How to Tell If You or Someone You Know Is Becoming a… Fascist

Four Steps That Lead Down the Road of Ignorance and Delusion

Image Credit: Ron DeSantis Press Conference

It’s a funny and strange question, I know. And yet, every single day, I read things from people who’d be horrified, object vehemently, even angrily, if someone pointed out they’re well on the way to becoming bona fide fascists…and yet espouse precisely those very beliefs. 

In America, the top Republican contender for the next Presidency is Ron DeSantis — who’s signed laws so extreme that counties are banning all the books in classrooms. Think about that for a second. In Britain, the government attacks Holocaust survivors, to cheers and applause. Meanwhile, as the Holocaust survivors warn that the government’s rhetoric — calling refugees and immigrants “invaders” — is reminiscent of the Nazis…hundreds of kids disappear from government custody, the very ones being demonized as hated invaders. Think about that, too. In Sweden, the party in power was now founded by…a volunteer…for…what? Greenpeace? Amnesty International? Nope. The SS. As in, the literal Nazi SS.

Folks, we have a problem. A fascism problem, on a civilizational scale. Again. It’s one of the Existential Threats facing us in the 21st century. Democracy isn’t just “backsliding,” in some anodyne way, more precisely, it’s under assault from fascism. And it’s giving way, in many places, too, cracks in the foundations of civilization spreading around the globe. 

We live in a deeply confused time. Social media has let us normalize every kind of folly and ignorance known to humankind at lightspeed, and yet believe they’re wisdom and truth, so here we, amidst this weird, gruesome, ironic, dangerous phenomenon — people who don’t appear to know they’re turning into fascists, and are going to be a little surprised and discomfited, by the end of this essay, to discover they just might be.

How do you know if you’re turning into a fascist? Or the people around you? (And isn’t it your responsibility, if they are, to point it out? If it’s not…how does anything change? That part’s up to you, I suppose.)

So. Here are a few common misconceptions, objections, canards, and red herrings, before we start:

• “Fascism is people imposing their beliefs on you!” (It’s much more than that.)

• “Fascism is when people don’t give you the right to disagree!” (That’s not a right, and nobody’s inside your mind.)

• Fascism is people “silencing” you, by which you mean people don’t listen to you. (It’s not, and that’s not what “silencing” is, either.)

• The real fascists are people who want to stop you from “argument” and “dissent”! (That’s not what it is, at all, and that’s not what “dissent” is, either.)

• When people say you are saying abusive things, they are taking away your freedom of speech and expression, and that means they’re fascists! (They’re not.)

• “You have to believe in ‘the concentration of state and corporate power’ to be a fascist, and I don’t! (That’s not what fascism is at all, and I’ll get to that.)

• You need to commit an act (of violence, hate, spite, or bigotry) to be a fascist! (You don’t.)

• You can’t believe you are a good and decent person and also be a fascist! (Most do.)