New Wave Fascism: 14 Characteristics of the Rising Democratic Fascist

As I watched the various media reports detailing the violence at the Berkeley Campus last night I saw a video of Anti-Fascism protesters literally beating the opposition with their flag poles. No they were not engaging in an indigenous ritual of greeting that proceeds civil discourse, they were beating people who intellectually disagreed with them with poles carrying Anti-Fascist flags. Violently opposing those who are peacefully disagreeing with you is one of the hallmarks of Fascism and it appears that some Leftist have gone so far to the Left that they have spun the needle and ended up a position that have been historically classified on the extreme right, fascism. When you adopt the tactics and behaviors as a method to oppose what you hate, you inadvertently become the very thing that you started out with intentions of fighting.

The current definition from Merriam Webster for Fascism is “A political philosophy, movement or regime that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition.” This classical definition of Fascism fails to completely encapsulate the Fascist-like behavior that we have recently witnessed from the Political Left in America and therefore we must either expand the classical definition or re-brand this behavior to properly categorize this movement under a new label so it can be identified and defined appropriately. While this “New Wave Fascist” behavior displays many of the characteristics of the classical definition of Fascism I believe that there are enough distinctions that could be made that I would define this new movement as “A political philosophy, movement or regime that exalts victim status and often identity attributes of groups above the individual and that stands for a centralized bureaucratic government that leads to regulated economic redistribution and social regimentation of political correctness, and forcible suppression of opposition.”

Now that we have appropriately defined New Wave Fascism we now need to be able to identify the behaviors and philosophies that support this definition. As a model I will use Dr. Lawrence Britt’s “Fascism Anyone?” published in Free Inquiry. In this article Dr. Britt finds that classical fascism regimes have 14 elements in common which he calls “…the identifying characteristics of fascism.” While some of these characteristics are shared verbatim between Classical Fascists and New Wave Fascists, there are others where they stand in polar opposites or differ in the method used to achieve the exact same means. I believe in understanding these distinctions we will see how in fact despite some Democrats protests against perceived Fascism have actually become a Fascist movement.

The 14 Characteristics of New Wave Fascism are:

1. Powerful and Continuing Anti-Nationalism.

The exaltation of victim status within identity politics means that the unifying notion that all citizens share a single national identity must be undermined because it creates Cognitive Dissonance in the minds of these supporters. Desecration of patriotic symbols and disruptions of ceremonies reaffirming this national identity are used to galvanize support for policies that are perceived as anti-establishment, but seek to reinvent those same institutions to support only their world view.

2. Subjective disdain for free speech and intellectual diversity.

Fear of enemies and intellectual insecurity allow the New Wave Fascist to be persuaded that the right of free speech can be selectively ignored as an expedient way to stomp out all intellectual diversity. Rhetoric that dehumanizes opposition makes it socially acceptable to approve and encourage violent opposition for the good of the “cause.” This is the Doctrine of Double Effect in action because they see themselves as warriors for moral justice that are ethically bound to pursue action against these perceived injustices and the limitation of other’s free speech is permissible because it is simply an unintended side effect and a lesser moral issue.

3. Identification of Enemy/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause.

The people are rallied into a unifying anti-establishment frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: Caucasian Males, Pro-Life Supporters, Gun Owners, Conservatives, Donald Trump, ect.

4. Supremacy of Entitlement Programs.

Despite soaring deficits and national debt, Entitlement Programs are treated as human rights and seen as golden calves that cannot be touched. Disproportionate amounts of government funding are prioritized to giveaways versus allowing businesses to keep more tax money to reinvest and hire more workers. Not working and being able to game the system are encouraged and glamorized.

5. Rampant Feminism.

The philosophy of New Wave Fascism is dismissive of the ideas of biological sex and traditional gender roles. Instead they embrace that principles that a person can self-identify based on one’s victim status and seek to legislate or remediation via the courts to correct perceived injustices. Despite the mountains of evidence supporting the facts that children raised in two parent households are less likely to live in poverty, engage in criminal activity or heavy drug use, two parent households are disdained as the preferred path to success because it is also the path that leads to less reliance on government.

