fascism is immensely dangerous but fascism is also probably the most egregiously and frequently misused word in political discourse certainly in America anyways this combination is a huge problem I'll get more into that later but for now I believe it is irresponsible and cheap to recklessly throw this word around as a partisan attack or a sensational headline instead We should strive to understand history's most violently destructive political ideology and we should learn to identify fascism in an accurate honest way only then can we realistically keep fascism out of our modern systems of governance so with all
that said let's get started if you're looking for a really quick effective definition of fascism that's too bad such a thing simply does not exist fascism cannot be holistically summarized by one sentence quips or turns of phrases Roger Griffin is perhaps the historian who's accepted to have gotten the closest saying fascism is a genus of political ideology whose Mythic core and its various permutations it's a palogenetic form of populist Ultra nationalism Pelon genetic here as in The Rebirth of a Nation a revolution although elegant and accurate Griffin's definition is a simplification that isn't functionally very
useful this definition alone doesn't make it any easier to pick out a fascist regime a succinct definition of fascism has indeed eluded historians for decades for a lot of reasons people will often begin this conversation with the etymology of the word fascism it is derived from an Italian word for a bundle of sticks then you could say that one stick is easily broken whereas a bundle or stronger when United this strength and unity accurately describes fascism yes but it also accurately describes a huge number of other political systems that have existed throughout history in fact
you could argue that the point of all political systems is to create strength through Unity so this discussion doesn't really do much for us another thing we should not do is Define a political Movement by the particulars of its incarnations in this video I will give examples of fascism being applied in real life but I will not say because Mussolini wrote X Y and Z fascism as a whole means x y and z just like America's electoral college does not define democracy the methodologies used by specific fascist regimes do not Define fascism instead we need
to look at what ideologically and functionally these regimes have in common this generic version of fascism though only exists as an abstract concept the term is not intended to be an iron-clad box but rather a framework under which to further analyze individual political movements for example Nazism was quite different from Italian fascism but they were both generically fascist extreme nationalism is the core tenet of fascism which inherently makes the word difficult to Define each nation has its own values identity and cultural idiosyncrasies an English fascist Utopia would look very different from a Mexican fascist Utopia
by contrast something like democracy does not inherently lean into national identity so it manifests similarly wherever it is implemented fascism by its nature is different everywhere it appears there's also no Universal end goal for fascist regimes marxists work towards a classless society anarchists work towards a stateless society there is no single clear-cut objective of a fascist regime other than the vague emotionally charged idea of a nation's greatness more than a single practical objective fascist movements are decidedly negative by this I mean fascism specifically espouses what it hates few movements are as purely negative as fascism
which claims to be anti-individualist anti-liberal anti-conservative anti-democratic anti-marxist and anti-capitalist but fascist ideology is not so specific about what it supports and in practice fascist movements have acted in disagreement with these aforementioned anties which even further muddies the water fascism is really a set of philosophies and methods and these things also appear in a bunch of other non-fascist systems of governance so it's easy to see something that is present in fascist regimes and then assign that thing itself as the definition of fascism for example if a political party is trying to silence their opposition that
alone does not make them fascists despite that being a tool used by fascists now with all that said we can still identify fascism fascist regimes whether they came to power or not have things in common we can break down the ideology of fascism in a meaningful way just takes some patience in his book fascism comparison and definition historian Stanley G Payne offers this table to explain fascism more than any single sentence or definition this table effectively communicates what fascism is again though this is not a Hardline Ironclad definition but rather it provides a framework for
a generic idea of fascism fascism is built on an idealistic almost utopian approach to extreme nationalism fascism says with this philosophy alone a society can build itself into a great nation in charge of its own destiny and United by the blood of its people this extreme sense of national greatness is the heartbeat of fascism fascism promises to create a new culture and a new nation which is capable of achieving greatness in ways that previous societies simply could not does not promise Improvement but instead a whole new paradigm of existence for a nation fascism further seeks
