Hate groupsNo, this isn’t the 1930s – but yes, this is fascism
The spread of fascism in the 1920s was significantly aided by the fact that liberals and mainstream conservatives failed to take it seriously. Instead, they accommodated and normalized it. The circumstances of society, the economy, and geopolitics are so different, we are told, that today’s right-wing populism cannot be called a fascistic revival. But historical circumstances, like individuals, are always unique and unrepeatable. The point of comparison is not to suggest that we are living though the 1930s redux. It is to recognize the very strong family resemblance in ideas shared by the early twentieth century far right and its mimics today. The risk, at least for the West, is not a new world war, but merely a poisoned public life, a democracy reduced to the tyranny of tiny majorities who find emotional satisfaction in a violent, resentful rhetoric while their narrowly elected leaders strip away their rights and persecute their neighbors. That might be quite bad enough.
The spread of fascism in the 1920s was significantly aided by the fact that liberals and mainstream conservatives failed to take it seriously. Instead, they accommodated and normalized it.
The center-right is doing the same today. Brexit, Trump, and the far right ascendant across Europe indicate that talk of a right-wing revolutionary moment is not exaggerated. And the French presidential election could be next on the calendar.
The shock felt by status-quo liberals and the anguish experienced on the left are matched only by the satisfaction of those on the extreme right that finally they are winning. The so-called “mature” liberal democracies have long managed to marginalize them. They have long seen themselves as vilified for speaking the common man’s unpalatable truths to out-of-touch elites. Now their champions are taking the political mainstream by storm.
And amid the disbelief, heartbreak, and protest, center-right politicians and commentators seek to normalize and reassure. They dismiss “whingers” and “moaners.” They tell us to “get over it” and brush off talk of a new fascism as unfounded scaremongering.
Even among historians, apparently – as the conservative British writer Niall Ferguson condescended to tell Greek economist Yanis Varoufakis – analogies with the 1930s are made only by the easily confused.
The circumstances of society, the economy, and geopolitics are so different, we are told, that today’s right-wing populism cannot be called a fascistic revival. The mainstream center-right assures us that all will be well in the wake of Trump’s election. It did the same after the U.K.’s EU referendum, even as hate crime figures skyrocketed. Conservative politicians continue to insist that the real news is about the wonderful opportunities ahead.
But that is precisely where the real analogy with Europe in the 1920s and 1930s lies. The circumstances of 2016 are indeed very different to those against which militarized party shock troops fought street battles, and monarchists looked for a strong man to capture popular grievances and save them from Bolshevik revolution.
But historical circumstances, like individuals, are always unique and unrepeatable. The point of comparison is not to suggest that we are living though the 1930s redux. It is to recognize the very strong family resemblance in ideas shared by the early twentieth century far right and its mimics today.
