Teenagers and counter-culture youths often call authority figures or bullies, “Fascist!” The term has been so misused that many see it as a comically juvenile insult bereft of meaning. Historically, that was not always the case. Fascist ideology once inspired mass movements and led to a World War. Some social scientists and historians even warn that the U.S. is sliding into its own version of fascism, as observers see occurring in Poland, Italy, and Hungary. In 2017, every news outlet flashed scenes of fascists marching with torches during the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. Among left-leaning activists, punching fascists is a celebrated act. But from where does fascism derive it’s meaning and how would we recognize it today?
Benito Mussolini coined the word fascism from the Latin word fasces, which was a bundle of sticks (or rods) with an ax thrusting out of them used in ancient Rome to symbolize 1) strength in unity—since sticks bound together are stronger than single ones; and 2) the power of the state to hand out corporal punishment—since the sticks could flog, and the ax can behead. Fasces were as common in fascist Italy under Mussolini as swastikas were in Hitler’s Germany.
Simple definitions of fascism tend to be either so broad that they could describe nearly any modern state, or so narrow that Mussolini’s Italy or Hitler’s Germany would not fit. Since there is no equivalent of Karl Marx’s Communist Manifesto for fascists1, and standard dictionary accounts are so incomplete, modern scholars identify features common to fascist regimes when explaining it.2 Scholars also note that, at its core, fascism is a nationalist ideology, so it takes on a different character in every country where it takes root. Some features may be muted or nearly absent, without taking away the fascist nature of an ideology, regime, or movement.
Twenty General Features of Fascist Movements
1. Ultra-Nationalism
Fascists demand extreme or fanatical loyalty or devotion to a nation. Such movements promote flag-waving, militarism, and glorification of the homeland.
2. Opposition to Communism
Fascists portray themselves as defenders of private enterprise against the enemy of communism. The fear of communism in any variety from democratic socialism to Leninism is used by fascist ideologues to attract new members.
3. Irrationalism
Fascists reject reason as the central motivator of people’s behaviors. Instead, they embrace myth, intuition, and emotion—in short, “going with one’s gut.”
4. Social Darwinism and Rejection of Welfare
Social Darwinism applies the theory of survival of the fittest to politics and economics. As such social Darwinists emphasize the necessity of life to be a struggle and promote capitalism so that through competition, the strong are rewarded with wealth and power. Since Social Darwinists detest the weak, they also utterly reject welfare programs.
5. Racism
Combined with their ultranationalist outlook, fascists view those who make up the ethnic majority of a nation as superior.
6. Cult of Personality of Leadership
A cult of the leader is when a leader’s image is idealized as heroic and larger than life. The leader represents the true “will of the people” and the “chosen one” who will save the people from their enemies, punish the decadent, and return the nation to greatness. Rallies and parades are common techniques used by fascist regimes to magnify the image of the leader.
7. Extreme Patriarchy
Fascists exalt stereotypical male traits and subjugate women.
8. Merging of Church and State (God and Country)
Under fascism, a primitive fundamentalist religion props up the ideology of the Nation.
9. Fascist Version of Meritocracy
Rather than democratically electing leaders, fascists believe the rulers should be those deemed “the best”—as proven by success in business and by the grace of belonging to the dominant race.
10. Reverse Socialism
Fascists install an economic system in which corporate losses are subsidized, and profits are privatized. Public funds help the wealthy get wealthier, and if a business fails, it is bailed out by the government.
11. Rejection of Decadence and Cultural Liberalism
Fascists reject everything they define as decadent–which they loosely define as attitudes and behavior that embrace multi-culturalism, democracy, feminism, LGBTQ+ rights, secularism, modernism, and physical or moral softness.
12. Anti-Urbanism
Fascists glorify the strength and purity of the “pure” country-folk and despise decadent, city-dwellers. Anti-urbanism is the idea behind the Nazi slogan, “Blood and Soil.”
