Friday, February 17, 2017

This is fascism

This is fascism – Medium:
"It is probably futile now to argue for the proper use of the word fascism. 
To rail against the transformation of ‘fascist’ into a casual insult. 
To insist that fascism doesn’t mean ‘evil’ or ‘illiberal’ or even ‘demagogic’, but rather has a more specific meaning, and a more profound one. 
The f-word has been destroyed through overuse, its original sense and power diluted by a million op-eds branding unpleasant politicians ‘fascists’ and by radical marchers hollering ‘fascist scum’ at anyone who pisses them off: Trump, Nigel Farage, the cops. 
On the right, too, the accusation of fascism has become a Tourette’s-style cry. It’s the left who are the real fascists, they say. 
Ugly alt-right barbs like ‘feminazi’ and ‘eco-fascist’ confirm that right-wingers are now as likely to scream ‘fascist’ as they are to have it screamed at them.
The wise thing to do would be to accept that the term fascist is beyond repair. 
It’s a dead word. 
It now means bastard. 
It’s an emotional insult, expressing a sense of powerlessness on the part of the person making it, whose belief that he faces a fascist threat grows in direct proportion to his own inability to make sense of political developments. 
The insult of ‘fascist’ speaks far more to the insulter’s own sensation of impotence than it does to the insulted’s actual power, or ideology, or ambition. 
And yet, let’s have one more try..."
Read on!

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