About the editor: If anyone reads Omer Aziz’s op-ed Why do so many young white men in America think fascism is “cool”? (which I doubt), here are some thoughts you might want to consider in your future planning.

No matter how powerful and empowered you feel in your pod, sect, or group, your ideology will not pay off in the long run. Political, racial and religious bullying has a price.

It doesn’t seem so surrounded by like-minded supporters who believe they can get around well-designed laws and structures designed to protect society. While these systems are not as perfect as we would like them to be, they have a more enduring quality than the neo-Nazis, Proud Boys or Qanon could ever imagine.

See how history played out before the ruthless authoritarians of the past. Saddam Hussein was hanged. Muammar Kadafi was beaten to a pulp and then shot. Benito Mussolini was publicly hanged. Adolf Hitler shot himself in humiliation and defeat.

It doesn’t say much to follow a target based on hate and bullying.

Beverly Lever, Calabasas

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About the editor: Aziz’s op-ed should be required reading for all Americans to better understand the extent to which the Republican Party has transformed from a conventional conservative organization into a fascist entity.

The people Aziz refers to are usually part of the Make America Great Again brigade. They are predominantly white, male and less educated. They also harbor a lot of misogyny and bigotry.

Tragically, they have found a welcoming home in today’s Republican Party.

After all, Republicans have been appealing to that mob for about 50 years, culminating in their embrace of Donald Trump in 2016. Appealing to southern dixiecrats, as Richard Nixon did in 1968, has the unintended consequences we are witnessing in 2023 .

Bob Teigan, Santa Susanna