How to Tell When Authoritarians Become Fascists

The times they are a-changin. And quickly. And not in a good way. And it’s scary.

The façade of democracy is being ripped away by politicians who never liked it but lately feel emboldened to admit it. Most important of all, they have begun to act like unapologetic authoritarians. And brag about it. Suddenly the “F word” is on our minds.

Based on historian Robert Paxton’s definition—“Fascism is a form of political behavior marked by obsessive preoccupation with community decline, humiliation, or victimhood and by compensatory cults of unity, energy, and purity, in which a mass-based party of committed nationalist militants, working in uneasy but effective collaboration with traditional elites, abandons democratic liberties and pursues with redemptive violence and without ethical or legal restraints goals of internal cleansing and external expansion”—I developed the following:

Fascism Worry Checklist

If you answer "true" to four or fewer questions, you live in an ordinary, but likely severely unequal, 21st century capitalist country. If you answer "true" to five and up to seven questions, be worried about the potential for fascism in your country. If you answer "true" to eight or more questions, good luck. And seriously consider joining with other activists in defending the bits of democracy that you have left.

(Answer true or false)

10. The loyalty of the police in defending all people, democracy, and the rule of law is in question, at least in part because the far-right has significant support inside their ranks.

9. A popular political party pushes the idea that a ‘successful’ strong man, often a billionaire, is needed to lead the nation against its enemies, foreign and domestic.

8. My country glorifies the military. Everyone is expected to react with an unquestioning patriotism no matter what it does.

7. Those who profit from waging war have created powerful lobby groups. Their self-interest is to define rivals as enemies who must be "defended" against, justifying ever increased spending.

6. While external "enemies" excuse militarism, internal minority groups have become targets of hate campaigns to justify paramilitary militias who are supposedly "defending" the nation and its values.

5. Specialists who have been trained in propaganda targeting other country’s affairs and in overthrowing "unfriendly" governments are available for hire by domestic politicians.

4. A mass movement to oppose "socialism" can be easily mobilized by the wealthy to defend their "property" against increased taxes or efforts to reduce inequality and provide better social services.

3. Verifiable, objective truth is ignored by growing numbers of people. Instead, they believe "Big Lies" or conspiracy theories, which are becoming more common.

2. A political movement has been created in which loyalty to a leader above all else is the critical test of party membership.

1. Many "important" people, especially the wealthy, no longer trust democracy or believe in elections and are willing to manipulate results to get their way.

How real is the threat of fascism? At a minimum, the extreme right is a threat to the very limited, mostly one-dollar, one-vote democracy that capitalists allow us. Supporters of the system claim capitalism is integral to liberal democracy, but that is absurd. Everywhere fascism has taken power or grown quickly it is because the wealthy and powerful have thrown their support behind it and against democracy. When forced to choose between their "property rights" and democracy, capitalists choose self-interest, which is maintaining their wealth and power. All over the world rich people are abandoning conservative parties in favor of the extreme right or are pushing the traditional parties of wealth to the extreme right.

I wrote the above for a book that I subsequently turned into 43 videos titled Economic Democracy or No Democracy—An Anti Oligarchy Manifesto for the Your Socialist Grandfather YouTube channel. Suddenly it seems much too topical. Urgent even.