Fascism

ICE agents shot and killed Renée Good, a US citizen and mother of three, on a Minneapolis street earlier this month. Video shows her steering away from the agent who killed her. DHS immediately labelled her a “domestic terrorist.” ICE continues to terrorize neighborhoods and abduct citizens and non-citizens alike. Meanwhile, the president launched a military strike on Venezuela without congressional approval. He’s threatening NATO allies with tariffs and won’t rule out military force to seize Greenland—explicitly because he didn’t get a Nobel Peace Prize. And the Epstein files he promised to release? Less than 1% have come out, with documents connecting him to Epstein mysteriously disappearing from government websites before public backlash forced their restoration. ...

What is fascism? The word gets thrown around a lot—sometimes carelessly, yet it refers to one of the most destructive political phenomena of the 20th century, and one we can’t afford to misunderstand today. Historical Origins Fascism first emerged in early 20th century Europe, born from the chaos of World War I and economic upheaval. Benito Mussolini coined the term in Italy around 1919, drawing from the ancient fasces, a bundle of rods symbolizing a ruler’s power. Adolf Hitler later adapted these ideas in Germany during the 1920s and 1930s. ...

Let’s try to define (or at least describe) fascism, shall we? Fascism: “a populist political philosophy, movement, or regime (such as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual, that is associated with a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, and that is characterized by severe economic and social regimentation and by forcible suppression of opposition” (Merriam-Webster) Notoriously difficult to define, Umberto Eco nevertheless highlighted 14 aspects of what he called “Ur-Fascism” (PDF): ...