Apropos to nothing in particular here's a letter to the Editor of the North County Times in San Diego and Riverside counties, California. (If you click on the link, you'll need to scroll down the page to see the letter on the NC Times site itself.) No, I'm not an avid reader of the NC Times, but rather found it via some of the discussion that ensued on the site I linked to in the 'Just passing it on' post a couple of days ago. I'm going to quote it in full here in case the NC Times takes it off its site sometime in the future. It's just a shame that Mr. Clausen (the author) doesn't actually quote his sources, but then again what you'll read below is also pretty much borne out by this dictionary.com definition.
Recent letters comparing Hitler, Mussolini, Saddam Hussein and the Bush administration sent me to the library for a definition of fascism, the political scourge that almost destroyed Europe in the 1930s and 1940s. According to various sources, fascism is a government that often achieves power through political assassinations or rigged elections; initially poses as the champion of democracy even as it undermines democratic principles; is so nationalistic and excessively patriotic that disagreements with government policies are viewed as treason; controls the media so the people will support the government; coarsens the national dialogue with inflammatory rhetoric; relentlessly attacks the messengers of alternative points of view until they are silenced; uses secret police to spy on the population and eliminate opposition; undermines constitutional rights so the government will have absolute control over the people; stresses the superiority of one's country; promotes internal and external enemies as the sources of evil; sacrifices public interests to corporate interests; funnels a nation's wealth into the military and weapons-producing corporations; keeps the people in a permanently warlike state of mind; and eventually centers all power in a single party headed by a dictator with absolute power over the people.
DENNIS M. CLAUSEN
Escondido
'relentlessly attacks the messengers of alternative points of view until they are silenced; ... promotes internal and external enemies as the sources of evil'
I knew it would be in here. These are the primary parts of this definition by which I judge Robert Heinlein, for example, to have been fascist. I must say I was completely taken by his writing as a teen, and appalled by it when I picked it up again as a middle-aged adult.
I also once belonged to a religious organisation that would have to be called fascist under these same terms, as well as some of the others cited here.
As to why and how fascism gains a following, look to the experience of 'The Third Wave'. It's entirely based on these characteristics.
http://www.vaniercollege.qc.ca/Auxiliary/Psychology/Frank/Thirdwave.html
Posted by: DJ at January 16, 2004 12:01 AM> 'The Third Wave'.
Fascinating reading.
Unfortunately, this comment is far enough down the page that most people won't be reading it, but I'll be highlighting that 'Third Wave' page somewhere down the line I feel sure. (Shame about the punctuation and simple typos on that site though. Especially considering he is a teacher of an 'arts' subject.)