6. Controlled Mass Media.

The majority of mainstream media is not only sympathetic to their positions, but in many cases the spokespeople and executives of these outlets will move toward open advocacy of the New Wave Fascist policies even ignoring or excusing the use of violence when it supports their held beliefs.

7. Indifference to National Security.

Fear of being branded a racist or intolerant of other cultures is used to control the conversation and limit discussions on national security and illegal immigration. Allowing strong movement in either of these two policies areas is seen as limiting the introduction of new “citizens” who would be equally disaffected as native citizens and swell the ranks of the New Wave Fascists with new members.

8. Religious Institutions regulated by Government.

The weight of the government is used against citizens to force private organizations to provide a service/product to a group/individual that are engaging in an activity/practice that is diametrically opposed or violates major tenets of their religious faith.

9. Corporate Power is suppressed.

Because the financial power of corporations can be a threat to New Wave Fascist movements, those corporations that are not considered “good citizens” by providing the right funding, donations and promotion of ideas that are friendly their cause must be suppressed and vilified into support. Boycotts, destruction of property and leaking of company information are used to ensure continued compliance. Additionally, New Wave Fascists see the solution to any perceived injustice as the sole purview of the government and perceive the involvement of private citizens and corporation as only interfering in the SJW agendas.

10. Labor Power is protected.

The Unions that support the workers transfer wealth from their members, taken as dues, to political candidates as donations to ensure that friendly regulations and policies are enacted to protect these unions and its workers creating a mutually beneficial worker/government relationship and power elite.

11. Exaltation of Intellectuals and the Arts.

New Wave Fascists actively promote and tolerate open hostility to those that have not achieved higher education. Blue collar workers are eschewed as unenlightened and needing the firm hand of the academic to control their lives. Opinions of those that are famous for being infamous are treated with respect and held in the same regard as policy experts with lifetimes in their respective fields. Modern Fascists use this celebrity cult to guide pop culture and add a weight of credibility to their world view.

12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment.

New Wave Fascism seeks to undermine and destabilize the state by delegitimizing the most visible representation of that power, the police. They will seek to push police officers during encounters hoping that the police officer will make a mistake which can be carried by national media that the police represent an existential threat to the citizen’s life, liberty or rights.

13. Rampant cronyism and corruption.

The modern day Fascist on the Left activity supports and encourages the unrestricted movement of individuals between government service and political action organizations. They firmly believe that the most important qualification for any position in government is time in service at the previous government position. This unshakable belief that “not screwing up badly” entitles one to advancement within the government is the bedrock on which the under achieving bureaucracy is built and flies in the face of the private sector’s reliance on merit to measure employee effectiveness.

14. Delegitimizing Elections.

New Wave Fascism is a phenomenon of first world countries where virtue signaling drives a narrative that all success must be tempered by feelings of guilt unless one can claim the status of victim. Any elections that result in positive outcomes for those in opposition who refuse to pay this self-imposed “guilt tax” must be delegitimized else the entire narrative come tumbling down. The process of undermining a lawfully elected administration or official serves two purposes. 1) It allows for the continued dehumanization of political rivals which permits violent opposition to be utilized and 2) For Beta males it is a social self-aggrandizing acknowledgment of shame for perceived privileges or advantages.

Is the rise of New Wave Fascism the new normal for Democrats? For the last year many American were demonized for expressing any kind of support of President Trump. Since the November election we have seen a steady string of protests that have turned violent. They protested the election, they protested the electoral delegates, they have protested inauguration, they have protested the immigration pause, they have protested his Supreme Court pick and now they protest the exercise of free speech on college campuses. In almost every protest they have had there have been violent outbursts or have simply devolved into mob rule and riots. Meanwhile the mainstream media has focused almost exclusively on incidents of alleged violence from Trump supporters many of which have been proven to be hoaxes. With the encouragement and tacit approval of the mainstream media, Hollywood celebrities and Democratic Party leaders to continue this behavior, every indication is we are seeing the birth of Fascism on the Left.

 

Sources:

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fascism

https://ratical.org/ratville/CAH/fasci14chars.html

https://www.secularhumanism.org/index.php/cont_index_20