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  • As far as political ideologies go, none are more universally reviled than fascism. Although

  • the movement was only in effect for a short while in a select few countries, it’s repercussions

  • are still felt to this day. So, what exactly is fascism?

  • Essentially, fascism was born out of the idea that rational egalitarian democracies would

  • ultimately lead to severe crisis and weakness. Around the late 1800s, a more irrational and

  • emotional structure based on social Darwinism began to overtake the idea that people should

  • have equality. Instead, fascism promised to create the rebirth of a new, stronger, and

  • greater society, stripped of all its weaknesses. Some point to Italian writer and poet Gabriele

  • D'Annunzio as the originator of this ideology. During the 1930s and 40s, it saw significant

  • influence. First in Italy, then in Germany and Japan, although a large number of countries

  • borrowed the ideology around the same time.

  • In effect, fascism operates under a strict doctrine. First off, it attempts to unify

  • country under a single genetic banner. Often this nationalism includes the concept ofracial

  • orculturalpurity as a method of weeding out weakness. Hitler used this to paint Jews

  • and other groups as not being part of a “pure Aryan race," and thus worthy of being eliminated.

  • Second, is the total control of society and people by the state, called totalitarianism.

  • Citizens are expected to have unwavering faith in a single party ruling elite, in nearly

  • all cases a dictator. It is intended to directly oppose pluralism, which is the ability of

  • multiple parties to compete for power.

  • Economically, fascism seeks to solve the problems of materialist capitalism and Marxist socialism.

  • In practice, countries did this by promoting private enterprise, and handsomely rewarding

  • successful businessmen while abolishing unions. However, the state would only allow businesses

  • which served and promoted the national interest. They also sought to ban foreign trade to avoid

  • becoming dependent on any other country. The end goal is to become fully self sufficient,

  • and to be able to allocate significant resources towards the military.

  • Fascism is also intensely supportive of violence to achieve political means. That specifically

  • includes removingweakpeople from the fascist state, either by executing or deporting

  • them. All through strict social laws enforced by a violent police army. In the 30s these

  • were Hitler’s Brown Shirts and Mussolini’s Blackshirts.

  • Finally, as a social ideology, fascism promotes youth and revolution, with a particular focus

  • on strengthening desirable, and supposedlymoralcharacteristics. For example,

  • in Fascist Italy homosexuality was seen as moral weakness and expressly forbidden, along

  • with pornography and prostitution. In Nazi Germany, abortions were legal, and often compulsory

  • in cases of deformity or non-Aryan racial characteristics. However for healthy Aryan

  • babies, abortion was illegal.

  • Fascism is intended to craft a society to the ultimate ambitions of a single ruling

  • party. As history has shown, this has promoted mass murder, eugenics, censorship, propaganda,

  • and severe inequality. Some have said fascism defies the political spectrum entirely, and

  • is neither left nor right. In the end, fascism is exactly what it sounds like: a nightmare.

  • Want to learn more about political theories? Check out our full playlist including this

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As far as political ideologies go, none are more universally reviled than fascism. Although

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