Defining Fascism For myself, the definition is when your organization is led by a fascist. A fascist can be recognized from these five things: A fascist is a coward. A fascist lies. A fascist rules by edicts, like a king. A fascist uses violence to further his goals. A fascist uses emotion, not reason. Cowardice. Lies. Edicts. Violence. Emotions. Cowardice. Lies. Edicts. Violence. Emotions. My definition of fascism. So we can recognize it, and fight it. from original article of https://wp.me/p3zshX-1rO ### Share this: * Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X * Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook * ### Like this: Like Loading... ### _Related_

I am old school. I am hard core. Give me the tough stuff. I love it. My first speeches were about racism. Here’s a quick recap if you missed them. How do you know if I’m racist? If I believe in the concept of race. A month ago, I thought fighting racism was a challenge. Then the election happened. Compared to what’s coming, racism was easy. Hold on! This comes with a content warning. Mature audiences only because of language. You’re going to hear the F bomb. It’s not the one you think. I am a prude. I only swear on special occasions. Birthdays, family reunions gone wrong. Besides, using the old F word is normal. The new F word isn’t obscene, yet. It’s gotten popular only recently. By the way, I’m not discussing politics. Only things that have actually happened. Now for the F word. The F word, this **new** F word, is fascist. Some General worked in government and quit. Wrote a book about it. He called out his boss as a fascist. Then the word became more popular, everyone using it to describe the other side. Calling each other names is an ancient, and effective, strategy. Every five year old uses it. It also dilutes the value of the term. It gets used so much that it loses its shock value. It may even lose its meaning. What does it mean to call someone a fascist? My friends and neighbors don’t agree on this. For me, the best fascist I know died long ago. Short guy, paranoid, very emotional. Known for bad hair, bad mustache, huge ego. Name of Hitler. Generally thought of as a bad guy. However, there are people today, in the US, who don’t think he was that bad. When I think of a fascist, I think of Hitler. Many people are throwing the term around a lot. Too much. It’s getting to where it doesn’t mean anything. My persuasive task for today is to convince you to adopt a strong definition. A definition that you can keep in your toolkit. A definition you can rely on if you should ever meet a fascist in a dark alley. Quick reminder: this isn’t politics. This is history. Let’s learn from it. If not, we have to repeat it. Who am I to tackle this? I’ve trained as a scientist. Creating definitions is what science does. I’m a philosopher. I think about thinking. I think about definitions, a lot. I’ve also been studying fascism for a while. Oh, and one more thing. Growing up, I was bullied. A lot. A fascist is at heart, a bully. I was thrown at, thrown down, ribbed, ripped, and robbed. Broken glasses, broken noses, among other things. In order to survive, I became bully sensitive. Guess I still am. Enough about me. What does a good, strong, definition look like? Our definition must apply to fascists of the past, fascists of today, and fascists of tomorrow. We must be able to measure it. No, not in feet or pounds. Measurement can be a simple question: does this thing exist? A good definition contains no emotions or opinions. It must also be tight. No loopholes allowing a fascist to look good. Finally, we should all agree to every little part of it. Oh my, look at the time. Wow. There’s so much more I want to share. But this is getting too long. Let’s switch things up. I’m going to give you a summary of my definition and then jump to the conclusion. Someday I’ll talk about the second part, if anyone is interested. Then I can go into much more detail. Here it is. I call this the five fists of fascists. Cowardice. Lies. Edicts. Violence. Emotions. First off, **Cowardice** : A fascist is a coward. **Lies** : A fascist lies. **Edicts** : A fascist rules by edicts, like a king. **Violence** : A fascist incites and uses violence to achieve their goals. **Emotions** : A fascist always uses emotion instead of reason. It’s why facts and figures don’t change their minds. They don’t use their heads. They use their fists. Cowardice. Lies. Edicts. Violence. Emotions. The letters spell out CLEVE. What a coincidence. I hope you’re convinced we need a better definition. A definition of fascism. So we can recognize it, and fight it. I also hope I’ve persuaded you that my definition is worth trying. Let me know if you want part two sooner rather than later. If there’s a loophole in this one, let me know. If you have a better definition, let me know. I’m always looking to make it better. Now, how will you recognize a fascist? When you get suspicious, use CLEVE. Try it out. On figures from history. On someone from today. See if it fits. In the meantime, be careful out there. After all, there’s a new F bomb on the loose. We can change the world. Thank you. ### Share this: * Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X * Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook * ### Like this: Like Loading... ### _Related_