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tell me your outlook on human nature and i tell you who you are (lemmy.blahaj.zone)
submitted 1 year ago by to c/memes@slrpnk.net
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idk the author

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[–] 7 points 1 year ago (5 children)

Doesn't fascism require a strong man leader?

I'm all for calling out destructive ideologies but if we call everything fascism then it's really going to dilute the power of the term.

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  • [–] 7 points 1 year ago* (3 children)

    Fascists typically believe in strongman leadership, but you don't have to swear allegiance to a specific strongman to be a fascist.

    Eco-fascists, in particular, want a Pol Pot-style dictator, someone who will ignore laws, human rights, and common decency, in order to drastically reduce the human population and force the survivors into low-tech subsistence farming. Last I checked, no one like that is anywhere near power anywhere in the world, but that doesn't make eco-fascists any less fascist for it.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    I think eco-fascism in particular is fascinating, because elements of it can take root in otherwise very progressive individuals. And then they go on to spread to crypto-fascism without even knowing it--like the "humans are the virus" thing, which you might chalk up to everyday cynicism.

    I mean this is true of all fascisms. I hesitate to call it a natural human disease of the mind or anything like that, but it certainly is a tendency, especially when times are tough.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    Sure. Fascism, at its core, is just a fancy 20th century version of the age-old human instinct to respond to problems with violence. And we all have to watch out for that instinct. Progressives are human too.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago

    I guess I'm just slowly realizing that--that it isn't something that can ever be "solved" for good, just combated and mitigated. Not to say it isn't a worthwhile struggle. Perhaps even the most worthwhile struggle we have.

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