Comment by KPGv2

> when people start abusing words like "fascism" out of context they make those words lose meaning

The thing is, fascism has always been a bit of a loose term. It doesn't have a strict meaning. It was invented by one guy to name his government, not describe it analytically.

Mussolini invented the word "fascismo" to describe his movement, Fasci Italiani di Combattimeto.

So any use of "fascism" outside this one instance is by loose comparison to his government (because tight comparison would inevitably be unproductive: no government is exact the same as another).

The best we can do in a literalist manner is identify that the etymology is related to fasces, a bundle of rods tied together in Roman times (tying rods together make them far more difficult to snap in half), and recognize that the implication here is that a fascist government is focused on strength through unity.

It was then broadly adopted by Mussolini's adherents.

So, unless we only want to restrict "fascist" to an identifier for Mussolini's party and government, we have motivation to come up with elements of similar politics/government/partisanship by looking at the elements that made up Mussolini's movement:

- nationalism

- right-wing

- totalitarian

- violence as a means of control

etc.

Personally, I like Umberto Eco's delineation of what makes fascism (because he was an intellectual and grew up in Mussolini's Italy): https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/umberto-eco-ur-fasci...

He elucidates fourteen elements that make up fascism:

1. cult of tradition

2. rejection of modernism

3. cult of action for its own sake (i.e., intellectual reflection doesn't contribute value)

4. disagreement is treason

5. fear of difference

6. appeal to frustrated middle class

7. obsession with a plot (e.g., "there is a plot by foreigners to destroy us from within)

8. cast their enemies as both too weak and too strong

9. life is permanent warfare (i.e., there is always an enemy to fight)

10. contempt for the weak

11. everyone is educated to become a hero

12. machismo

13. selective populism

14. newspeak

I honestly feel like #11 is the only one we don't definitely have in the US right now. I wold prefer not to waste my time giving examples of the other thirteen, but if someone doesn't think it's obvious, I will respond at some point.

At its essence, if you take these fourteen points holistically, the vibe is "the 'right kind of' citizenry is in a constant state of hatred toward some other, and they should be pressured to take action without thought"