to radically change a nation's relationship with other nations this could come in the form of imperialist expansion but it does not have to within fascist framework this great new nation operates under an authoritarian state which is not based on any preceding models or government structures the people must submit to the party economically fascism rejects the Marxist ideas of a classless society instead it places value on the elite class but looks to replace former Democratic thinking elites with its own set of decision makers fascist economies are multi-class and highly regulated though may exist under several categorizations
there's no unifying economic system that can be assigned to all fascist regimes fascists Express a positive opinion of violence and willingness to engage in violence and War aside from the belief in violence to enact the will of the state fascists see violence in itself as therapeutic they believe violent darwinian struggle wherein Only the Strong Survive is necessary to the continuing of a successful Nation these together form the core ideology behind generic Fascism and next as pain does in his work we can look at the methods fascists use to achieve these goals fascism provides ways to
organize and execute its plans again taken individually these methods can be found in other non-fascist regimes but collectively they make up the generic fascist methodology the first is mass mobilization fascists are not interested in controlling a small sector of Elites like many other political movements are instead fascists seek to revolutionize Society from the bottom up by mobilizing the masses towards their own common goal Mussolini himself famously said our myth is the nation our myth is the greatness of the nation fascism looks to sweep people into a frenzy fascism exalts a leader as a messiah in
a way that intentionally mirrors religious experiences the state intends to replace traditional religion with a secular Civic religion the state is the religion to do this the state creates a series of myths that unify the fascist Elites and the people over which they rule most famously these myths have been rooted in anti-Semitism and racism but they don't always have to be this Civic religion with its myths and its Mission become the driving force of existence for the people it diminishes or entirely destroys the role of actual supernatural-based religious principles to help create this Civic religion
fascists emphasize the use of Aesthetics including symbols architecture and Design this is to elicit an intense emotional response in the same way that religious institutions often have all mass movements have their own symbols but fascism places and obsessive emphasis on visually distinct things and events like marches ceremonies meetings and symbology the idea here is to build a Mystique that fully envelops participants creating not just a political movement but a spiritual movement again the state is the religion true fascist regimes are made up of men and pay almost no attention to women's rights or gender equality
fascism obsesses with the perceived strength of the male gender this likely stems from fascism's need for constant struggle for unending Revolution and violence the fascist notion is that men are the predominant force in society and women naturally take a subservient Place more broadly fascism also espouses that these sectors of a society men women children Etc Define and limit the rights of those individuals because fascism is inherently revolutionary and ceased to provide Nations a rebirth youth is specifically exalted over members of older Generations in a literal sense the youth are the future of a Nation but
the daring action-taking sensibilities of a fascist Revolution appeal to the youth in a way that can be less interesting to older more pragmatic people there is also authoritarian command all movements rely on charismatic leaders but fascism is unique in that it combines populism with elitism fascism looks to appeal to the masses to the entire people of the nation while also emphasizing the role of an elite Messianic figure fascism leans into the function of this leadership rather than party lines or specific procedural doctrines this leadership figure may be elected but the participants of fascism must ultimately
subordinate to him alongside this fascism dictates that leaders should militarize government institutions goal here being a party militia one military force that represents defends and executes the will of the party this militia also serves in the aesthetic function of fascism it is part of everyday life in a fascist regime together these are the methodologies behind fascist movements and so now we have a functioning framework and understanding of what fascism is but in honesty this sounds like an objectively unenjoyable Society so how could it possibly have come to be what conditions could produce fascist sympathies Sunday
March 23 1919 a group of 100 Italians gathered in the Milan Industrial and Commercial Alliance led by Benito Mussolini there Mussolini formed his fascist organization people often credit Mussolini with naming fascism on this day alongside him similar groups were coming together all across Europe Mussolini's idea was not unique the Great War had created strains on Europe that existing institutions simply could not solve indeed this war was the most significant and immediate thing to fuel the rise of fascism at the time Europe was believed to be the most civilized part of the globe so the idea
