"Tear the Fascists Down" More Relevant Now than Ever

Woody Guthrie has practically countless songs I could have used to demonstrate the similarities between the experiences of the working class in the 1930s/40s and today, but none capture the modern political climate better than "Tear the Fascists Down".

For context, Guthrie wrote this song in the mid-1940s amidst World War II, and the sticker on his guitar, reading, "This machine kills fascists" was taken from the US military. The US put these stickers on the weaponry sent to Germany (AKA: the most famous fascist regime of all time).

Guthrie's song, if you listened to it at the time of being written, sounds quite patriotic. In the song, he calls out Hitler by name ("Hitler told the world around he would tear our union down/But our union's gonna break them slaver's chains"), praises the Allies ("So I thank the Soviets and the mighty Chinese vets/The Allies the whole wide world around"), and commends the United States' involvement in the war ("So to the battling British, thanks, you can have ten million Yanks/If it takes them to tear the fascists down, down, down").

If the song was written today with the exact same lyrics, it would be seen as "unpatriotic". Why is that?

I'll start with the less controversial matter: his praise of the Chinese and Soviets. If you know anything about American international relations from the 1940s onward, you'd know that China and the USSR have been two of the country's biggest enemies. In today's climate, to praise them is to praise the enemy. In the 1940s, though, they were praiseworthy, having helped the Allies win WWII and "tear the fascists down".

Unfortunately, the fascists did not stay down (more on that in a moment).

Secondly, there is the matter of Guthrie's references to unions. In his first two verses especially, he references unions. Without historical context, it may seem metaphorical, but unions are never metaphorical in folk music. His first reference to unions is in his first verse: "Hitler told the world around he would tear our union down/But our union's gonna break them slaver's chains/Our union's gonna break them slaver's chains". Hitler banned unions. Unsurprisingly, the fascist was not happy about workers having any power. Guthrie repeats the line "Our union's gonna break the slaver's chains" twice, likely because of its double meaning. The union of the Allies will defeat the Nazis, but the workers unions will also defeat the owners of the means of production. One can't fight oppression on an international level if they won't fight oppression on the home front. Therefore, while fighting the Nazis, you also have to fight the big bosses who are keeping the workers down. He then references unions again in the second verse: "I could see all the people in the whole wide world/That's the union that'll tear the fascists down, down, down/That's the union that'll tear the fascists down". Again, there are two meanings here (hence the line repetition). For one, everyone around the world must band together to defeat Hitler and the Axis powers. For another, workers must band together in actual unions to defeat those who own the means of production.

The commoners of the US were more pro-union at this time than ever. Union membership peaked in the 1940s and 1950s, so it's no wonder that Guthrie can discuss pro-union sentiments and still be seen as patriotic. Union approval is now on the rise, but according to Pew Researcher, unions have become a partisan issue. Democrats tend to view unions positively while Republicans view them negatively. The goal of unions haven't changed since the 1950s, but how they're viewed have. Partially, that's due to party politics, but it is also due to who runs the country now.

Before getting into this point, I should mention that the US has always been run by the wealthy, but it has not always been run by CEOs. With Elon Musk running the Department of Government Efficiency, making many political decisions as Donald Trump's right-hand man, and Trump framing himself as a CEO despite only being a business man (still a very rich and powerful business man, though), it is no wonder that unions are not culturally viewed in the same positive light that they once were. Unions would specifically hurt the power that these men hold.

Lastly (and I've saved my most controversial point for last), the US is run by fascists now. The state is banning books, banning treatment for transgender people, banning access to abortion, deporting people at alarming rates (often illegally), creating tight regulations on education, and creating other restrictive laws, all also done in the early years of Hitler's reign. Trump and Musk also have a cult of personality around them. No matter what they do, there are a large number of people who will always defend them. People defended Musk doing the Nazi salute, and they did the same when Trump said immigrants are eating pets. Lastly, there does not seem to be as much of a cultural taboo on being Nazi. People who wear swastikas and romanticize Germany of the 1940s are not immediately met with backlash at the very least, demonstrating more societal acceptance of Nazis.

So, why isn't "Tear the Fascists Down" the patriotic song it once was? Because to tear the fascists down, we have to tear down our very own state.