The 10 tactics of fascism | Jason Stanley | Big Think

Fascism is a cult of the leader, who promises national restoration in the face of supposed humiliation by immigrants, leftists, liberals, minorities, homosexuals, women, in the face of what the fascist leader says is a takeover of the country’s media, cultural institutions, schools by these forces.

Fascist movements typically, though not invariably, rest on an urban/rural divide. The cities are where there’s decadence, where the elites congregate, where there’s immigrants, and where there’s criminality.

Each of these individuals alone is not in and of itself fascist, but you have to worry when they’re all grouped together, seeing the other as less than. Those moments are the times when societies need to worry about fascism.

Read the video transcript: https://bigthink.com/videos/what-is-f…

 

05:56
Loyalty to the dominant group means law-abidingness.
06:00
And the minority group is by its nature not law-abiding.
06:06
Law and order in fascist politics means the members
06:10
of a minority group who accept their subservient role,
06:15
they’re law-abiding,
06:16
and the members of the dominant group
06:18
by their very nature are law-abiding.
06:20
By definition, the leader can’t violate law and order.
06:24
So law and order doesn’t mean justice.
06:27
Law and order doesn’t mean equality.
06:29
Law and order structures who’s legitimate and who’s not.
06:35
Everywhere around the world,
06:36
no matter what the situation is,
06:39
in very different socioeconomic conditions,
06:42
the fascist leader comes and tells you,
06:44
“Your women and children are under threat.
06:46
You need a strong man to protect your families.”
06:50
They make conservatives hysterically afraid
06:53
of transgender rights or homosexuality,
06:57
other ways of living.
06:58
These are not people trying to live their own lives.
07:02
They’re trying to destroy your life,
07:03
and they’re coming after your children.
07:05
What the fascist politician does is they take conservatives
07:09
who aren’t fascist at all, and they say,
07:11
“Look, I know you might not like my ways.
07:14
You might think I’m a womanizer.
07:16
You might think I’m violent in my rhetoric.
07:18
But you need someone like me now.
07:20
You need someone like me ’cause homosexuality,
07:23
it isn’t just trying for equality.
07:25
It’s coming after your family.”
07:29
Fascist movements typically, though not invariably,
07:33
rest on an urban/rural divide.
07:36
The cities are where there’s decadence,
07:38
where the elites congregate, where there’s immigrants,
07:42
there’s criminality, there’s Sodom and Gomorrah.
07:45
In the city, there’s not real work.
07:48
The pure, hard-working, real members of the nation live
07:53
in the rural areas, where they work hard with their hands.
07:57
When our politicians talk about inner-city voters
08:00
or urban voters, we all know what they mean.
08:05
Arbeit macht frei, “Work shall make you free.”
08:08
This was written on the gates of Auschwitz.
08:11
The idea is that the minority group, they’re lazy,
08:16
and they need to be made to work.
08:17
Free labor.
08:19
The minority group and the leftists,
08:21
they’re lazy by their nature,
08:23
and it gives them a work ethic.
08:25
Labor unions are run by communists
08:28
who are trying to make things easier.
08:30
Hard work is a virtue.
08:32
In liberal democracy,
08:34
we don’t value people by how hard they work.
08:37
What would happen to disabled people who can’t work?
08:40
They would then have no value.
08:41
It’s why the Nazis had the T4 program to murder the disabled
08:46
because the disabled were Lebenunwertes Leben,
08:50
life unworthy of life,
08:52
because to be valued was to be capable of hard work.
08:56
Each of these individual elements is not
08:58
in and of itself fascist,
09:00
but you have to worry when they’re all grouped together,
09:03
when honest conservatives are lured into fascism
09:06
by people who tell them, “Look, it’s an existential fight.
09:09
I know you don’t accept everything we do.
09:12
You don’t accept every doctrine.
09:14
But your family is under threat.
09:16
Your family is at risk.
09:17
So without us, you’re in peril.”
09:20
Those moments are the times
09:23
when we need to worry about fascism.