of War breaking out much less the brutality the Great War simply unimaginable when the Great War slaughtered an entire generation of men people felt like European civilization was crumbling by the time the war was over it had wreaked such Havoc that Europeans felt the old world was unsalvageable whatever promises Europe had of peace and prosperity were quickly forgotten meanwhile they disagreed intensely about the future of this new world after the Great War three political ideals were competing for influence over the globe liberalism conservatism and communism liberals believe that each Nation could basically determine their own
Fates and exist in harmony LED in part by U.S President Woodrow Wilson they argued that no real external force would be needed for future peacekeeping conservatives were mostly silent but believed that Armed Forces should continue to handle relations between nations and then there was the Communist Regime installed by the Bolsheviks in Russia Lenin wanted all nations to set democracy aside and adopt his ideology he wanted Nations to create temporary dictatorial parties to install this model into a worldwide communist Society none of these three parties had total success Wilson's liberalism came in the form of Peace
treaties that had been pushed into a conservative Direction by other world powers liberals nor conservatives were ultimately satisfied with the result Lenin's plan meanwhile was contained within Russia pretty quickly and with all three ideas seeming to fail there was room for a fourth although just an anecdote the words of Italian Soldier italobal spoke to the climate in Europe after the war when I returned home from the war just like so many others I hated politics and politicians who had betrayed the hopes of soldiers reducing Italy to a Shameless peace I'd rather deny everything destroy everything
to renew everything from the foundations Balboa would later become Benito Mussolini's right-hand man in his fascist regime fascism promised to settle territorial conflicts by letting the strong prevail unlike conservatives fascist strength was not just military but instead a combination of armed forces and National fervor liberals wanted to keep the peace through self-determination but fascists didn't want to keep the peace at all they said that war would weed out the weak allowing unified Nations to have dominion over divided irresolute weaker Nations to Lenin's argument about class struggle fascist said the true struggle was between the clean
genetically pure members of the United Nation and those people of lesser divided Nations by eliminating the alien and impure the people would be United together by their nationality all this came at just the right time because fascism was not just a product of War but also of unique cultural and intellectual circumstances foreign Liberty reason and Harmony were some of fascism's greatest enemies fascism was not the first to aggressively question these values the time there was a host of writers intellectuals and academics that inspired Europe's early fascist movements the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche has been given the
dubious title being fascism's intellectual grandfather on an emotional level there's a case to be made Nietzsche's writings carry a decidedly hard and even angry independence of spirit God was dead Christianity powerless and science false Nietzsche wrote about the downfall of modern society a downfall in which fascists would later find their rise but more accurately The Thinker Georges Sorel was a tremendous influence on early fascists like Mussolini Sorel wrote about the concept of a grand myth as a galvanizing idea that people could attach themselves to this myth he said was so powerful that it could inspire
people to perform well outside of their typical everyday duties could fuel revolutions and remember fascism is fundamentally revolutionary Gustav leban was an author who published the crowd a study of the popular mind in 1895. in this book the bond looks at how passions can fuel crowds to act irrationally and how crowd psychology makes large groups of people especially easy to manipulate during this time politics were becoming more populist the regular people were getting involved so controlling these people crowds could yield immense power see how this would be appealing to early fascists Freudian Psychology was also
beginning to take hold in popular culture this approach discussed how these subconscious can irrationally affect human behavior this helped to undermine traditional liberal values values that said people should simply choose through reason What policies were best for their own lives but the fascists asked if the human mind was subject to irrational action how could liberal democracy ever be trusted meanwhile a group of popular writers were beginning to rethink other Traditional Values like race and Nation specifically the idea of race became married to a more significant biological meaning Francis Galton the cousin of Charles Darwin stated
