About Fascism…

Some are calling the coming years as being about fascism. The world seems to be so obsessed with fear in one form or another to cause it to turn to fascism. The Trump election is a significant sign in that direction. So, for this post I decided to tackle just was fascism is about and to look its past for possible indication to the future.

Lets start of with what Wikipedia says about it:

Fascism opposes liberalism, Marxism and anarchism and is usually placed on the far-right within the traditional left–right spectrum. …

Fascists believe that liberal democracy is obsolete, and they regard the complete mobilization of society under a totalitarian one-party state as necessary to prepare a nation for armed conflict and to respond effectively to economic difficulties.   Such a state is led by a strong leader—such as a dictator and a martial government composed of the members of the governing fascist party—to forge national unity and maintain a stable and orderly society Fascism rejects assertions that violence is automatically negative in nature, and views political violence, war, and imperialism as means that can achieve national rejuvenation.  Fascists advocate a mixed economy, with the principal goal of achieving autarky (economic independence) through protectionist and interventionist economic policies. …

Robert Paxton says that fascism is “a form of political behavior marked by obsessive preoccupation with community decline, humiliation, or victimhood and by compensatory cults of unity, energy, and purity, in which a mass-based party of committed nationalist militants, working in uneasy but effective collaboration with traditional elites, abandons democratic liberties and pursues with redemptive violence and without ethical or legal restraints goals of internal cleansing and external expansion.”…

In Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany, both Mussolini and Hitler pursued territorial expansionist and interventionist foreign policy agendas from the 1930s through the 1940s culminating in World War II.

Source: Fascism – Wikipedia

The above quotes are just pieces from the article to start our conversation.  I “bolded” the topics I want to discuss.

Fascism is a one-party government led by a dictator who has almost supreme control. He is almost thought to be the savior of the world by the fascists.  Fascism is primarily about an obsessive preoccupation with community decline. Doesn’t that sound an awfully like the rhetoric coming from the Trump camp during the campaign. “Make America Great Again” insinuates that we have lost our ability to do what is right and need a strong leader to put us back on the right track.

Of course the primary fascists of the 20th century were Hitler and Mussolini. Hitler was convinced that the Jews were primarily responsible for the fall of Germany and with his dictatorial power went about trying to totally destroy that population.  The similarities are there between what happened then and the “build a wall” or “ban Muslims” to keep out the terrorists mantra occurring today.

Our democracy is  fragile and is not a sure thing at all.  Given the current feelings from many in this country we could easily slip into fascism if we don’t guard against it. I hope the present doesn’t mirror the past in this regard.  Personal liberties, which are a bedrock of any democracy can be stripped away quickly if we are not careful…