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Weeks before the presidential election of Donald Trump I shared some thoughts about his candidacy with readers in this space. In short, I declared that we should allow Trump to be Trump, because if he was allowed to rant on, his core base, those encompassing the first ring of his followers, would not grow large enough to carry the election.

I was blind to the larger story, however, and proven wrong in the election result.

The mistake was not in the idea that his base was too small to elect him. The mistake was in misreading his second ring of supporters, those who cared little that the Klan, the Nazis and their ilk glorified Trump.

I mistakenly assumed they would reject Trump’s candidacy, repulsed by any association with this suddenly energized racist, anti-Semitic, xenophobic, homophobic, anti-Muslim minority. In this I misread my country.

Now we must adjust to this new reality. To move forward, first we need to look with a keen eye to the recent past, a past fresh in parallels and fears.

We needn’t look far. There are wonderful chroniclers of the National Socialist and Fascist years of Europe that bid us listen. One of the most profound is the chemist and writer Primo Levi, an Italian Jew who survived the concentration camps established to assure pureness of blood and hatred of the other. In his book, “,” Levi reflects on the horrors he witnessed, and shares his fear about the ease with which we can drift again in that direction.

Everybody must know, or remember, that when Hitler and Mussolini spoke in public the ideas they proclaimed were, in general, aberrant or silly or cruel. It is, therefore, necessary to be suspicious of those who seek to convince us with means other than reason.

It is clear that Donald Trump’s hard core, his loyal first ring of supporters, care little for thoughtful engagement. While they are content with fact deprived narratives, the nation struggles to catch sight of truth in our rearview mirror, as cruel and silly language takes its place at the forefront.

But what of those in the second ring, those not inclined to outright white nationalism, white pointy hoods or swastika arm bands; those who wink at the truth-bending and histrionics, and throw their support to him because they are afraid of immigrants and aim their anger at the “elites” rather than at a man giving voice to evil?

Here in the second ring we find those that ensured Trump’s election. We must remember, Levi reminds us, that the faithful followers, among them the diligent executors of inhuman orders, were not born torturers, they were ordinary men, ready to believe and act without asking questions.

Post-election greed introduces us now to the third ring, comprised more of enablers than supporters, those who did not vote for him but who angle to garner favor and influence, those who think, like the industrialists of Germany in the 1920s and 30s, that they can influence, maybe even control this political novice. This third ring expands to encompass the outliers, the population that either did not vote or simply are too fed up to get involved. From this third ring we hear, “Well, maybe he will be OK. Let’s give him a chance, some of his ideas and appointments aren’t so bad. Besides, it’s good to have a businessman as President.”

In a world tilting toward reason and healthy dialogue this might be a viable position. But we do not live in a reasonable or healthy environment. We live in an environment that has elected a charismatic leader who shares ideas not from a base of soundness but from a manner of speaking that makes cruelty seductive, even palpable, a man who says he can kill someone on the streets of his home city and not be held accountable — common occurrences by dictators and their henchmen around the globe.

With this in mind we are well advised to heed Levi once again when he warns that Fascism can come “walking on tiptoe and calling itself by other names. At this point, wise counsel no longer serves, and one must find the strength to resist.”

With appreciation to Primo Levi, “,” Abacus Press, London, 1979. pp. 396-397.