Moderates were befuddled by the warnings that Donald Trump held a dagger at democracy. How can so many Republicans, once reasonable-sounding officeholders, and the new breed of activists, who claim to be superpatriots committed to democracy, be acting like that?
I study people who believe in repressive forms of government on both the right and left. Some of the figures don't actually identify themselves as fascists, but they share some of the same ideas.
Giovanni Gentile was an early-20th-century philosopher who was called the philosopher of fascists by Mussolini. Gentile claims that he is not opposed to democracy. They think of themselves as advocates of a more pure version of it.
There is a unity between the leader, the nation-state and the people that forms the foundation of fascists.
Mussolini said that "everything is in the state and nothing human or spiritual exists, much less has value, outside the state." This isn't an end to be reached. Things begin at the point from which they start.
According to those around him, Trump believes that what is good for him is good for the country. This view is inconsistent with democracy, but only if society is seen as a collection of individuals with differing attitudes, preferences and desires.
Fascists have a different opinion. Othmar Spann, whose thought was highly influential during the rise of fascists in Austria in the 1920s and 1930s, argued that society is a mechanical community.
Society is a group of people who share the same attitudes, beliefs, desires, view of history and so on. It is not a collective, but a super- individual. Ordinary individuals are more similar to cells in a single large biological organisms than to competing independent organisms.
This kind of society can be democratic. The purpose of democracy is to give effect to the will of the people. We don't know who the people are.
According to fascists, only those who share the correct attributes can be a part of the society. If they respect their place and society feels generous, others may be allowed to stay. They don't have a right to be in the democratic order.
Tucker Carlson claims that our democracy is no longer functioning because so many non white people vote. Carlson and others promote the idea that liberals are encouraging immigrants to come to the U.S. in order to diminish the political power of "true" Americans.
The importance of seeing the people as an exclusive, privileged group, one that actually includes rather than is represented by the leader, is also at work when Trump refers to Republicans who defy him as "Republicans in Name Only." When other Republicans call for these in-house critics to be thrown out of the party, it is equivalent to disobeying the will of the people.
It is all the checks and balances that fascists think are undemocratic. interfering with the leader's ability to give direct effect to the will of the people is one of the things.
Moammar Gadhafi is the dictator of Libya.
A state does not need a legislature. It doesn't need a leader.
The leader is not identified through elections for fascists. The leader's embodiment of the will of the people to the world is announced in elections.
The leader is supposed to be more than just a person. Someone cannot be selected through an election. The leader's identity must be gradually revealed like a religious miracle.
These are the hallmarks of a leader, one who embodies the will of the people, one who can demonstrate freedom from the norm, and one who is decisive.
This is supposed to be a sign that he is exceptional, part of the unity of nation-state and leader, and that he alone meets these criteria. When Trump said in 2020 that he could fix the nation, it was the same thing. Some people think that he is sent by God.
If people accept the above criteria for what identifies a true leader, they will understand why Trump claims he attracted bigger crowds than President Joe Biden. The best, not the majority, should be weighed when it comes to voting.
The intense preference of the rest should not prevail over the mild preference of the rest. Is there a better representation of the will of the people? Even though they are taken from Gadhafi again, these questions sound like something Trump would ask.
Everyone is focused on the same thing in a fascist democracy. Everyone knows what the leader would like them to do.
Each person is responsible for working towards the leader without needing specific orders. Those who make mistakes will be made aware of it. Those who get it right will get a lot of rewards.
So argued Willikens. When Trump demanded absolute loyalty from his administration officials, he thought it was a good idea.
The insurrectionists thought so when they tried to stop the confirmation of Biden's election. When Trump said he would pardon the rioters, he signaled.
Democracy and fascists are complete with that.
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