3 ms·

It seems to me to just be a synonym for "far-right" in the US right now, often used by people with equally authoritarian left-ish stances.

JohnFen 7y ago
Well, mud-throwers (regardless of their ideology) have always misused terms like that. These days, the preferred insult from the radical left tends to be "fascist", and the preferred insult from the radical right tends to be "socialist". Both sides are using them as a slang way of saying "scum". But their abuse of these terms doesn't (or shouldn't) actually change their meaning to the rest of us.
- dmix 7y ago
  I don't mind the meaning of words changing, I just don't like words being thrown around to the point they are meaningless. Words like "fascism" and "nazi" have lost meaning, particularly on the internet, as they are frequently used by political ideologues to describe anything to the right of Justin Trudeau. Abusing terms in politics isn't new of course but it's not something we should be encouraging or ignoring because there are some legitimate consequences. The obvious one is the disinterest/dismissal it generates when people legitimately do need to raise the alarm because people have been crying wolf incessantly. It also helps the legitimately bad guys to dismiss the attacks and pretend they are just like the moderates facing exaggerated attacks from an hysterical foe.
braythwayt 7y ago
Well, some people may just throw the term around, but if you read the definition, it’s easy to see why some people might think that we are on the brink of Fascism taking root in America: “Fascism (/ˈfæʃɪzəm/) is a form of far-right, authoritarian ultranationalism characterized by dictatorial power, forcible suppression of opposition, and strong regimentation of society and of the economy.” I mean, we have supporters of the US President chanting “lock her up,” and propaganda outlets accusing US Democrats of being “treasonous” and “enacting an illegal coup,” which sounds like preparing the way for “forced suppression of opposition.” We may disagree with them, but surely we can understand that some of the people using this word are sincerely attempting to use it in good faith. Wikipedia goes on to discuss the relationship between Fascism and economic policy: “Fascists advocate a mixed economy, with the principal goal of achieving autarky (national economic self-sufficiency) through protectionist and interventionist economic policies.” That sounds like the current US administration. The most interesting bit to me is this quote: “Fascists believe that liberal democracy is obsolete and regard the complete mobilization of society under a totalitarian one-party state as necessary to prepare a nation for armed conflict and to respond effectively to economic difficulties.” Does the US administration believe that liberal democracy is obsolete? As a citizen of a country where we bend over backwards to help people vote, I look at the voter suppression in the US and can’t help but think that America is more interested in “democracy theatre” than democracy, but that’s just an opinion, and I am aware that most Americans vigorously disagree. Likewise, when the people of America elected Mr. Obama, and there was a vacant supreme court seat plus a hundred other vacant judgeships, I would have thought that the GOP-controlled senate refusing to hear any of the President’s nominations was a sign of their disinterest in democracy, especially in the will of the people who elected and then re-elected Mr. Obama. But again... I imagine most Americans disagree. That being said, if someone does hold the view that the current administration, or various far-right groups out there have turned away from democracy, even if we disagree with them, can we not accept that they are using the word “Fascist” in good faith?
Mountain_Skies 7y ago
The word racist has lost its meaning and most of its power. Fascist is the new catch all insult/accusation for primarily the same groups. I'm a bit perplexed why the word bigot hasn't entered the common lexicon since it actually does apply to many of the situations where neither racist or fascist is correct.
fzeroracer 7y ago
Just as a curious point, where were all of these complaints about the terms 'fascism', 'nazi' etc when people accused feminists of being feminazis or the left of being fascists? Both of these terms had their origins tied to the radio ideologues such as Rush Limbaugh and I find it rather odd that only now has it seen more effluent criticism now that it is being employed at the right instead of by the right. It seems like it was acceptable when it was used by one side and not the other. Because I distinctly remember having to deal with people slinging those terms around for far less.

JohnFen 7y ago

Well, mud-throwers (regardless of their ideology) have always misused terms like that. These days, the preferred insult from the radical left tends to be "fascist", and the preferred insult from the radical right tends to be "socialist". Both sides are using them as a slang way of saying "scum". But their abuse of these terms doesn't (or shouldn't) actually change their meaning to the rest of us.

dmix 7y ago
I don't mind the meaning of words changing, I just don't like words being thrown around to the point they are meaningless. Words like "fascism" and "nazi" have lost meaning, particularly on the internet, as they are frequently used by political ideologues to describe anything to the right of Justin Trudeau. Abusing terms in politics isn't new of course but it's not something we should be encouraging or ignoring because there are some legitimate consequences. The obvious one is the disinterest/dismissal it generates when people legitimately do need to raise the alarm because people have been crying wolf incessantly. It also helps the legitimately bad guys to dismiss the attacks and pretend they are just like the moderates facing exaggerated attacks from an hysterical foe.

braythwayt 7y ago

Well, some people may just throw the term around, but if you read the definition, it’s easy to see why some people might think that we are on the brink of Fascism taking root in America: “Fascism (/ˈfæʃɪzəm/) is a form of far-right, authoritarian ultranationalism characterized by dictatorial power, forcible suppression of opposition, and strong regimentation of society and of the economy.” I mean, we have supporters of the US President chanting “lock her up,” and propaganda outlets accusing US Democrats of being “treasonous” and “enacting an illegal coup,” which sounds like preparing the way for “forced suppression of opposition.” We may disagree with them, but surely we can understand that some of the people using this word are sincerely attempting to use it in good faith. Wikipedia goes on to discuss the relationship between Fascism and economic policy: “Fascists advocate a mixed economy, with the principal goal of achieving autarky (national economic self-sufficiency) through protectionist and interventionist economic policies.” That sounds like the current US administration. The most interesting bit to me is this quote: “Fascists believe that liberal democracy is obsolete and regard the complete mobilization of society under a totalitarian one-party state as necessary to prepare a nation for armed conflict and to respond effectively to economic difficulties.” Does the US administration believe that liberal democracy is obsolete? As a citizen of a country where we bend over backwards to help people vote, I look at the voter suppression in the US and can’t help but think that America is more interested in “democracy theatre” than democracy, but that’s just an opinion, and I am aware that most Americans vigorously disagree. Likewise, when the people of America elected Mr. Obama, and there was a vacant supreme court seat plus a hundred other vacant judgeships, I would have thought that the GOP-controlled senate refusing to hear any of the President’s nominations was a sign of their disinterest in democracy, especially in the will of the people who elected and then re-elected Mr. Obama. But again... I imagine most Americans disagree. That being said, if someone does hold the view that the current administration, or various far-right groups out there have turned away from democracy, even if we disagree with them, can we not accept that they are using the word “Fascist” in good faith?

Mountain_Skies 7y ago

The word racist has lost its meaning and most of its power. Fascist is the new catch all insult/accusation for primarily the same groups. I'm a bit perplexed why the word bigot hasn't entered the common lexicon since it actually does apply to many of the situations where neither racist or fascist is correct.

fzeroracer 7y ago

Just as a curious point, where were all of these complaints about the terms 'fascism', 'nazi' etc when people accused feminists of being feminazis or the left of being fascists? Both of these terms had their origins tied to the radio ideologues such as Rush Limbaugh and I find it rather odd that only now has it seen more effluent criticism now that it is being employed at the right instead of by the right. It seems like it was acceptable when it was used by one side and not the other. Because I distinctly remember having to deal with people slinging those terms around for far less.