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Thinking about how the nine "mobilizing passions" of fascism, from Paxton's 'The Anatomy of Fascism,' line up with current right-wing attacks on trans people & immigrants:
1. A sense of overwhelming crisis beyond the reach of any traditional solutions;
2. The primacy of the group, toward which one has duties superior to every right, whether individual or universal, and the subordination of the individual to it
1/x
3. The belief that one's group is a victim, a sentiment that justifies any action, without legal or moral limits, against its enemies, both internal and external;
4. Dread of the group's decline under the corrosive effects of individualistic liberalism, class conflict, and alien influences;
5. The need for closer integration of a purer community, by consent if possible, or by exclusionary violence if necessary;
2/x
6. The need for authority by natural leaders (always male), culminating in a national chief who alone is capable of incarnating the groups' destiny;
7. The superiority of the leader's instincts over abstract and universal reason;
8. The beauty of violence and the efficacy of will, when they are devoted to the group's success;
3/x
9. The right of the chosen people to dominate others without restraint from any kind of human or divine law, right being decided by the sole criterion of the group's prowess within a Darwinian struggle.
So I think we once again--as it was in many countries after WW1, see an authoritarian--even fascist--political movement driven by a backlash against feminism and gay rights.
4/4