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１６| fascism

Fascism is not solely left wing or solely right wing. Many believe that fascism = far right conservatism, but fascism can also be far left liberalism in history. Fascism models elements of both extremes. In a sense, fascism is extreme nationalism. Nationalism itself is the pride in one's country, while fascism is the superiority of one's country and the obsession with military readiness to create a "orderly" society.

Obviously fascism is awful, there's no doubt about that. Fascism originated in Italy and spread through Europe during World War I and World War II. Fascism itself is allowed to take hold of a society when fear of extermination and the value of self preservation of a society trumps the importance of democratic ideals and freedom. Fear is a very powerful emotion and insane dictators utilize this emotion to gain power in people. Authoritarian (fascist) dictators use fear to keep the population in control; they convince the population that the world is out to destroy their country and that all of their woes are because of the outside world. So, the fascist society isolates itself and values control and military strength. This balance between control and military strength is a prime example of how fascism combines elements of liberalism and conservatism.

Many people claim that Trump and/or the United States are turning fascist or are already fascist. There is certain criteria that the United States does not meet, therefore the United States and Trump are not fascist. In fact, we aren't even close to fascism. Here are a few other things that need to happen in order for a society to become fascist (taken from an article from Big Think)

" 1.) fascism thrives in militaristic societies.

2.) fascists reject democracy

3.) fascists prefer totalitarian one-party rule.

[the United States is in fact moving in the OPPOSITE direction of that. Interesting enough, most of those who claim that Trump/the U.S. push for only one political party]

4.) the ultimate circumstance when people are willing to give up on their ideals is being in a state of great fear for their safety. "

The last one is especially important and provides insight as to why most European countries are seeing a rise in ultra-nationalist parties, like Switzerland. The Switzerland ultra nationalist party has 29% of the population's vote - keep in mind that Switzerland isolates itself, so Switzerland is actually meeting a lot of the criteria right now. But anyways, most European countries are seeing more ultra-nationalist votes because of the wars and Islamic extremism in the Middle East, as well as an increase in immigrants from those dangerous and war torn areas. People fear Islamic extremists (and with VERY good reasoning), so these ultra-nationalist parties are thriving.

In summary, fascism is bad and is making a come back in Europe but not in the United States. The United States is about as far away from fascist as it gets. War is also good for no one.