Sean Danaher had a powerful piece on fascism on Progressive Pulse a few days ago. He published it under the title:
Fascism as a methodology rather than an ideology
As Sean noted, fascism has had an influence on his life:
My father attempted to do a PhD in Germany from 1937-39, but it became increasingly obvious that things were deteriorating rapidly in Nazi Germany and that war was coming. He returned to Dublin in July '39, a few months after the British navy finally withdrew from its occupation of Irish ports.
He believed strongly that there was nothing intrinsically different about the Germans that made them more susceptible to fascism than other nations. He thought some form of fascism would return, but almost certainly not to Germany. I was instilled with the belief that “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty” and that democracy was fragile.
And I like this thinking:
The Yale philosopher Jason Stanley describes fascism as a technique for gaining power — a methodology rather than an ideology.
I think of fascism as a method of politics. It's a rhetoric, a way of running for power. Of course, that's connected to fascist ideology, because fascist ideology centers on power. But I really see fascism as a technique to gain power.
So are the Tories fascist, given their focus on power? Sean says:
Prof Stanley's framing of fascism is very interesting. It fits much of what has become manifestly evident in the UK over an extended period. I'm not sure it will result in power being concentrated in one person as seems to be happening in the US with Trump.
Certainly, we can now expect power to be more and more concentrated in the executive, with the judiciary, civil service and even parliament itself being sidelined.
EU27 citizens living in the UK will very much be an outgroup made to feel increasingly unwelcome. Citizens rights for minorities will become a key testing ground as Steve Bullock explains.
Fascist methodologies are being used. Time will tell whether this will further develop into a full ideology and what havoc will result before it ends badly – it always has.
It is not July '39 in Germany as yet, but I will keep an eye on things.
So am I.
I recommend the whole article and the reasoning within it.
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i cannot have been the only one who was horrified by the recent cabinet meeting where Boris did the Trump thing of “how many hospitals are we going to build?” “forty!” they replied…. usw…
There are reports that ministers/advisors who make any ‘incorrect’ comments are reported to Dom. Hopefully it is only a matter of time before they get sufficiently annoyed that they realise that they should be the adults in the room.
Are there adults in that room?
Just checked, no adults present at Cabinet. Nanny may come later with some dip-dip soldiers.
I remain hopeful that we will not continue to follow the Republican/Trump sycophancy….hopeful; not optimistic
Read Sean’s article when it first appeared on Progressive Pulse, then read it again to let it really sink in. It’s one of the best pieces of analysis I’ve read for a while. I subsequently passed it on to others.
It’s definitely a political line of travel to keep a close eye on.
Interestingly just after this was published the Eugenics issue raised its ugly head, coincidence, no it can’t be.
Agreed
Good article by Sean.
I was thrown out of the UK Mission to the EU in Brussels yesterday – for asking difficult questions and “being rude” to a bumptious prat from BEIS at a conference the Mission was holding on carbon capture and storage. On a positive note – at least they did not beat me up or put me in prison.
Official Brits at the Mission (out of control) did not like being told that UK de-carbonisation (look at us aren’t we great) was mainly due to the collapse of UK industry and off-shoring. Neither did they like it when I observed that over the 35 years I had been outside the UK, I had watched the country tank. I think the fatberg also came up in conversation.
The UK Mission and its staff are glove puppets to the politicos, & if the politicos, as seems likely, are increasingly fascistic in their tendancies (the loony Frost gave a speech worthy of Goebbels the other day) , then what one deals with are fascist apologists.
Dealing with the info point “Freedom requires knowledge” I see that data on waiting times in hospitals has been abolished. Convenient eh? Something makes the gov look bad? abolish it. One trajectory for the UK was described in a novel “A State of Denmark” (it’s not about Denmark – it’s about the Uk). It paints a far more terrifying picture than 1984 & a far more plausible one.
Hi Mike
thanks. A few weeks ago in another of my blog posts http://www.progressivepulse.org/brexit/a-fond-farewell-to-the-uk-from-an-eu27-citizen-part-ii-education-industry-and-media I discussed the de-industrialisation of Britain and quoted your piece on the UK’s “Industrial Strategy.”
The state of Denmark book sounds interesting. I presume it is the one by Derek Raymond?
Sean – yes it was. Well worth getting with an ending that leaves you shaken.
Sorry if this is a bit off-topic, but Sean’s article shows an intriguing parallel between his upbringing and mine.
My father’s work also took my parents to Central Europe between 1935 and 1939 and gave them first-hand experience of living under the Nazis in both Germany and Austria, as well as in the right-leaning countries of Hungary and Romania which drifted increasingly into Germany’s orbit.
As a result of my parents’ experiences of fascist propaganda, my brother and I were brought up with the strong belief that political parties, the Press and radio were not to be trusted and that we should do our research and make our own minds up about politics and events. This made us non-herd animals and I’m very grateful for that. Like Sean, we also had it drummed into us that our votes mattered and should never be wasted. Later on, my father was a staunch supporter of the EU, particularly as its very existence made the prospect of war in most of Europe much less likely. He lived long enough to see the Wall come down in 1989 and was delighted to see the road open up for the countries of Eastern Europe to join the EU, something he thought he’d never see in his lifetime.
Had he been alive, he would have been enraged and mystified by Brexit and appalled by the drift of the UK to the far right, along with the scant regard for the facts that propelled that drift.
Spot on. A technique, not an ideology.
The ideology that comes once fascism has prepared a path can vary in character. Sometimes there isn’t even one. Just power, control, to secure the concentration of wealth & resources in a few hands.
But first, total control over democratic institutions needs to be established.
Those very institutions which can sometimes be used to establish fascism without using military force.
Then totalitarian and authoritarian methods can take over, and maintained with the help of the military, the police too, if resistance gets in the way.
No-one should be surprised by Sean Danaher’s assessment. Indeed anyone unaware of the progress of events must be in denial. The proroguing of Parliament, the Supreme Court judgement and the subsequent manifesto commitment to ‘review’ the power of the judiciary leaves no room for doubt about the government’s intentions. But once that is accepted the next step is to consider the ramifications. If the aim is indeed to subvert democracy then it would also be logical to question the integrity of the election process. The December election just happened to give the Tories the massive majority needed to push through the controversial manifesto pledges with no worry about dissident Tory MPs and Parliament ‘obstructing the will of the people’. Was this just a convenient result or the inevitable course of creeping fascism? Were Brexit and the Scottish referendum the will of the people – or the Establishment, determined to ‘protect the State’? Such thoughts will be unthinkable to most people but I suspect that if we move further towards the fascism Sean fears they will seem increasingly plausible.
(Yes indeed a bee in my bonnet but let’s see how conspiratorial it will seem in a year or so)
The role of postal voting is a key issue here