What is Fascism, Really?
Ever since Donald Trump was elected President of the United States in 2016, the term “fascist” has become a prevailing part of USAmerican parlance to describe the Trump administration and several other right-wing leaders around the world. A specific example of the term fascism being widely used is the description of Trump supporters who participated in the assault on the U.S. Capitol.
Over the past five years, it has been debated as to whether or not the Trump administration was truly a fascist regime, and thus several questions have been raised in our civil discourse. What is fascism? How is fascism different from other forms of authoritarianism? Is Trump a fascist?
These questions must be addressed even with Trump out of the White House, as fascism will continue to persist and affect lives, especially the lives of society’s most marginalized.
A simple definition of fascism is that it often comprises characteristics such as “hyper-nationalism, racial supremacy, a cult of personality around a ‘strong’ leader as superior to democracy, and an alliance between big and small Capitalists.” These are the basic characteristics of a fascist state,
but fascism takes different forms in every nation as it is shaped by particular histories and cultures.
Former President of the United States Donald Trump displays a Bible in front of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C. This photo was taken moments after U.S. and military police forcefully removed Black Lives Matter protesters in order for President Trump to reach the church on June 1, 2020.
While Fascist Italy and Germany leading up to and during World War II are often deemed the classical forms of fascism, there is much nuance and debate that surrounds this particular term. Thus, fascism requires a deeper analysis to understand it as a political phenomenon.
First, the deteriorating material conditions within a capitalist society, where individuals own the means of production and maximize profit, is an essential factor that leads to the rise of fascism. Political analyst Michael Parenti explained that what distinguishes fascism from other forms of authoritarianism is the capitalist ruling class has the ability to manipulate segments of society’s grievances regarding the austere conditions the ruling class created.
The ruling class typically aims their appeals towards the grievances of the petite bourgeoisie, or small-scale capitalists. However, other exploited groups under a capitalist system may also be drawn to fascistic rhetoric when promised deceitful solutions to their adversities.
When the elite class accurately identifies the exploitation amongst mass society, the widespread anger is then misdirected towards scapegoats. These scapegoats are often part of marginalized communities, the political-Left (socialists, communists, etc.) and even moderate reformers.
These groups are targeted in order to deflect attention away from the political and economic elite, to keep society divided and to protect business interests. For this reason, the fusion of industry and the state is a key component of fascism. This information often leads many to make an ahistorical conclusion that conflates fascism with socialism. The official name of the Nazi Party, the National Socialist German Workers’ Party, of Fascist-era Germany is often used as evidence for this false equivalence.
However, the differences between fascism and socialism make the two political systems fundamentally at odds with one another. Instead of funneling profits from the state-industry nexus to private, big-business interests like a fascist state, the purpose of a socialist state is to prioritize the nationalization of industries for collective ownership and promote equality.
These politico-economic differences illuminate the underlying social principles of fascism, to reinforce the power of the elite-class and, in the words of author and Nobel Prize laureate Toni Morrison, “its need to purge” society of democratic goals. Therefore, any form of dissent or difference is deemed a challenge to entrenched power and violently suppressed.
Hyper-nationalism, rampant inequality, scapegoating, contempt for democracy, hatred of minorities, big-business interests. The characteristics of fascism may sound familiar to USAmericans, even prior to the Trump-era. As clarified by philosopher Gabriel Rockhill, “Fascism, as a practice, is a product of the capitalist system,” because inequality is an inherent feature of capitalism. Thus, defining fascism with a simple checklist of characteristics informed by historical experiences does not always resemble a dynamic social reality.
Before Trump ever ran for president, the U.S. was already the world’s leading military power, carceral state and defender of wealth inequality. All of these predatory traits exist in common with a fascist state, yet the U.S. is typically referred to as a democracy. With this contradiction in mind, it might be more useful to
view fascism as a tool by the ruling class to intensify white supremacist capitalism when it is losing control over the masses.
More succinctly put, Morrison deems fascism the “succubus twin” of racism, revealing the continuous nature of fascism that cannot be completely eradicated under capitalism, as the hierarchical ranking of race, class, gender, ability, citizenship status, etc. is necessary for its function. Understanding the shifting nature of fascism is imperative because, under capitalism, traces of its qualities remain, even if it is not as overt as a president encouraging supporters to overturn an election.
Written by Olivia Deally
