Time to repost Umberto Eco’s immortal essay on 14 signs of Ur-Facism. The expression of fascism always varies by country. Nazis were a particular expression of fascism. There are many others. They all look like this: 1/16
1 The worship of traditionalism. “One has only to look at the syllabus of every fascist movement to find the major traditionalist thinkers. The Nazi gnosis was nourished by traditionalist, syncretistic, occult element 2/16
2 Irrationalism as virtue. “The Enlightenment, the Age of Reason, is seen as the beginning of modern depravity. In this sense Ur-Fascism can be defined as irrationalism.”3/16
3 The cult of action. “Action being beautiful in itself, it must be taken before, or without, any previous reflection. Thinking is a form of emasculation.” 4/16
4 Disagreement is treason. “The critical spirit makes distinctions, and to distinguish is a sign of modernism. In modern culture the scientific community praises disagreement as a way to improve knowledge.” 5/16
5 Demonization of difference. “The first appeal of a fascist or prematurely fascist movement is an appeal against the intruders. Thus Ur-Fascism is racist by definition.” 6/16
6 Appeal to social frustration. “One of the most typical features of the historical fascism was the appeal to a frustrated middle class, a class suffering from an economic crisis or feelings of political humiliation, and frightened by the pressure of lower social groups.” 7/16
7 Creation of plots or witch hunts . “The followers must feel besieged. The easiest way to solve the plot is the appeal to xenophobia.” 8/16
8 The enemy is both strong and weak. “By a continuous shifting of rhetorical focus, the enemies are at the same time too strong and too weak.” 9/16
9 Pacifism is treason. “For Ur-Fascism there is no struggle for life but, rather, life is lived for struggle.” 10/16
10 Contempt for the weak. “Elitism is a typical aspect of any reactionary ideology.” 11/16
11 All members of nation are heroes or heirs of heroes. “In Ur-Fascist ideology, heroism is the norm. This cult of heroism is strictly linked with the cult of death.” 12/16
12 Toxic masculinity is expected and promoted. “Machismo implies both disdain for women and intolerance and condemnation of nonstandard sexual habits, from chastity to homosexuality.” 13/16
13 Targeted populism. “There is in our future a TV or Internet populism, in which the emotional response of a selected group of citizens can be presented and accepted as the Voice of the People.” 14/16
14 New-speak. “All the Nazi or Fascist schoolbooks made use of an impoverished vocabulary, and an elementary syntax, in order to limit the instruments for complex and critical reasoning.” 15/16
The original essay: nybooks.com/articles/1995/… 16/16
