Yo, I'm Mr. Beat
In 2010, when I was a young lad, I began teaching World History at Blue Valley High School.
Fun fact- that was the same high school that Michael Stevens from Vsauce went to.
Anyway, when I first tried to teach these poor kids about fascism, I had a hard time explaining it.
When I looked online for definitions, it was hard to find a definition that was historically accurate, and when I did find one, it was just ridiculously complex.
And since then, I’ve noticed that a lot of people confidently talk about fascism but I don't think they know what it actually means.
Laura: The true fascists who are operating today
in this country are of a different variety
than the old Fascists of Mussolini's day.
They're the people who want to shut down debate
on college campuses, at Berkley, what they're doing to Coulter
they've done to Milo, others.
Some More News: Because fascism, regardless of nation, or time, or leader
is a reaction
against the Left
It's a frustration with liberalism
It's a rejection of socialism and communism
and Marxism and feminism
and globalism
and perceived weakness
It's a reactionary movement
that's a bit outside the realm of conservatism
that forms an uneasy alliance
with conservatives and Centrist elites.
Dinesh: Fascism is a form of socialism
Indeed, it's most workable form.
While the socialism of Marx mobilizes people on the basis of class
Fascism mobilizes people by appealing to their national identity
as well as their class
Fascists are socialists with a national identity.
ContraPoints: To begin, let's take a look at what fascism is.
Contemporary fascists share three core beliefs
1. People of European heritage are or ought to constitute a biological, cultural, and political unity known as "the white race" - sometimes dog-whistled as "Western culture."
2. Jews are masterminding the destruction of the white race through multiculturalism and non-white immigration, a plot they are calling "white genocide" or "ethnic replacement."
3. The only way to save the white race is to establish a "white homeland," or "ethnostate," from which non-whites and degenerates must be purged.
Rarely is a word so often misused or mischaracterized.
So let’s look at what fascism actually means.
I planned on making a video about this awhile ago, but I held off after my friend Tristan from Step Back History beat me to it.
That’s right. He beat Mr. Beat.
Anyway, he released this video back in October 2017.
Tristan does a great job as he always does, but he mostly dives into the early history of Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany, and frankly, he was still a bit too vague with his definition of fascism.
In the comments of the video, I attempted to simplify the definition of fascism as I used to simplify it for my World History students so they’d better understand.
Fascism is essentially “conform or else.”
Well, it got a lot of likes, so that’s cool, but then the “well actually” crowd hopped on, and one of the responses, from Eli A, was “That's just authoritarianism. Not all authoritarians are fascists, but all fascists are authoritarians﻿”
and….Eli kind of has a point. Maybe, I simplified a bit too much.
Violence usually is associated with fascism, but not always.
So let me revise. Fascism is the idea that the group is more important than the individual.
Diversity is a threat to the group.
Individualism is a threat to the group. Immigration is a threat to the group.
Any new ideas could potentially be a threat to the group.
Basically, anything that undermines the country, nation, or even ethnic group is a threat to the group.
The people in a fascist society are expected to have limited choices and strict guidance.
In other words, conform to the group.
Some argue fascism had its roots in the Jacobin movement, with leaders of the French Revolution like Maximilien Robespierre.
Others argue it had its roots as a backlash against the Enlightenment.
During the Enlightenment, when more and more people were raving about individualism, laissez faire economics, liberty, and equality, dudes like the British philosopher Thomas Carlyle were like hold up.
Hierarchy is good. Democracy is bad. Some are leaders but most are followers.
Absolute rulers were good for society. These ideas gained popularity during the late 1800s and early 1900s.
To add to the backlash, Social Darwinism, the idea that the evolutionary concept of natural selection also applied to human societies, became a big thing.
This fit right in with what would eventually be called fascism.
The term “Fascism,” wasn’t first used until 1915 by supporters of a guy you probably know about named Benito Mussolini.
Mussolini started a group called the Fasci of Revolutionary Action and a newspaper called The People of Italy after he broke away from the Italian Socialist Party.
As you may recall, this was smack dab in the middle of World War I, which Mussolini had fought in but had returned home after getting injured.
With his newspaper and the Fasci of Revolutionary Action, Mussolini started a movement, and it grew in popularity, calling for things like continuing to fight in World War I, increasing militarism in general, and most importantly, nationalism.
His followers proudly called themselves Fascists, with a capital F.
The Italian word fascio meaning group, which comes from the Latin word fasces, which literally meant a bundle of sticks.
One stick will bend and break. All the sticks together will stand strong.
And yes, this became the symbol of the Fascist Party.
Early fascists seemed kind of like socialists, calling for things like an eight-hour work day, a minimum wage, and a progressive tax that targeted the rich.
However, many of them seemed to be fans of authoritarianism. Supporters, who nicknamed themselves Blackshirts, turned to intimidation and violence to shut down critics of their movement.
Ultimately, the Fascists were able to take over Italy after the March on Rome in 1922, and Mussolini forcibly became prime minister, and eventually dictator.
For more on that, I’ve videos in the description, including Tristan’s, that go into much more detail.
Again, my main purpose of making this video is to simplify what fascism is.
To recap, fascism is the idea that the group is more important than the individual.
Authoritarianism and totalitarianism are often tools for fascism, but not necessary for it to happen, I suppose.
But the other reason for me making this video is my frustration with so many people just using whatever definition of fascism best promotes their cause or fits their political agenda.
Even the Oxford English Dictionary gets it wrong:
An authoritarian and nationalistic right-wing system of government and social organization.
Fascism tends to be authoritarian, but that doesn’t mean it has to be.
It tends to be nationalistic, but it doesn’t have to be.
It tends to be right-wing historically, but it doesn’t have to be.
I mean, geez Oxford English Dictionary, if YOU are getting it wrong how is anyone else expected to get it right?
The sad thing is that even though a lot of people use fascism as a word to describe people they disagree with or even hate, they often subconsciously are cool with some aspects of it.
Could this be you? Still don’t know what fascism is?
Well here are some puppets to help illustrate some of the ways society becomes fascist.
Oh wow
Our government sucks.
What is happening to our country?
Sorry, what did you say?
I-I didn't say anything.
You said our government sucks and our country isn't going in the right direction.
I-I mean, I didn't mean it.
You are an enemy to the country. Take him away.
(chokes)
There is a group of people that is making this country lose its way.
taking our jobs, and making us less by being here.
We have to get them out.
By whatever means necessary.
You
Jim Jett, from the DisAssociated Press
Why do you keep locking up people with blue hair?
We need to protect the state.
We cannot keep a country going
without breaking a few eggs.
Speaking about breaking eggs
Jim Jett, that's the last question you're ever gonna ask.
Everything is fine.
People are not being taken away
to detention centers
separated from their lov-
But isn't he just a human?
Human? He is our savior.
We owe everything to him.
I'd give my left arm to him if I hadn't already given my right arm at the factory.
Thank you to Paul and all the puppets of the Felt Show for helping me make this video.
They are all terrific actors.
Very funny too. I put a link to a video
in the description to one of their videos.
Go check it out.
Also next week I will be returning to the Compared series.
And I'm really excited about this one
so hopefully you'll watch it.
Thanks for watching this one. If you're not gonna watch that next video
at least you watched this one. So yeah. Heck yeah...you fascist.