I guess it shouldnt be surprising that the people who don’t know what the words liberal, woke, or freedom mean also don’t know what the fuck a facist is, so heres a recap:A fascist isn’t just someone you don’t like, or someone with bad takes on Twitter. Its a specific playbook. And once you know the signs, you can spot it a mile away.
Start with the strongman. Fascists always build their movement around one man who claims to stand above the law. Mussolini made himself Il Duce and turned Italys parliament into a joke. Hitler passed the Enabling Act so he could rule without anyone getting in the way. Thats fascism 101 – democracy gets replaced with a personality cult.
Then comes the flag-waving nationalism. Fascists sell the fantasy that the nation is pure and eternal but under constant threat. Hitlers Aryan mythology. Mussolinis obsession with reviving Rome. Francos Catholic Spain. Today, its about real Americans or traditional Europeans. The storyline never changes – only the cast of villains does.
Violence isn’t a side effect. Its the method. Mussolinis Blackshirts beat opponents in the street. Hitlers Brownshirts terrorized Jews, socialists, and trade unionists. Violence serves a dual purpose – it crushe’s enemies and bonds supporters together through fear and intimidation. Cue a huge increase in ICE officers.
Free press? Forget it. Fascists choke off independent voices as soon as they can. In Nazi Germany, Joseph Goebbels controlled every radio, newspaper, and film. In Italy, opposition parties were banned and critics were tossed in prison. Fascism doesn’t debate – it silences.
Economically, its not capitalism as we know it, but it sure as hell isn’t socialism either. Fascists cut deals with big business, as long as those businesses play ball. Hitlers regime made industrial giants like Krupp and IG Farben rich. Mussolini protected companies like Fiat. Its not a free market – its a merger between state and corporate power, each scratching the others back.
Its the same thing we see with Trump and the FCC using coercion to silence his dissenters – like Colbert and Kimmel.
And of course, theres always a scapegoat. Fascism needs an enemy within to justify its violence and keep the mob angry. In Germany, it was Jews. In Italy, communists. In Spain, leftists. Today, its immigrants, LGBTQ people, or whatever group can be painted as the outsider ruining the nation.
Fascists also promise a golden past that never actually existed. Mussolini claimed he would restore the Roman Empire. Hitler promised a thousand-year Reich. In the U.S., the sales pitch is a return to 1950s-style America where real Americans supposedly had the country to themselves. Its always nostalgia weaponized as propaganda.
So no, not every authoritarian blowhard qualifies. But when you see the combination of strongman politics, extreme nationalism, glorification of violence, censorship, corporate collusion, scapegoats, and the promise of a mythic golden age – that’s fascism. History already gave us the receipts. Ignoring them just makes it easier for the same playbook to be run again.