Ten Pillars of Fascist Politics

This is a condensed (2-page) version of my earlier post The Shadow King Enthroned.

Ten Pillars of Fascist Politics

Based on Jason Stanley’s How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them.

Pillar #1 - The Mythic Past

A contrived vision of a glorious, “great” past is held up as the present ideal. When nationalism turns toxic, inconvenient realities are erased, for example, attempting to overshadow the horrors of slavery through Civil War statutes evoking a heroic past; banning African American studies and Critical Race Theory; attacking same sex marriage, abortion, and everything relating to the trans community.

Pillar #2 - Propaganda

Repeated lies masquerade as the truth, creating an alternative reality. It is an intentional strategy since division, anger, and victimhood get loyalists to the polls. Dismissing the rhetoric simply as lies greatly underestimates the larger threat.

Pillar #3 - Anti-Intellectual

Since truth is an intended victim, it’s no coincidence that fascist ideology conflicts with expertise and intelligent discourse. When the very ground of intelligent debate is poisoned, what’s left is propaganda, tribal identity, and raw power. How could a mythic past be uplifted without attacking history? How to continually offer up lies without attacking journalism as “fake news”?

Pillar #4 - Unreality

All the above strategies work together to create an unreality that seeks to instill a sense of loss and victimhood. Reasoned debate and dialogue are minimum requirements for democracy that must be replaced with fear, mistrust, and anger against those deemed responsible for the loss. Conspiracy theories are a key part of the strategy.

Pillar #5 - Hierarchy

Fascism is directly opposed to core tenets of liberal democracy, such as social and political equality and freedom. Fascists regularly use references to “natural law” to justify hierarchy and dominance. Equality and freedom are seen as illusions that fly in the face of natural law. People are ranked into a hierarchy of worth—the deserving versus the undeserving.

Pillar #6 - Victimization

A sense of victimization and grievance is critical fuel for fascist ultra-nationalism, creating a group identity that unifies across class differences. Christian nationalism is a huge factor in the fascist playbook here in the U.S. In 2016, 45% of Trump supporters believed that whites are the most discriminated-against racial group in America; 54% believed that Christians were the most persecuted religious group in America. Being patriarchal, much resentment is also focused on women generally, whom fascists blame for their unfulfilled patriarchal expectations.

Pillar #7 - Law and Order

As opposed to foundational democratic values relating to fair and equal treatment before the law, fascist law and order seeks to divide. Entire groups of people, by their very existence, are seen to be anti-American and threats to national security. Extreme repression is therefore justified.

Pillar #8 - Sexual Anxiety

Patriarchy runs through all the strategies. Repression of out groups is justified in the name of protecting women, in Trump’s words, “whether the women like it or not.” It’s a dogma of inequality between the sexes as immutable as that between the races. If the demagogue is the father of the nation, then any threat to patriarchal manhood and the traditional family undermines the fascist vision of strength.

Pillar #9 - Sodom and Gomorrah

With patriarchy and sexual anxiety as backdrop, attention here turns toward cosmopolitan urban centers singled out for their wickedness and sin. Already in 2017 Trump was saying, “Our African-American communities are absolutely in the worst shape that they’ve ever been in before. You take a look at the inner cities, you get no education, you get no jobs, you get shot walking down the street.” The purpose of such rhetoric is simply to scare white Americans. Major cities do indeed offer environments conducive to diversity and tolerance and are thus obvious targets for fascist attack.

Pillar #10 - Arbeit Macht Frei

This is the slogan emblazoned on the gates of Auschwitz and other Nazi concentration camps, and can be translated as, Work Makes You Free. In fascist ideology, in times of crisis, the state reserves support for members of the chosen ‘us’ and not ‘them.’ The justification is invariably because ‘they’ are lazy, lack a work ethic and cannot be trusted…because ‘they’ are criminal and seek only to live off of welfare. The ideal of hard work is weaponized against out-groups who can be cured of laziness and criminality by hard labor.