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Dev96's avatar

I think one of the greatest mistakes conservatives make is believing that this is the "liberal elite". I can't be the only one that's noticed both sides for the larger part are loaded with progressives.

Note I use that term in it's classical sense of both sides simply falling for the trick of the only cure for every ailment is... more government.

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Brad Crawford's avatar

I'm putting this comment on this old thread, despite knowing almost no one will see it, just because it fits better here than in more recent posts.

The redqueen.substack site has a good post up (theredqueen.substack.com/p/what-is-fascism-and-where-does-it) giving a pretty good explanation of how the wokerati are fundamentally fascists. Anyone with eyes to see knows this, but it's always nice when someone takes a little trouble to spell out why. I'll just paste the second half of the post in here - no commentary needed. (Though note, the hyperlinks in the original don't transfer over to this comment.)

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With these misconceptions in mind, what criteria would a modern form of fascism likely have? Here is a list I have come up with, that is by no means comprehensive, but should help establish where to look:

1. Subversion of the individual for the sake of the collective

2. Opposition to the doctrines of liberalism — freedom of speech, tolerance of others, individual civil rights, openness to new ideas

3. A promise of rectifying economic injustice

4. Scapegoating a readily identifiable group as responsible for economic strife

5. Entitlement to land, resources, wealth, or power at the expense of others

6. Belief in the use of violence to enforce will on others; rejection of pacifism

7. The pursuit of power through corporations and the market

8. Totalitarian — imposes costs of rejecting its ideology on everyone, especially those who are apolitical

All of these criteria are consistent with the tenants of fascism as they were established by Mussolini, Hitler, and the political authors before them. If we, as a society, are to be wary of fascism, then we should be wary of any ideology that possesses these traits. A truly anti-fascist society would be one that supports the individual, fosters liberalism, pursues economic prosperity not equality, foments accountability not scapegoating, is not entitled, is not pro-violence, does not coerce market forces or corporations to adhere to its ideology, and is not totalizing — it leaves others alone. I am afraid that we are far afield from that vision in the west today.

III. Where does fascism lurk?

Technically speaking, fascism is back.

The woke ideology is a fascist movement under the guise of Black Lives Matter, anti-racism, pro-LGBTQ, and even anti-fascism (clever, innit?). Consider how the woke ideology satisfies every criteria:

1. The identity politics of the woke movement is all about ignoring the principles and traits of individuals with those of the ideology: race and gender identity are used to subvert individualism to foster adherence to the collective ideology (see here, here, here).

2. The woke are openly opposed to freedom of speech (examples here, here, here, here) and are intolerant of those who oppose their world view (examples here, here, here, here).

3. The entire woke playbook is predicated on pursuing economic equity — equalizing economic disparities resulting from historic injustice. This is what Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives are all about (examples here, here, here)

4. This goes hand-in-hand with #3, but it is generally the white people (especially the straight males) who are scapegoated as the cause of the inequality felt by those in the movement (here, here, here).

5. Again, the entitlement goes hand in hand with items #3 and #4, but it is worth pointing out that it exists. Affirmative action and reparations are both ways to grant something fungible to those who claim to be entitled to it (here, here, here, here).

6. The violence of ‘Antifa’ and others associated with this movement more broadly has been well documented, despite the mainstream denial of it (examples of both the violence and denial here, here, here, here, here).

7. One does not have to look far to see how eager corporations are to fall in line with this ideology (here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here).

8. This goes hand in hand with item #2, but people who voice even the slightest disagreement with the woke ideology are met with hostility and a relentless attempt to impose costs to deter future dissent (here, here, here, here, here, here).

The truth is, I could have spend much longer looking up and linking examples for each of the 8 criteria listed above, but it is just so easy to do. Not only is this woke movement fascistic in nature, it is obviously so. The woke use a façade and a distraction technique to shroud the movement in ostensible moralistic objectives, such as defeating racism or bigotry towards sexual minorities. In truth, one need not be a bigot to oppose the movement. In fact, one need only be skeptic of fascism to recognize the hazard of the woke ideology.

Whether or not the movement also satisfies many of the criteria of Communism is besides the point and a bit of a non-sequitur. Given the plethora of similarities between the two political ideologies, the question is really about whether a movement that presents itself as anti-fascist can actually be trusted as such. And the answer is a resounding “No!”. The woke ideology shares many traits—too many—with fascism to be regarded as a panopticon of progress, and should instead be regarded as a hazard that portends to repeat the most costly mistakes of the 20th century.

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