You know, I try to stay away from a political position. Certainly to some my personal opinions lean in a particular political direction. Still, I try to stay away from pointing fingers, or vilifying a particular political group. If we’re reasonable there is enough blame for where we are at to go around.
But this one? This post shouldn’t divide anyone. I write, so words matter. I’ve always done better sharing my thoughts in a written way than in a spoken way. I’m not an especially social individual. Since words matter, how we use words matter. The fact that we want to restrict the words others use matters. I’m not in favor of restricting speech. I know there are things I don’t want to hear, and there are things you don’t want to hear, but that doesn’t mean we should shutdown those who are speaking. We have the right to turn them off. Tune out. Ignore. But shutting them down just because we don’t agree doesn’t advance us as a society; it sets us back as a society.
Lately there has been a resurgence in the use of a word, a word which has association with a terrible time in world history. It is a word which brings up visions of horrendous human suffering, war, anger, hatred, bigotry, and control. Until recently, this word was only used when describing the events of World War II. It rarely found relevance in our normal discourse. To hear how easily it is used in today’s world is almost unfathomable.
The word is Fascist. It is a word which has been tossed around from both sides of the aisle. People on both sides of the political spectrum have accused members of the other side of being fascists. We’ve had members of our government accused of being fascists. In message boards, on Twitter, in comments on political news, you see this word and its derivative, Fascism, being used as a weapon to beat upon the other side. It gets thrown around so easily, most people don’t even know what they are accusing the other side of being. And its use is dangerous.
Besides cheapening the meaning and depth of the word, it tends to give the user some feeling of moral authority. Because their opponent is deemed to be a fascist, they can use any an all means to depose, dispose, demean, demoralize, and destroy their enemy. The use of mob rule, cancel culture, bullying, and self-justified violence finds its satisfaction based on this one word. We have groups who claim to be anti-fascist who actually use tactics of fascism.
So, what is a fascist anyway?
Dictionary.com says a Fascist is:
1. a person who believes in or sympathizes with fascism. (often initial capital letter)
2. a member of a fascist movement or party.
3. a person who is dictatorial or has extreme right-wing views.
Although, I believe it could be argued that a fascist could be extreme left-wing and also be dictatorial, a fascist basically puts all power in the state which has a dictatorial rule. But to truly define a fascist, we have to look at fascism.
Merriam-Webster defines Fascism as:
1 often capitalized : a political philosophy, movement, or regime (such as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition
2 : a tendency toward or actual exercise of strong autocratic or dictatorial control early instances of army fascism and brutality
The word has an Italian origin. Fascio was a word used to describe unions and labor groups. Fasci means to bundle or group. During the time of Benito Mussolini the word Fascisti was used to describe the Italian people as a country united and obedient to the state. This can be said of a group of people wholly committed to a party as well.
An honest examination of these definitions could just as easily be applied to followers of both of the dominant political parties in the US. When party loyalty, centralized control of government, economic and social restructuring, and forced suppression of the opposition (cancel culture, restrictions to speech, mandated actions, and us/them philosophy) takes control of society, we are venturing toward fascism, and that could be said of both the current or previous political climate depending upon your perspective.
Fascism is dangerous to us as individuals, and to our country. Weakening the definition of a fascist or of fascism in general by throwing it around like a nickname, is just as dangerous. It makes us believe people on the other side of the political spectrum are deserving of all the vitriol we can bestow upon them. It separates our country, dividing us into two groups who feel justified in hating others.
Words matter. And the use of words matter. Speech matters, and though others shouldn’t be able to control our speech, we can. We can use our speech responsibly. We can and should edit our own speech when we are using it just to damage someone else. With freedom comes responsibility — the responsibility to use our freedoms in a way which doesn’t harm others, not because government tells us to, but because its the right thing to do. After all, government didn’t give us those freedoms, they are inalienable, government merely protects our freedoms. We the people determine how we use them.
