The Politics of "Us VS Them"

A cult of the leader; promising national restoriation in the face of alleged disgrace. If this were an episode of Jeopardy the correct response to this phrase would be "What is Fascism?". In the eyes of the fascist leader, the so-called "disgrace" comes from the political & social outsiders (immigrants, leftists, minorities, women, LGBTQ+, etc.) & they carry out their agendas by means of a hypothetical takeover of a country's media, schools, and cultural instituions. The fascist leader decietfully peddles the necessity of a masculine, charismatic, powerful, and sometimes a very violent response; saying that he will be the ultimate solution. Fascism by it's very nature is right-winged, and rooted in the concepts of ultra-nationalism. Though, it must be made very clear that ultra-nationalism isn't exclusively right-winged. There are a pletora of ultra-nationalist movements of minority groups. There is such a thing as left-winged authroitarianism, as seen with the countrys and governments ruled by such terrible figures like Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, Josip Tito, Pol Pot, and the Kim family; who (combining the numbers together) killed people in the tens of millions. There are bad things on the Left. However, not all these terrible things mentioned are fascist. It's a very specific ideological sysytem, and when thinking about it, it must the thought about in it's entirety; never in these particular & seperate parts, here or there. They come as a collective. Dare I say a "ten piece body". By the time we're done here, we will examine each of these pieces to gain a better understanding of the anatomy of fascism. How this extreme system works to only ruin society under the guise of repair.

PIECE #1 - The Fabled Past

Also known as "the mythic past", all nationalist groups and movements hold to an idealized, or even fantastical notion of what things were like "before now". People who say "Look. We're Italians who spoke Italian, and we worked the vineyards, and another group of Italians rowed the gondolas. How wonderful it was for us all to be Italian together." are discussing a healthy form of the fabled past. The fabled past becomes toxic when the fascist comes in and says "In the past, we were great. Our greatness was in our poltical & military might. A time when the dominant racial group ruled over others, and those others have taken our greatness away. The leftists & commnists who want to weaken our military; weaken our national identity".

PIECE #2 - The Propaganda Machine

By no means is the use of propaganda anything new. Every ideology under the sun has used it & we still see it today. The main message, no matter what ideology, is something other than the information you're conveying. Fascist propraganda, on the other hand, is different. It works on the structure of a friend/enemy classification. The enemies are the poltical opponents. They are a menace to your very existance & your traditions. They are "the other". When they are in power, they sabotage the nation like a virus infecting your health & well being. They are fundamentally oppositional to the nation's goals.

PIECE #3 - Anti-intellectualism

To quote Adolf Hitler's manifesto Mein Kampf, "Science is only useful insofar that it strenghtens the nation."

In fascism, the individual leader (the visual face of the movement), sets the standards as to what's factual and what isn't. Any kind of expertise or reality becomes an obstacle to the leader's authority. If academia serves to confirm their biases, then it becomes one of their political assets. If academia teaches multiple perspectives on history, in all it's complexity, that asset suddenly becomes a political liability.

PIECE #4 - Crushing the Catalysts of Reality

The foundation of a democratic society is a depence on reality. A person isn't free if they have been sold a lie. Nobody believes that the people of a country like Cuba or North Korea are free, because they will vote for their one "true" leader, or their one "true" party, every single time. They have been hoodwinked. It's not a free election, because the populous doesn't have access to the facts. Equality, on a similar note, requires that very same dependence on reality as democracy does. Both of these things in conjunction, don't mean that we all have the same work salaries, the same car, the same home, or the same kind of food. They mean poltical equality; the idea that each of our voices equally matter. They mean the ability to speak the facts towards empowerment. If someone in power is shamed when getting caught in a lie, that's the nucleus of politcal equality.

In a fascist society, the one "true" leader rips the hearts out of both democracy and equality by creating an atmosphere of habituality & normalcy to the lies. Almost as if they're supposed to be a part of the system; the default setting.

PIECE #5 - The Pecking Order

In a comically cynical sort of way, all humans pretty much suck to the same degree. I may have my ways, others have their own ways. As for the "right way" it doesn't exist (philisophically speaking). One group of us is by no means better than another. It is the established hierarchy, or pecking order, which is central to fascism. It serves as the ultimate lie at the core of the agenda. What are such things like racism, sexism, xenophobia, & homophobia, but a collection of lies and delusions; advocating that one group, race, religion, or gender is better than others?

