(ELI5) what actually is a facist
In: Other
Here is the definition given by Timothy Snyder in a live interview (39 minutes into [this interview](https://wakingup.libsyn.com/301-the-politics-of-unreality-ukraine-and-nuclear-risk)):
“Fascism is the idea that it’s not rationality that is the basis on which we build politics, it is will and imagination; that rules are not the basis upon which we interact, we interact on the basis of strength; strength is always proven as a matter of practice, therefore endless conflict is entirely normal; and given all that, politics begins not with any kind of mutual recognition, but with the choice of an enemy: “when I choose my enemy, then I know who I am, and the moment I’ve chosen an enemy, that’s when politics can actually begin.”
honestly it depends entirely on what you want it to mean and why it matters to you what it means. do you accept old definitions of the word that were established by the people who created their own political ideology and actually ran governments while openly and proudly self identifying as fascists (this is going to be more than one definition as there was more than one fascist nation. for example italian and german fascism were not identical and german fascism came second decades later), or do you want to believe newer definitions that have been altered to be more vague to encompass people nowadays who don’t fit the classical definitions, but people want to call them fascists anyway because that’s a somewhat effective political weapon so they’ve reworked a newer definition with broader and vaguer stipulations to apply to their political enemies where older definitions would have disqualified them because of a lot of specific factors they don’t meet.
basically as long as everyone isn’t agreeing on one definition regardless of whether that definition is politically expedient to them personally, the word means whatever anyone wants it to mean while they’re using it. whether or not this renders the word worthless and meaningless as a political descriptor is also up to your personal feelings to dictate.
“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. 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 in order to limit critical reasoning.
Wikipedia has great articles on all those ideologies, and here is a snippet from fascism.
“Fascism (/ˈfæʃɪzəm/ FASH-iz-əm) is a far-right, authoritarian, ultranationalist political ideology and movement, characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hierarchy, subordination of individual interests for the perceived good of the nation or race, and strong regimentation of society and the economy.”
It’s classist, racist, sexist, and believes in the divine right of leaders to take anything they want by what ever means is necessary. Persons living under fascism have no rights other than what the leaders grant them at this exact moment and that may change on a whim.
Idiots love this ideology because they all think that one day they will be king and get their chance to rape and pillage – which never happens because people don’t get to change their class rank by any means in this system other than armed revolt.
The response to this was socialism where first the higher ranked citizens (dukes, earls, etc) revoked some of the deadly rights of the king and over time the average citizenry gained human rights too.
Complete idiots cry about getting these human rights and want them to be revoked so that the leader can wield infinite power again. Examples are the absolute morons who vote away their own right to what are often live saving procedures or protections thinking that only other people will be affected. The problem is; there are no other people!
Right wing oppressive/authoritarian regimes like the Nazis. Idealogy of sacrificing individual liberties for a traditional order/society.
This is in contrast to left wing authoritarian regimes like the Soviets. Idealogy of sacrificing individual liberties in order to overturn an upper class and replace traditional order/economic systems.
ELI5: There is no universally agreed upon definition. Different scholars have offered different definitions and some gain more traction than others (especially on Reddit). In practice, it tends to be a “know it when I see it” situation.
The fact is, even when the self-described fascist governments of the 1930’s came together to form an international fascist conference, even *they* could not agree to a universal definition of fascism.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1934_Montreux_Fascist_conference
In the 90s, there was a lot of discussion about the negative impact of pornography on American society. One politician, when pressed to define what is pornography (given the obvious infringement on first amendment rights from a broad ban on pornography), said “I know it when I see it.”
Fascism is likely to have a similar undefinable definition. Most broadly, I’d venture that a fascist is someone who forces someone else to do something for their own purposes. But it’s also implicitly bound up with other qualities that are not exclusive to fascism, such as power, willingness to cause bodily harm, nationalist symbolism, disdain of heterogeneity… etc.
However, you might be seeing fascists everywhere if you thought fascists simply forced others to do things for them.
Powerful and Continuing Nationalism
Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.
Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights
Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of “need.” The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc.
Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause
The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial , ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, etc.
Supremacy of the Military
Even when there are widespread domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized.
Rampant Sexism
The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Opposition to abortion is high, as is homophobia and anti-gay legislation and national policy.
Controlled Mass Media
Sometimes to media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation, or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in war time, is very common.
Obsession with National Security
Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.
Religion and Government are Intertwined
Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the government’s policies or actions.
Corporate Power is Protected
The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.
Labor Power is Suppressed
Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are either eliminated entirely, or are severely suppressed .
Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts
Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education, and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts is openly attacked, and governments often refuse to fund the arts.
Obsession with Crime and Punishment
Under fascist regimes, the police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses and even forego civil liberties in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations.
Rampant Cronyism and Corruption
Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders.
Fraudulent Elections
Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections.
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Not even fascist themselves agree on what define fascism. There was a meeting of fascist groups prior to WW2, and they almost came to blows trying to define themselves.
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