Right now in current events, there is a good deal of questioning about the views of our top leaders. Specifically, there are charges of fascism, denied by his supporters but upheld by his opponents.
Some years ago, as a participant in an online community, I encountered a self professed fascist. While his words have been erased from the online bank since, and I do not have the time nor resources to hunt them down, I remember the essentials of what he said. And his definition of fascism, quite frankly, fits the current leadership far more than they'd like to admit. I can't remember all of the points perfectly, but will try to hit the high points as best I can.
Probably one of the most salient points that he made was that fascists were concerned with absolute control of the government's resources, and that certain social issues were actually allowable under fascism because they did not disturb the order within the community. Specifically, he mentioned marriage equality and polygamy as being social issues that a fascist leader would not oppose, as creating the illusion of freedom would encourage more complacency within the society.
Strong borders, immigration control, control of commerce. All of those things fell within the interests of a fascist government, as well as seizing the means of production (under the control of government, not the workers...although in the wrong hands, a socialist/communist society CAN become a fascist one as well). Increasing efficiency of the society's resources under the direction of the government was a driving interest, and maintaining a strong military was part of that.
All of this makes me wonder if we haven't well and truly been duped. Yes, as I stated earlier, I believe our current federal leadership is a fascist government. But looking through a (somewhat) objective lens, I cannot help but view past administrations as a sort of "fascism lite", which led to the buildup of what we see today.