that mankind had the power to improve the human race by encouraging only the best to reproduce Galton quite literally invented the word Eugenics this set the framework for later ideas of Master races in which Aryans who by the way aren't a real race Were Somehow Superior and fear also played a significant role in setting the stage for fascism there was a significant fear about the collapse of community urban sprawl began to set in Immigration increased and individualism became a more valued trait in this new landscape there was a feeling of purposeless drift wherein people did
nothing meaningful because they had no significant social ties to anyone or anything no Community immigration flourished ethnic minorities and cultural subversives were seen as a threat to National culture to conformism and again to the already endangered idea of Community National culture many thought needed to be actively defended against these people unified nationalism would have seemed like a pretty good solution there was also a fear of decadence popular author Oswald Spangler argued that societies all had natural life cycles he said that Europe was moving from a creative amazing age of culture into an age of civilization
wherein people thought only of money he advocated for a great Revolution hoping that some heroic caesar-esque character would come save Germany and Europe so you had a sharp change in the structure of politics from Elites only to mass participation then there were fears about the breakdown of community and national identity as well as the cynicism about modern thinking however to paint fascism as the direct result of some intellectual equation isn't really correct I don't know that it's honest to selectively read back people's interpretations of society and say everything was pointing towards fascism it does a
disservice to the world at the time and perhaps also the authors by cherry picking through Nisha or Sorel or leban as precursors to Fascism these author's works are seen incompletely fragmented and out of context indeed the fascists who later cited these authors is inspiration for doing just that you see anti-fascists Drew upon these people too Nietzsche inspired thinkers from both sides of the political Spectrum his writings were not uniquely appealing to fascist sensibilities Oswald Spangler who wrote about the age of civilization hated Hitler the Nazis later Drew on the work of the poet Stefan George
who wrote about a purified community of peasants led by an elite Pew but one of George's closest students Klaus Von stauffenberg tried to assassinate Hitler in 1944. cultural circumstances and the works of intellectuals gave fascism a place to exist a room to live in but they did not bring it about in reality you can't paint a logical map towards fascism because fascism simply isn't based in logic no it thrives most entirely in Emotion after escaping Nazi Germany the historian George Masa dedicated his life to finding the origins the root causes of fascism all of his
years of research led him to this conclusion fascism does not come about through intellectual societal or cultural precursors but instead through something more amorphous through mood Masa points to nine mobilizing passions as the drivers of fascism feelings within a society that build the foundation for the home of fascism they are crisis a sense of overwhelming Crisis crisis that traditional methods are entirely incapable of fixing Duty the idea that an individual has duties to a group duties that are superior in every way to every right any individual or group otherwise would have victimhood the belief that
one's group is a victim this feeling justifies virtually any action towards an enemy without any moral or legal limits decline a feeling of a group's decline or fear of that decline due to individualism liberalism class conflict or foreign influences Community the need for a closer purer Community by consent if possible but also the feeling that violence is acceptable to create this community Authority the desire for Authority by male leaders leading to a single savior figure who is alone capable of bringing about a group's desires superiority feeling that this Leader's instincts are superior to logic and
reason violence an admiration for the violence and the efficacy of willpower as they relate to one group's desires and domination the feeling that a chosen people have some biological right over another group of people and that human or Divine Law should not infringe on that right together these nine feelings Masa wrote Would mobilize fascist movements in ways that logic alone could not explain to look only at intellect ironically ignores the most powerful part of fascism as an ideology feelings indeed it is the feeling of fascism that has caused it to have such an enduring Legacy
For Better or For Worse today we get so riled up in things resembling fascism that we recklessly throw the word around and in a way that is indeed a Triumph of past fascist regimes fascism struck Humanity harder than perhaps any modern political movement in terms of physical Devastation and spiritual imprint so now perhaps justifiably we remain on high alert but the problem is when everyone is a fascist no one is a fascist personally fear that we are dangerously close to the word fascism losing its meaning entirely and when that happens the real fascists can disappear
into the Shadows duck under the crossfire all too easily they can sneak into Power exploiting our ignorance exploiting the same emotional groundwork as past fascists regimes have done the monster of fascism is not dead but the first step to killing it is learning what it looks like foreign
