Characteristics of Fascism

Someone I have known a long time recently asserted– wrongly– that the Trump administration is not engaging in fascist behavior so I collected lists.

I’m too tired to always argue, to argue that all boxes for all definitions must be checked, to argue the source and semantics of a particular list of behaviors, or to provide the daily examples.

In the future will just refer to this page before blocking.

Open Culture: Umberto Eco’s list of the 14 common features of Fascism (archive.ph)

• Cult of tradition
• Rejection of Modernism
• Cult of action for action’s sake
• Disagreement is treason
• Fear of difference
• Appeal to social frustration
• The enemy is both strong and weak
• Pacifism is trafficking with the enemy
• Contempt for the weak
• Everybody is educated to become a hero
• Machismo and weaponry
• Selective populism
• Ur-Fascism speaks Newspeak

Political Science Blog: Ten Characteristics that Define Fascism (archive.ph)

• Opposition to Marxism
• Opposition to Political and Cultural Liberalism
• Glorification of the State
• Extreme Nationalism
• Imperialism
• Opposition to Parliamentary Democracy
• Totalitarian Ambition
• Millitary Values
• Acceptance of Racism
• Economic Policies that are conservative
• Mass Mobilisation
• Education as Character Building

Laurence W. Britt in Free Inquiry (archive.ph)

• Powerful and Continuing Nationalism
• Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights
• Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause
• Supremacy of the Military
• Rampant Sexism
• Controlled Mass Media
• Obsession with National Security
• Religion and Government are Intertwined
• Corporate Power is Protected
• Labor Power is Suppressed
• Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts
• Obsession with Crime and Punishment
• Rampant Cronyism and Corruption
• Fraudulent Elections