Fascism Has a Bad Name

Fascism has a bad name, of course, but 1945 was a long time ago. Is Don Trump a Fascist? What is a Fascist? I looked it up.

1. A Fascist government is a dictatorship for life led by one sociopath. 

2.  The dictator is often an ultranationalist intent on ruling everyone who speaks his native language. Hitler began by absorbing Austria and conquering Czechoslovakia, which had many Germanic citizens. 

3. In a Fascist system elections are rigged. Political opposition is suppressed with violence. Secret police assassinate opposition leaders. 

4. Fascists believe that the liberal democracies (anocracies) are obsolete, timid and easily swept aside in wars. 

5. Extreme nationalism motivates Fascist regimes to commit genocides, massacres and forced deportations. 

6. Human rights are discarded in favor of violence against a scapegoat group that includes torture, mass murders, etc. This tends to make a dictator more popular within his own ethnic group.

7. Sexism and homophobia are rampant in Fascist systems. 

Don Trump, experts agree, does not quite qualify as a Fascist. He's too erratic, weak and stupid to meet this very low bar. Of course, there are other national leaders around the world who do qualify as Fascists, although they will not use the term themselves.