I appreciate the review, especially in making connections between fascism and economic policy. Historically, fascists had support from powerful economic groups

I appreciate the review, especially in making connections between fascism and economic policy. Historically, fascists had support from powerful economic groups because of their ability to deliver on highly unpopular economic measures. The current state of politics in the West is that while (some) governments are not outright fascist, any pretense of them representing the political will of the majority of its population is crumbling. They serve a minority of very wealthy individuals much more than they do their general populace, and we accept that as fact. To play devil's advocate, however, I would argue that there is sound rationale for not allowing economic policy to be decided in an a purely democratic way. If everyone had equal vote in what the government should do monetarily, the result could quickly evolve to a disaster, which we have also seen in places where dictators try to appease to the population as a whole by subsidizing costs and wages.