticing. Gallup data from August 2025 shows Trump’s overall approval rating sits at 40%—essentially unchanged from his first-term average of 41%. His approval on foreign affairs, education, and other issues has barely moved. But his approval on the economy has collapsed from 52% during his first term to just 37% now. That’s a 15-point crater in what was supposed to be his greatest strength.
This isn’t speculation about what might happen. It’s happening. Trump’s tariffs are raising prices on everyday goods. Republicans in Congress just passed the largest cuts to Medicaid in American history—cuts that will rip healthcare away from millions of seniors, children, people with disabilities, and people fighting cancer. And right now, they’re deadset on taking away tax credits that help middle-class families afford health insurance.
Voters can see what’s happening to their wallets. And smart campaigns are already making the connection explicit.
It was on display in the Democratic victories in Virginia and New Jersey. Exit polling shows that Abigail Spanberger won by 27 points among people (48%) who said the economy was the most important issue. Similarly, Mikie Sherill won by 33 points among the people (32%) who put economy first. In 2024, Trump won by 63 points among the people who put the economy as the top issue.
In Virginia, Spanberger ran on her Affordable Virginia plan to tackle healthcare, housing and energy costs. And, some of her top advertising laid out that cost argument for voters and the consequences of Trump’s policies that were raising costs. In New Jersey, Sherill ran on a cost and affordability agenda with a clear focus on lowering energy bills. Neither ran an ad on authoritarianism, fascism or the threat to democracy—and they didn’t have to.
Groups across the country, including Unrig Our Economy, Protect Our Care, and the League of Conservation Voters and House Majority Forward, have been telling this story, too.
These campaigns work because they connect abstract policy to concrete consequences. They translate Washington decisions into kitchen-table impacts. They show betrayal in terms people can feel in their daily lives. Unfortunately, there’s not yet enough of them at scale.
This is how you defeat authoritarianism. Not by screaming the word “fascist” louder but by revealing the economic betrayal at its core. Trump promised to make life more affordable. Instead, he’s making it harder and more expensive while consolidating power and enriching his allies. He said he’d lower costs, but instead he’s focused on retribution, revenge, and rehashing culture wars. That’s the story. That’s the vulnerability.
Everyone knows that the best way to truly defend the institution of democracy is to show it works, that it’s responsive to the people. Similarly, the best way to undermine authoritarianism is to show it’s not.
The Soviet Union didn’t fall because dissidents convinced people that authoritarianism was philosophically wrong. It fell because people stood in line for hours to buy bread that wasn’t there, because they watched Western living standards pull further ahead every year, because the system promised prosperity and delivered poverty.
Trump’s authoritarianism will fail the same way—not because we convince people it’s authoritarian, but because we show them it’s expensive.
Maybe the recent elections have proved to us that old advice can be adapted to today’s moment. Maybe we can say the descriptor for these midterms is: “It’s the economy, fascist.”
Jesse Ferguson is a veteran Democratic strategist. @JesseFFerguson
While I agree that the economic argument matters, the comparison to the Soviet collapse misses the world we actually live in. The USSR was a sealed command economy that created its own shortages until the system caved in. The United States in 2025 is nothing like that. Even clumsy or punitive economic policy doesn’t produce the kind of nationwide scarcity that erodes a regime’s legitimacy in one blow. And modern authoritarian movements don’t depend on delivering prosperity in the way the Soviets had to; they thrive on polarisation, identity and grievance, which can keep support intact even when wallets are hurting.
So no, rising prices and broken promises won’t make Trump’s authoritarian project crumble on their own. They’ll weaken him politically, but they won’t undo the institutional capture, media ecosystems and loyalty structures that define contemporary strongman politics. Economic storytelling is useful for winning elections, but defeating authoritarianism now requires more than empty shelves. It needs organised resistance, institutional defence and a public willing to see beyond its own immediate hardship.
It’s my understanding of the era (late 1989’s-early 1990’s) that East Germans could see television programs coming from West Germany. Thus, those in the Soviet bloc were not only experiencing the long bread lines and harsh conditions themselves, but many could see that citizens in the West had better lives— further evidence of the lies that their Communist leaders were telling them.
I wish there were a way to attract today’s US rural voters towards positive, realistic images of Democratic cities that would likewise expose the lies spouted on Fox and other right wingnut outlets. It would be additional evidence to compound their rage against trump et al while struggling to pay the bills and get healthcare.