• Zombiepirate@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      Well that’s a pretty ridiculous thing to say. Here are the 14 points of ur-fascism laid out by Eco. While some apply to the DNC, every single one applies to the GOP, which makes it look like you have no idea what Fascism actually is:

      The cult of tradition. “One has only to look at the syllabus of every fascist movement to find the major traditionalist thinkers. The Nazi gnosis was nourished by traditionalist, syncretistic, occult elements.”

      The rejection of modernism. “The Enlightenment, the Age of Reason, is seen as the beginning of modern depravity. In this sense, Ur-Fascism can be defined as irrationalism.”

      The cult of action for action’s sale. “Action being beautiful in itself, it must be taken before, or without, any previous reflection. Thinking is a form of emasculation.”

      Disagreement is treason. “The critical spirit makes distinctions, and to distinguish is a sign of modernism. In modern culture, the scientific community praises disagreement as a way to improve knowledge.”

      Fear of difference. “The first appeal of a fascist or prematurely fascist movement is an appeal against the intruders. Thus Ur-Fascism is racist by definition.”

      Appeal to social frustration. “[…] one of the most typical features of the historical fascism was the appeal to a frustrated middle class, a class suffering from an economic crisis or feelings of political humiliation, and frightened by the pressure of lower social groups.

      The obsession with a plot. “The followers must feel besieged. The easiest way to solve the plot is the appeal to xenophobia.”

      The enemy is both weak and strong. “[…] the followers must be convinced that they can overwhelm the enemies. Thus, by a continuous shifting of rhetorical focus, the enemies are at the same time too strong and too weak.”

      Pacifism is trafficking with the enemy. “For Ur-Fascism there is no struggle for life but, rather, life is lived for struggle.”

      Contempt for the weak. “Elitism is a typical aspect of any reactionary ideology.”

      Everybody is educated to become a hero. “in Ur-Fascist ideology, heroism is the norm. This cult of heroism is strictly linked with the cult of death.”

      Machismo and Weaponry. “This is the origin of machismo (which implies both disdain for women and intolerance and condemnation of nonstandard sexual habits, from chastity to homosexuality). Since even sex is a difficult game to play, the Ur-Fascist hero tends to play with weapons—doing so becomes an ersatz phallic exercise.”

      Selective Populism. “There is in our future a TV or Internet populism, in which the emotional response of a selected group of citizens can be presented and accepted as the Voice of the People.

      Ur-Fascism speaks Newspeak. “All the Nazi or Fascist schoolbooks made use of an impoverished vocabulary, and an elementary syntax, in order to limit the instruments for complex and critical reasoning.”

        • mozz@mbin.grits.dev
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          6 months ago

          convoluted non-standard

          Umberto Eco’s description of ur-Fascism is widely accepted as the most complete and accurate definition that exists.

          There are plenty of bad things in the world that aren’t fascism. But if you want a detailed description of this one specific bad thing, how it operates and why it’s dangerous, this is it.

          This is like someone saying Noam Chomsky wrote about a convoluted and non-standard version of western imperialism.

          • blackbelt352@lemmy.world
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            6 months ago

            Laurence Britt also has a fantastic writeup mirroring Umbertl Eco’s writing, diving a bit more into the tactics of fascism than Umberto’s breakdown of the fascist mindset.

          • bloodfart@lemmy.ml
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            6 months ago

            ur-fascism is a text about semiotics, not politics.

            while it can be useful in decoding political stuff, it’s not a tool intended for that use, like scraping paint with a flathead screwdriver.

            while i don’t think it’s out of the ordinary to reference the fourteen points, ur-fascism is absolutely convoluted and not considered a standard interpretation of the politics of fascist movements. in ecos defense, most semioticians are incapable of writing without convolution for obvious reasons.

            i’m not saying this to be pedantic, but to maybe help someone reading along to understand why anyone would reference ecos fourteen points. they make a lot more sense when theyre taken as an outline of fascism’s semiotic content, not a checklist of actions some regime needs to meet before it’s officially fascist or else be considered merely sparkling corporatism.

        • Zombiepirate@lemmy.world
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          6 months ago

          TIL that Stalin was a fascist.

          You seem easily confused. How is saying that some of these terrible things apply to the DNC defending them?

          And just because you can’t be bothered to read it doesn’t make it convoluted and non-standard; it’s a pretty widely cited list.

      • Linkerbaan@lemmy.world
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        6 months ago

        Imagine unironically posting this after Fascist Joe claims the ICC is “outrageous” for prosecuting israel.

        Blue MAGA rise up.

          • Signtist@lemm.ee
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            6 months ago

            While the word “fascist” is thrown around so much that I don’t even really understand what it means anymore, the fact remains that Joe Biden is supporting a genocide. He’s way better than Trump, and he’s the only viable option to prevent Trump, but I’m really hoping we don’t twiddle our thumbs for the next 4 years while a lesser-but-still-significant evil sits in office. We need to take significant action to prevent future presidential candidates of either party from being as objectively terrible as our current options.

            • stanleytweedle@lemmy.world
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              6 months ago

              The US military industrial complex facilitates genocide as fiscal policy. If that translates to ‘Biden supports genocide’ then the next step is ‘the American taxpayer supports genocide’, which makes the term ‘support’ pretty meaningless in these statements.

              But yes- obviously Biden is the only rational choice in 2024 and it’d be nice to think we could do better after. Can’t say I’m hopeful but I’ll vote for Biden to hold a seat for that hope in case it ever shows up.

              • Signtist@lemm.ee
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                6 months ago

                The American taxpayer doesn’t get to choose where their taxes go, so they can’t be responsible for atrocities caused by that money. Joe Biden is the president; I understand that there are checks and balances that prevent him from making wild changes out of left field, but he definitely has the power to stop sending weapons to a country he himself has said has gone too far. Would that decision have repercussions for himself and the population at large? Of course. Would those repercussions be significant enough to warrant continuing to massacre innocent people to avoid them? Fuck no.

                The fact that Biden chooses not to make that stand is damning, even if he’s still the candidate I’ll be voting for to prevent the worst outcome. In the end, Biden’s choices demand that action be taken by the population, and that action will need to be more than just waiting 4 years and hoping the next candidate isn’t as bad; real efforts rivaling the civil rights movement will need to be taken in order to push our government back toward being acceptable again by the time we’re voting in new candidates.

                • stanleytweedle@lemmy.world
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                  6 months ago

                  Sounds like you just don’t want to face the consequences for not supporting genocide with your taxes so you’re kinda exactly like Biden ;)

                  • Signtist@lemm.ee
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                    6 months ago

                    You’re right. I’m a disgrace. Each and every one of us has the power to start a revolution, but we don’t, and that makes each and every one of us a failure. I talk a big game, but I’m not going to be the one to rise up and stop warmongering. All I have the willpower to do is to hope that someone else finds that strength, and to point out the hypocrisy that I and every other person who supports Joe Biden while pretending to have a clear conscious displays.

          • Linkerbaan@lemmy.world
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            6 months ago

            “Bro it’s just Genocide to create an ethnostate I do that everyday stop exaggerating”

            • stanleytweedle@lemmy.world
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              6 months ago

              “Dude if I say fascist and genocide a lot people reply to me and I’m desperate for attention”

              • Linkerbaan@lemmy.world
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                6 months ago

                Bro dude mate friend forget about the Genocide did you see Trump having his looneys march towards the capital? That’s literally MussoliNazi!

                Minimizing a Genocide and Blue MAGA name a better combo.