What Is Fascism?

 

A Threat to Democracy

Some political scientists suggest that fascism is pushing democracy aside as dispirited voters seek to blame the establishment for their economic struggles.

Certainly, plenty of unscrupulous individuals are happy to exploit unhappy voters with platforms that contain elements of fascism, but are they true fascists? Let's take a look at the ideology to decide.

The Strongman Leader

Robert Paxton is a history professor at Columbia University, New York. He’s one of the world’s leading experts on fascism. He says it’s a complex ideology that centres around the concept of the strongman leader.

This strongman leader persuades his supporters that their country is under attack from internal and external forces: “Give me complete control and I will slaughter our enemies” is the simplistic call for support. This message is hammered home through the sophisticated use of propaganda.

Followers are persuaded to give up many civil liberties so their leader is not held back in his ability to “get things done.”

Fascist Ideology

Fascists are against a lot of things.

• They hate socialists, don’t like liberals, and frown on conservatives.
• They are not fond of foreigners and are suspicious of immigrants.
• They see democracy as a messy interference in the leader’s ability to make their country great again.
• They are opposed to an open media, especially when it is critical of the leader, who discredits journalism and then finds ways to shut down a free press.

Here are a few definitions of fascism:

• Writing for The Telegraph, Tim Stanley points out: “The thinker and historian Ernst Nolte argued that fascism was the great ‘anti’ philosophy that united people frightened by social and economic change: anti-Semitic, anti-socialist, anti-feminist, anti-democracy.”
• Fascism plays on emotions stirred up by a leader who appeals “to popular desires and prejudices rather than by using rational argument.” (Dictionary.com)
• Historian George L. Mosse called fascism a “scavenger ideology.” By this he meant that it picks up bits and pieces from other ideologies and patches them together; there is no well-planned body of thought.
• It is built around the myth of a once-great nation that has been brought low by evil forces. Fascism is also about racial purity and the use of violence as a political tool.

The Poet Who Invented Fascism

It seems odd that an ideology that is very dark should come from a poet. However, writer Gabriele D’Annunzio is seen as the architect of fascism.

More details about Gabriele D’Annunzio and the Fascist movement here:

https://soapboxie.com/world-politics/What-is-Fascism

Fascism's Rebirth

A question often asked since Donald Trump became U.S. president in January 2017 was “Is he a fascist?”

We can turn to former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright for some enlightenment. She had a long and distinguished career as a politician and diplomat. As a child in Czechoslovakia, she lived through the fascist dictatorships that tore Europe apart in World War II.

In April 2018, she published her book Fascism: A Warning. In it she saw a rise in the popularity of the strongman leader and authoritarianism. Racism was growing and she saw worrying similarities between Trump and the fascists of the 20th century.

Trump certainly has the instincts of a fascist, but Eliot Cohen says people should not be too worried about that. The former State Department official has written that Trump is “… too incompetent to be a successful fascist.”