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Fascism, fascists

Wednesday 21st of January 2026

Fascism Although many regimes and movements imitated aspects of fascism, explicitly fascist movements generally struggled to become regimes. There is no straightforward reason for this failure, for economic crisis and  fear of communism were very widespread, even where actual communists were rare. The most convincing explanation is that fascism did best where it combined leverage in parliament with street action, as it had in Italy and Germany, and to a lesser extent in Hungary. Kevin Passmore, A Very Short Introduction to Fascism © 2022 Kwiple.com
Fascism At the core of fascism is loyalty to the tribe, ethnic identiy, religion, tradition, or in a word, nation. But in stark contrast to a version of nationalism with equality as its goal, fascist nationalism is a repudiation of the liberal democratic ideal; it is nationalism in the service of domination, with the goal of preserving, maintaining or gaining a position of at the top of a hierarchy of power and status. Jason Stanley, How Fascism Works © 2023 Kwiple.com
Fascism The engine of fascism does not have a reverse gear. Mr Putin cannot turn back to a reality-based brand of authoritarianism. Expansion is in its nature. It will seek to expand both geographically and into people's private lives. The Economist, July 28, 2022 © 2022 Kwiple.com
Fascism Fascism has an enigmatic countenance because in it appears the most counterpoised contents. It asserts authoritarianism and organises rebellion. It fights against contemporary democracy and, on the other hand, does not believe in the restoration of any past rule. It seems to pose itself as the forge of a strong State, and uses means most conducive to its dissolution, as if it  were a destructive faction or a secret society. Whichever way we approach fascism we find that it is simultaneously one thing and the contrary, it is A and not A. José Ortega y Gasset (1927) © 2024 Kwiple.com
Fascism Fascism acts from below, but is legitimized from above. Federico Finchelstein, A Brief History of Fascist Lies  © 2022 Kwiple.com
Fascism Fascism, in short, was not a mere reactionary position. Its primary aim was to destroy democracy from within in order to create a modern dictatorship from above. Federico Finchelstein, A Brief History of Fascist Lies  © 2022 Kwiple.com
Fascism Fascism is a new name for the kind of terror the Negro has always faced in America. This kind of terrorism is extending more and more to groups of people whose skins are not Black. Langston Hughes, 1936 © 2024 Kwiple.com
Fascism Fascism is technologically equipped archaism. Guy Debord, “Society of the Spectacle” © 2023 Kwiple.com
Fascism Fascism proposed the notion of truth that transcended reason and was incarnated in the myth of the leader. The myth was literally embodied in the person of the leader. For fascists, incarnation was the opposite of representation. Federico Finchelstein, A Brief History of Fascist Lies  © 2022 Kwiple.com
Fascism Fascism remains an ‘available option,’ and there is no reason to suppose that fascists could not gain power in circumstances quite different to those pertaining in the inter-war years. Modern society, after all, depends on a potentially fragile network of trust and negotiation, which could easily come crashing down. Kevin Passmore, Fascism: A Very Short Introduction © 2017 Kwiple.com
Fascism The first truth [about the liberty of a democratic people] is that the liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than their democratic state itself.  That, in its essence, is fascism — ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. Franklin Delano Roosevelt, April 29, 1938, Message to Congress on Curbing Monopolies © 2022 Kwiple.com
Fascism I have chosen the label “fascism” for ultranationalism of some variety (ethnic, religious, cultural), with the nation represented in the person of an authoritarian leader who speaks on its behalf. Jason Stanley, How Fascism Works © 2023 Kwiple.com
Fascism I prefer the adjective “fascistic” because it recognizes similarities without implying a central core. The adjective is a cluster concept: a cluster of ideas and values that are found frequently but not universally. This concept allows us to recognize the  fascistic elements of the Klan's 1920s career  without branding it as a fascist organization. Even the American groups that called themselves fascist typically shared some but not all characteristics and ideas. Linda Gordon, “The Ameican Fascists,” in Fascism in America: Past and Present, edited by Gavriel Rosenfeld and Judith Ward © 2024 Kwiple.com
Fascism In fascism, the state  is an enemy; it is to be replaced by the nation, which consists of self-sufficient individuals who collectively choose to sacrifice for a common goal of ethnic or religious glorification. Jason Stanley, How Fascism Works © 2023 Kwiple.com
Fascism It is a core tenet of fascist politics that the goal of oratory should not be to convince the intellect, but to sway the will. Jason Stanley, How Fascism Works © 2023 Kwiple.com
Fascism It matters less than we might think whether Trump or any other figure is “fascist” in some academic sense. The real question is moral – do we see their policies as morally acceptable? And if history teaches anything, it is that people who called themselves neither fascist or Nazi were capable of complicity in repugnant acts. Kevin Passmore, The Guardian, November 7, 2016 © 2017 Kwiple.com
Fascism Let me tell you the whole truth: if ever Fascism should come to America, it will come in the name of “freedom.” Thomas Mann © 2022 Kwiple.com