Once the artifical pecking order is set up, the fascist easily becomes able to use fear and intimidation to scare people into believing them and the objective fear of losing their position in the hierarchy. Even if it's not supported by any evidence or logic, the fearful notion that the pecking order is essential for the survival of the nation, can persuade the masses into believing it easier & faster.

PIECE #6 - Persecution

The eastablishment of the fascist pecking order, becomes the prelude of persecution. Once the masses in a fascist society are convinced of their superior status in the hierarchy, then they can also be convined that they're suddenly victims of equality; as well as pawns in a weak democracy. Historically, weve seen these across every fascist society around the world. German Chritsians being victims of the Jewish Conspiracy, Spaniards & Italians being victims of Masons & other fraternal orders, Argentinian & Chilean capitalists being victims of communists, men being victims of femenism. The list goes on & on. Once the masses are persuaded into believing in their fictitious superiority, their required loyalty to the fascist leader or party means law-abidingness; to which the perception that those who oppose the status quo are the enemies of law & order.

PIECE #7 - Order & Conformity

Order & conformity in a fascist state, means that the political opposition who accept their inferior status are orderly. The dominant group, by their nature, are orderly. Therefore, the leader gains a public perception of infallibility. To the leader, order doesn't equate to justice (nor equality). It distinguishes who's real & who isn't.

PIECE #8 - Sexual Apprehension

Throughout the globe, thoughout time, and throughout differing social/political/ecomonic enviornments, the fascist appears and proclaims that your loved ones & the things your hold dear are under threat. You need a strong MAN for your protection & guidance. They frighten the conservatives & traditionalists with horrifying visions of transgender rights, homosexuality, and other alternative cultural standards on the rise. They say that these are not ordinary people, like you and me, trying to lived out their ordinary lives. Rather, they are (according to the fascist) they are trying to "destroy" your life and are coming for your loved ones as well. This is one of ther most common methods used by fascists to indoctrinate members of the right. They concede to the point that they may not be liked for their ways, their womanizing, or violent rhetoric, but they rationaize those flaws by insisting how they are a necessity in order to stop these entities dead in their tracks.

PIECE #9 - Urban Iniquity

Fascist movements, almost unilaterally, thrive on a dichotomy between urban and rural communities. To the fascist, the cities are the modern day "Sodoms & Gomorrahs", where the elites reside, where there is debauchery, corruption, crime, immigrants, laziness, and recklessness is; multiplied and spread out across the landscape. In their minds, the only real work, is far beyond the city limits, but in the farm country. It is in those place where the "real" work is done; where the "real" workers and "pure" members of the nation are found. They work with their hands & cultivate the land. When politicans use the term "inner city voters", the fascist demands only one menaning of that term. "The fraudulent voters".

PIECE #10 Arbiet macht frei

Translated from German, means "Work shall make you free.". This phrase, posted on the gates of the concentration camps of Auschwitz & Dachau, meaning that the leftists, minority groups which pose this existential threat to the nation are by their own nature, lazy. Thus, they need to be put to work inorder to give their own existence a sense of meaning; establishing a work ethic in their minds. When really, it's an excuse to justify exploitative and free labor. If the fascist is going to claim that labor unions are secrely run by communists, trying to make things easier and more convenient for the workers, hard work becomes a virtue. In a democratic society, people don't see one another as valuable based on how hard or how little they physically work. Otherwise, people who have physical and mental disabilities would have no value at all. That's why fascist states like Nazi Germany used laws like the Law for the Prevention of Hereditarily Diseased Offspring & medical programs like T4 to kill off these populations; writing them off as "lebenunwertes leben"; life not worth living. To the fascist, being socially valuable, means to be capable of doing hard work.

IN CONCLUSION

None of these ten things are not exclsuively fascist, but whenever they are all packaged together, that's when the alarm bells need to be rung. Yet, no matter where you go, you will find people who say "Don't worry about it. There are plenty more tactics used to win power; one way or another. Why worry about these?".

In response to that, it should be said that fascist policies almost always corrodes democracy and gnaws at the basis of nationhood. Even if they don't result in a fascist government, it creates those conditions on their own. These policies of fear, deciet, and a delusional sense of necessity for national survival, fuel the social mentality of "us vs them". One of the most divisive, toxic, and dangerous mentalities there ever has been. It only stands to militarize politics and society. Once these things become militarized to the point that any sense of reconciliation becomes worthless, those who advocate facts become "the enemy" and democracy becomes impossible to exercise.