fascism

VirianLexicon:fascism

Fascism

Fascism is telegraphed by relentless aggression abroad and a semi-religious adoration of the regime at home. In consequence, fascism's hallmark is a succession of foreign conquests and wars, coupled with never-ending reports of ongoing "existential threats" by outside entities against the people, territory and lifestyle of the fascist state, maintaining the fascist nation in a state of permanent paranoia, fear, anxiety and patriotic hypertension. Those who disagree with the regime are branded ideological traitors. While not all highly conservative and militaristic regimes are fascist, although more often than not, they tend to be. All successful fascist regimes have allied themselves with traditional conservative parties, and with their military-industrial complex. Fascism is reliably identified with the following attributes:

1. a sense of overwhelming crisis beyond reach of traditional solutions;
2. belief one’s group is the victim, justifying any action without legal or moral limits;
3. need for authority by a natural leader above the law, relying on the superiority of his instincts;
4. right of the chosen people to dominate others without legal or moral restraint;
5. fear of foreign `contamination.’

See also: Professor Robert O. Paxton, Colombia University, "The Anatomy of Fascism", Knopf, 2004; Wikipedia