A lot of buzzwords and jargon get thrown around the internet these days. Engage in any form of debate or discussion with someone long enough and chances are things will get heated, ugly, and incomprehensible. And if said discussion or debate goes on long enough, then eventually Godwin’s Law will take hold.
Now, I don’t care to recount the futility or frustration that often comes with internet discourse. I’ve already wasted way too many hours debating with idiots, assholes, grifters, creationists, and anti-vaxxers. However, there are certain trends in which substance should take precedent over style. If not, then we’re not even talking about anything. We might as well be yelling obscenities at a rock in a dark basement.
In that spirit, I’d like to remind everyone who sees this post that words do have specific definitions. Concepts do have defined criteria. You can throw them around in any discussion or debate to help your argument. But if you don’t understand what they mean, then you’re not just failing in that effort. You’re actively diluting the very concept of language and contributing to the destruction of society.
I know that may sound hyperbolic, but I have to use that sort of language when it comes to definitions of words like fascism. I know that just by typing that word, I’m raising a lot of red flags and pushing a lot of proverbial buttons. There might be people at this very moment who see that word as a thought-terminating cliche, thereby giving them an excuse to completely ignore or discount anything I say after this sentence.
Please resist that urge. The well-being of the human race needs you to be slightly more self-aware.
Because fascism is a serious topic of discussion. This isn’t some buzzword meant to generate clickbait. Fascism is directly responsible for the deaths and suffering of millions of people. Yet people throw that label around nothing more than a blanket term for “politics/ideology I don’t like.”
Again, please stop doing that. Please resist the urge to do that. You’re spitting on the mass graves of millions of people by doing that.
But given the current political situation in many modern nations, fascism is a growing issue. I’ve even seen it here in my home country, the United States of America. There are people I know who actively support turning our government into a fascist system. They may not call it that, but it fits the criteria. They may not know/care about that criteria, but everyone else should.
Because fascism is a threat to you, your family, and everything you hold dear. You can’t beat it by “owning” fascists in an online debate. You can only beat by actively resisting it. But how do you know if what you’re dealing with is actually fascist and not some generic thought-terminating cliche?
Thankfully, people far smarter than us have actually thought about this and done the necessary work. The following criteria was submitted back in 1995 and to date, it’s one of the most comprehensive lists for defining fascism. There may be others, but this is the most straightforward. What follows is a simple excerpt from Wikipedia:
- “The cult of tradition“, characterized by cultural syncretism, even at the risk of internal contradiction. When all truth has already been revealed by tradition, no new learning can occur, only further interpretation and refinement.
- “The rejection of modernism“, which views the rationalistic development of Western culture since the Enlightenment as a descent into depravity. Eco distinguishes this from a rejection of superficial technological advancement, as many fascist regimes cite their industrial potency as proof of the vitality of their system.
- “The cult of action for action’s sake“, which dictates that action is of value in itself and should be taken without intellectual reflection. This, says Eco, is connected with anti-intellectualism and irrationalism, and often manifests in attacks on modern culture and science.
- “Disagreement is treason” – fascism devalues intellectual discourse and critical reasoning as barriers to action, as well as out of fear that such analysis will expose the contradictions embodied in a syncretistic faith.
- “Fear of difference“, which fascism seeks to exploit and exacerbate, often in the form of racism or an appeal against foreigners and immigrants.
- “Appeal to a frustrated middle class“, fearing economic pressure from the demands and aspirations of lower social groups.
- “Obsession with a plot” and the hyping-up of an enemy threat. This often combines an appeal to xenophobia with a fear of disloyalty and sabotage from marginalized groups living within the society (such as the German elite’s “fear” of the 1930s Jewish populace’s businesses and well-doings; see also antisemitism). Eco also cites Pat Robertson‘s book The New World Order as a prominent example of a plot obsession.
- Fascist societies rhetorically cast their enemies as “at the same time too strong and too weak“. On the one hand, fascists play up the power of certain disfavored elites to encourage in their followers a sense of grievance and humiliation. On the other hand, fascist leaders point to the decadence of those elites as proof of their ultimate feebleness in the face of an overwhelming popular will.
- “Pacifism is trafficking with the enemy” because “life is permanent warfare” – there must always be an enemy to fight. Both fascist Germany under Hitler and Italy under Mussolini worked first to organize and clean up their respective countries and then build the war machines that they later intended to and did use, despite Germany being under restrictions of the Versailles treaty to not build a military force. This principle leads to a fundamental contradiction within fascism: the incompatibility of ultimate triumph with perpetual war.
- “Contempt for the weak“, which is uncomfortably married to a chauvinistic popular elitism, in which every member of society is superior to outsiders by virtue of belonging to the in-group. Eco sees in these attitudes the root of a deep tension in the fundamentally hierarchical structure of fascist polities, as they encourage leaders to despise their underlings, up to the ultimate leader, who holds the whole country in contempt for having allowed him to overtake it by force.
- “Everybody is educated to become a hero“, which leads to the embrace of a cult of death. As Eco observes, “[t]he Ur-Fascist hero is impatient to die. In his impatience, he more frequently sends other people to death.”
- “Machismo“, which sublimates the difficult work of permanent war and heroism into the sexual sphere. Fascists thus hold “both disdain for women and intolerance and condemnation of nonstandard sexual habits, from chastity to homosexuality”.
- “Selective populism” – the people, conceived monolithically, have a common will, distinct from and superior to the viewpoint of any individual. As no mass of people can ever be truly unanimous, the leader holds himself out as the interpreter of the popular will (though truly he alone dictates it). Fascists use this concept to delegitimize democratic institutions they accuse of “no longer represent[ing] the voice of the people”.
- “Newspeak” – fascism employs and promotes an impoverished vocabulary to limit critical reasoning.
Having laid out these points, I urge everyone to take a step back and look at the current political situation in their surrounding area. Take a look at your own politics while you’re at it. Be brutally honest with yourself. Be mindful of what these ideas mean to people who aren’t you and are in a more vulnerable position.
How fascist are your ideals?
How fascist are your politics?
How fascist are your general perspectives on the world?
They may not fit every criterion. They may not even fit half. But how comfortable are you with them fitting more than one? And would you be willing to re-evaluate these principles?
Because one day, you might find yourself in a society where fascism is taking hold. It rarely happens all at once. It also cloaks itself in other labels, be they political slogans or social movements. But try and look beyond the terms. Look instead at the ideas and actions. If it meets a few too many criteria, then you have a choice to make.
If it’s not too late, then you can choose to oppose this distressing trend. Just remember that if you don’t make that choice, then eventually it will be made for you.
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