Re:Americans Have Lost Sight of What 'Fascism' Means
by astine on Sunday October 25, 2020 @09:53AM
(#24886268)
There were over a dozen largely incompatible definitions of fascism on the page you linked and you cherry picked the one you happened to agree with. I feel like that sort of proves the author's point when says the word is applied too opportunistically.
Re:Americans Have Lost Sight of What 'Fascism' Means
by nabla9 on Sunday October 25, 2020 @10:46AM
(#24886675)
Most definitions point to the same direction. Just different wordings.
Some definition are considered better than others. Paxton's definition is one of them.
Re:Americans Have Lost Sight of What 'Fascism' Means
by leftyted on Sunday October 25, 2020 @02:10PM
(#24888472)
I think you're right. The article is talking about totalitarianism not fascism (it uses the two terms interchangeably).
Still, most of the article's points stand: "fascist" is used to mean "bully," something that Orwell pointed out in the 40s. If you're going to call Tom Cotton a "fascist" then you should also call any mouthpiece of the CCP "fascist".
Fascism is reactionary phenomenon that emerges from democracy failing. You should look signs of it in democracies like the US, not stable authoritarian regime like China. They don't become fascist just because they do ethnic genocide.
Chinese are firmly suppressed under the thumb of communist party and Xi. There is no energetic mass movement and energy of fascism.
Paxtons five stages of fascism:
1. Intellectual exploration, where disillusionment with popular democracy manifests itself in discussions of lost national vigor
2. Rooting, where a fascist movement, aided by political deadlock and polarization, becomes a player on the national stage
3. Arrival to power, where conservatives seeking to control rising leftist opposition invite fascists to share power
4. Exercise of power, where the movement and its charismatic leader control the state in balance with state institutions such as the police and traditional elites such as the clergy and business magnates.
5. Radicalization or entropy, where the state either becomes increasingly radical, as did Nazi Germany, or slips into traditional authoritarian rule, as did Fascist Italy.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Definitions_of_fascism