13. Anti-Unionism and the Ennoblement of Management
The fascist interpretation of social Darwinism considers managers as those fittest to lead, and posits that workers should derive “joy” for having the honor of working under them—even it means with low pay and meager benefits. A corollary is that fascists ban trade unions and outlaw worker strikes. Part of the natural “social hierarchy” according to such an interpretation of social Darwinism is that management is the natural superior of the worker.
14. Scapegoating
Blaming those outside the dominant culture for the nation’s woes is a trait seen in fascist movements. Traditional scapegoats include immigrants as well as racial, sexual, and religious minorities.
15. Populism
Populists promote a narrative in which an evil, governing “elite” fails to produce a promised prosperity, which then requires a strong leader to drive them out of power.
16. Autarky and Protectionism
Under the principle of autarky, or self-reliance, foreign trade is discouraged as it is perceived to makes a nation too dependent.
17. Dogmatism
Since fascist movements offer solutions that they claim would lead to a prosperous and pure nation, disagreement with the party line is considered treason.
18. Conspiracist Ideation
Frustrated segments of society are told they are victims of large domestic and international plots to take away a way of life they hold dear. Conspirators often take the form of globalists, urban intellectuals, and minorities.
19. Palingenetic Myth and National Rebirth
A palingenetic myth promotes the idea that a strong and heroic leader is necessary for a renewal that returns a nation to a nostalgic, idyllic past and to wipe away corruption and decadence. In contemporary parlance, there is a need to “make the country great again.”
20. Corporatism
In a corporatist system, the economic sphere is divided up into vast cartels. Under corporatism, the state helps with investment and development costs. The heads of industry have state positions in the government, leading the direction of the overall economy in advisory boards. Under corporatism, individuals are reduced to the role of secondary participants in their government. Citizens belonged to professional or expert groups—their corporations—and the state is run by ongoing negotiations between those various interests.
Corporatism promotes an alternative to democracy by providing for society’s desires and welfare by its emphasis on meritocracy and market forces. Ultimate power lay in the hands of the investors, owners, banks, and businesses. It was promoted in the 1930s as an economic arrangement that avoided the extremes of laissez-faire, libertarian economics that created the Great Depression, and Communism, so feared by the bourgeoisie.
Conclusion
As can be surmised from the list of features common among fascist movements, despite common themes that run through them (ideas of manliness and contempt of the weak) and their populist narratives, varieties of fascism exist. The differences between fascist groups have even led to fighting between them. By knowing common features they share, one can identify the difference between a mere bully and a full-fledged fascist. So, before punching a fascist, you might want first check to see if they hold a majority of the views in the list above!
Suggested Reading
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Umberto Eco “Ur-fascism” The New York Review of Books 42, no. 11 (1995): 12-15.
Griffin, Roger. The Nature of Fascism. St. Martin’s Press, 1991
Paxton, Robert O. The Anatomy of Fascism. Vintage, 2007.
Footnotes
1 Giovanni Gentile attempted to become the “philosopher of fascism” and ghostwrote part of The Doctrine of Fascism (1932) with Benito Mussolini and wrote the Manifesto of the Fascist Intellectuals. However, his work was too dry for it to inspire future fascists. His main contributions were the ideas of corporatism, Philosopher Kings, autarchy, and rejection of democracy. Hitler’s Mein Kampf did not lay out much in the way of ideology other than outlining Germany’s “historic destiny” and Hitler’s antisemitism, opposition to Communism, distaste for democracy, and his desire to create a “New Order” that would restore Germany to its former greatness.
2 One of the most prominent lists were made by Umberto Ecco, who famously made a list of fourteen traits in “Ur-Fascism,” another was created by Robert Paxton, who lists seven “mobilizing passions” that drive fascist regimes in his Five Stages of Fascism.
This is an excellent piece that covers all the points I’ve been raising in discussions about whether this nation is headed in a fascist direction under current Republican Party control over our government.
Thank you!