This post from 2003 has made the rounds several times in recent years...

"The 14 Characteristics of Fascism" https://ratical.org/ratville/CAH/fasci14chars.html

...and I recall people reading it and saying they don't see how Donald Trump ticks the boxes.

It's all very tedious to complain about when half the electorate supports it. It makes one feel like a nag and a broken record.

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microtonal 12 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Also see Umberto Eco's 14 characteristics of fascism:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ur-Fascism

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FridayoLeary 14 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

There are clearly very many countries that tick most of those boxes. Including some that i wouldn't necessarily define as fascist. Prominent examples are China, Russia, Iran North Korea and other middle eastern countries. I'm not saying this list is incorrect, per se, but it is vague to the point of uselessness.

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brightball 14 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Authoritarianism is IMO the common thread whether you’re talking about fascism or communism.

At the root, there’s either principled freedom or control.

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thrance 14 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I mean, as far as fascist states go China, Russia and North Korea are pretty up there? In the original "14 points" [0], the author explains this is not an exhaustive checklist that makes something fascist if it ticks all of the items, and gives motivation for such a list. Go read it if you have time to, it's rather short and well written.

> Fascism became an all-purpose term because one can eliminate from a fascist regime one or more features, and it will still be recognizable as fascist. Take away imperialism from fascism and you still have Franco and Salazar. Take away colonialism and you still have the Balkan fascism of the Ustashes. Add to the Italian fascism a radical anti-capitalism (which never much fascinated Mussolini) and you have Ezra Pound. Add a cult of Celtic mythology and the Grail mysticism (completely alien to official fascism) and you have one of the most respected fascist gurus, Julius Evola.

> But in spite of this fuzziness, I think it is possible to outline a list of features that are typical of what I would like to call Ur-Fascism, or Eternal Fascism. These features cannot be organized into a system; many of them contradict each other, and are also typical of other kinds of despotism or fanaticism. But it is enough that one of them be present to allow fascism to coagulate around it.

[0] https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/umberto-eco-ur-fasci...

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thomassmith65 14 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

1930s fascism can never occur again. It was a product of its time.

But the psychology behind fascism stems from deep human quirks and is something eternal.

All those nations, except perhaps China, share the DNA. If we didn't already have names for their systems, we probably would describe them as fascistic.

What Trump has turned the American government into is closer to Fascism than to Liberal Democracy, no?

In future highschool textbooks Trump Fascism will have its own name ("Trashism" perhaps?) but it will be placed in the same chapter as the others.

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nerdponx 13 hours ago | parent | next [-]

It's inaccurate to blame Trump. He is a greedy egotistical idiot. Blaming Trump is like blaming a rock that hit you in the head. Look up and pay attention to who threw the rock. Blame them.

The Trump presidency is the culmination of a roughly 45 year campaign to return the United States to the Gilded Age, and to ensure it stays that way until it's bled dry and nothing remains of its corpse. The political and social problems that led to his second election have been a long time coming.

What's interesting is that the gaps in our political system that allow him to do so many illegal and distasteful things have always been there. The framers of the constitution never anticipated all three branches of government colluding together in alignment and bad faith, with the vociferous support of roughly half the voting population.

	▲	thomassmith65 6 hours ago \| parent [-]
		A country doesn't become fascist solely because of one man. If my previous comment implies that, I worded it poorly. If I blame anyone it's the American electorate. It's tempting to continue and discuss which phenomena I blame for the poor judgment of the average American, but that would triple the length of my comment.

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Hikikomori 12 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

That's the nature of fascism, it molds itself to fit different societies. German fascism would never have worked in America, American fascism is draped in the flag and holds the cross.