Self-Hating Fascism

What is fascism, exactly? I attempted to address the question back in 2018, a year into the Trump presidency, when the term was being wantonly bandied about. I believe I had some success, but as with any political label, arguments and disagreements often devolve into tautological sniping (i.e. people whip out their dictionaries to cherry-pick affirmations and rebuttals). This aligns with the old adage that history doesn't repeat itself, but often rhymes.

To dispense with the tautological angle, I offer:

A political philosophy, movement, or regime 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.

This is indeed a laundry list, and whether a particular regime at a particular point in time qualifies as 'according to Hoyle' fascism depends on what you consider a passing grade, i.e. how many of the attributes must be checked off. Thus, the "X is a fascist because he does A, B, and C" vs "X is not a fascist because he doesn't do D, E, and F."

However, there is indeed one universal rule about fascism:

It's always the other team who's fascist.

Unlike 'socialism,' which has been undergoing a deliberate, decades-long rehabilitative marketing effort, 'fascism' remains an epithet.

Like socialism, on the other hand, fascism contains a fair amount of "eye of the beholder" looseness in definition.

So, the thuggery associated with fascism only deserves the label if the thugs are fighting for the wrong team. The nationalistic primacy aspect of fascism only deserves the label if it's the other team engaging in it. The economic elements of fascism only desire the label if the other guy's leader is running the show.

Equivocation, tendentiousness, and flat-out derogation aside, it does remain that the word has some meaning. To that end, and because politics are what we do here, let's ponder the relevance of the word to today's government and culture.

Consider each element of the above-quoted definition, from an aspirational perspective (as in, they're striving for it) focused on today's Left and Democratic leadership (both political and cultural)

"Exalt race above the individual" - Check.

"Centralized, autocratic government" - Check.

"Dictatorial leader" - Check.

"Severe economic regimentation" - Check.

"Severe social regimentation" - Check.

"Forcible suppression of opposition" - Check.

Six of seven points. 86%, a solid B, and a passing grade in almost any academic setting, and probably an A given the trend to grade inflation.

The only divergence is point 1 - exalting nation above the individual. We know that the individual does not matter to the Left, but they do the exact opposite of exalting the nation. Instead, they find the nation loathsome:

- The 1619 Project seeks to retcon our history into a narrative that America was created specifically to perpetuate and enshrine slavery.

- Critical Race Theory rejects the "foundations of the liberal order, including equality theory, legal reasoning, Enlightenment rationalism, and neutral principles of constitutional law."

- Children, young adults, and almost anyone who works in Corporate America is being told that, if they are white, they are racists who must forever bend, bow, and scrape in order to atone for the original sin of being born white, and if they are not white, that they stand no chance of equal or equitable treatment in American society.

- Equality, a cornerstone of the nation's founding and success, is to be scrapped in favor of "equity," a truly eye-of-the-beholder metric imposed by coercive fiat from on high.

That the substantial majority of "progressive activists" are college-educated, six-figure-earning whites informs us that this hatred is, at its core, of themselves.

Thus, I propose a modifying prefix for the word "fascism," a la "democratic socialism" but far more accurate, that elevates the B grade to a 100% A-Plus:

Self-hating fascism.

If you can provide a better descriptor for the socio-political ideology of today's Left, please let me know.