Fascism The most telling symptom of fascist politics is division. It aims to separate a population into an “us” and a “them.” Many kinds of political movements involve such a division; for example, Communist politics weaponizes class. Giving a description of fascist politics involves describing the very specific way that fascist politics distinguishes “us” from “them,” appealing to ethnic, religious or racial distinctions, and using this division to shape ideology, and ultimately policy. Every method of fascist politics works to create or solidify this distinction. Jason Stanley, How Fascism Works © 2023 Kwiple.com
Fascism The only thing that really distinguishes fascism from other concepts is its enormous negative moral charge. … Politicians and journalists use definitions  as weapons and fascism is a very good one. Kevin Passmore, Fascism: A Very Short Introduction © 2024 Kwiple.com
Fascism The prominent fascist leaders of the twentieth century — from Mussolini to Hitler — regarded lies as the truth incarnate in themselves. This stood at the center of their notions of power, popular sovereignty, and history. An alternate universe where truth and falsehood cannot be distinguished rests on the logic of myth. In Fascism, mythical truth replaced factual truth. Federico Finchelstein, A Brief History of Fascist Lies  © 2022 Kwiple.com
Fascism Trump can be called a fascist because he differed from any previous American president in having the explicit goal of destroying democracy at home, disengaging America from democratic international networks, and allying with the autocrats he admires, like Putin. As for other autocrats, the presidency was just a means for Trump to achieve his real goals: self-enrichment and self-protection. Ruth Ben-Ghiat © 2024 Kwiple.com
Fascism Trumpism is what fascism looks like in twenty-first-century America. Ruth Ben-Ghiat, The New Republic, May 16, 2024 © 2024 Kwiple.com
Fascism What makes a movement Fascist is not ideology but the willingness to do whatever is necessary — including the use of force and trampling on the rights of others — to achieve victory and command obedience. Madeleine Albright, Fascism: A Warning © 2021 Kwiple.com
Fascism When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross. Attributed to Sinclair Lewis and sometimes to Huey Long  © 2024 Kwiple.com
Fascists Fascists today don't wear armbands in public © 2017 Kwiple.com
Fascists There are two kinds of fascists: those who give orders and those who take them. A popular base gives fascism the legs it needs to march, the lungs it uses to proclaim, and the muscle it relies on to menace — but that's fascism from the neck down. To create tyranny out of the fears and  hopes of average people, money is required, and, so too, ambition and twisted ideas. It is the combination that kills. In the absence of wealthy backers, we likely would never had heard of Corporal Mussolini or Corporal Hitler. Madeleine Albright, Fascism: A Warning © 2021 Kwiple.com
Fascists You don't have to be a card-carrying fascist to collaborate with fascists and help them seize power; you just have to be morally bankrupt and self-serving. Frank Rich, New York Magazine, January 6-19, 2020 © 2020 Kwiple.com
Fascists say Florida will not assist in an extradition request given the questionable circumstances at issue with this Soros-backed Manhattan prosecutor and his political agenda. Ron DeSantis, 6:55 PM – Mar 30, 2023, pimping for Trump's base in a performative burst of inequality-before-the-law, anti-Semitic  [note the coded “Soros-backed”] Fascist rhetoric made particulalrly execrable by the fact that Trump himself announced he would travel from Florida to New York to be arrested and arraigned on criminal charges related to paying hush money to Stormy Daniels prior to the 2015 presidential election  © 2023 Kwiple.com
Fascists say Fuck the voting; lets get right to the violence. Shoot to kill. See an Antifa? Shoot to kill. Fuck 'em. Done with this bullshit. Roger Stone, to Danish filmmaker Christoffer Guldbrandsen, on his way home from a November 2, 2020 rally for Doug Collins, a Georgia Republican [Stone later said he was “just kidding”] © 2023 Kwiple.com
Fascists say I'd like to punch him in the face. Donald Trump, about a protester at a Las Vegas rally © 2016 Kwiple.com
Fascists say In 2016, I declared, “I am your voice.” Today, I add: I am your warrior. I am your justice. And for those who have been wronged and betrayed: I am your retribution. Donald Trump, March 6, 2023 © 2023 Kwiple.com
Fascists say It is frankly disgusting the press is able to write whatever it wants to write. Donald Trump,  complaining about fact-checked reporting, especially about himself  © 2017 Kwiple.com
Fascists say The media has zero integrity, zero intelligence, and no hard work.  Steve Bannon © 2017 Kwiple.com
Fascists say The media should be embarrassed and humiliated and keep its mouth shut and just listen for a while. I want you to quote this: The media here is the opposition party. Steve Bannon, in an interview with the New York Times © 2017 Kwiple.com
Fascists say Nobody knows the system better than me, which is why I alone can fix it. Donald Trump © 2016 Kwiple.com
Fascists say  Not one network person has been let go. Not one political analyst and pundit who talked smack all day long about Donald Trump has been let go. Kellyanne Conway, a.k.a. “Propaganda Barbie,” lamenting that critics of Trump haven't been fired yet © 2017 Kwiple.com
 
Fascists say Who the hell are the 17 percent [of farmers reported to disapprove of Trump]? Anybody in here from the 17 percent? Don’t raise your hand; it may be dangerous. Donald Trump, to farmers attending the 2020 American Farm Bureau Federation Annual Convention and Trade Show © 2020 Kwiple.com