Fascism: A Warning by Madeleine Albright
And, when interviewed for VOX ...
In the book, I try to argue that fascism is not an ideology; it’s a process for taking and holding power. A fascist is somebody who identifies with one group — usually an aggrieved majority — in opposition to a smaller group. It’s about majority rule without any minority rights. Which is why fascists tend to single out the smaller group as being responsible for or the cause of their grievances.
The important thing is that fascists aren’t actually trying to solve problems; they’re invested in exacerbating problems and deepening the divisions that result from them. They reject the free press and denounce the institutional structures within a society — like Congress or the judiciary.
I’d also add that violence is a crucial element of fascism. Whatever else it is, fascism involves the endorsement and use of violence to achieve political goals and stay in power. It’s a bully with an army, really. [
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I found Albright's responses brilliant. So, for example:
A lot of people have benefited from globalization, but it has huge downsides. It’s faceless, and people want to know their identity, want to be connected to some religious or ethnic or national group.
Identity is fine, but if my identity makes me hate your identity, then it becomes very dangerous and it falls into hypernationalism. Suddenly, groups are pitted against each other or scapegoated and all of political life becomes tribalized conflict. And we can see this happening in a number of places.
Viktor Orbán’s embrace of ethnic purity in Hungary is a good example of this.
And then, regarding Trump:
Sean Illing
We’re dancing around a giant elephant right now, so I’ll just address it: In the book, you call Donald Trump “the most undemocratic president” in modern American history. But you very explicitly do not call him a fascist. Why not?
Madeleine Albright
You’re right, I don’t call him a fascist. He’s certainly anti-democratic, and I say so in the book, but I don’t call him a fascist because he isn’t violent. If he ends up declaring an emergency at the border over immigration, then I might change my position. There’s a long history of fascists using “emergencies” to create fear and conflict, so that’s a potential red line. If Trump does that, then he really is a bully with an army.
But I do think his approach to the free press, to democratic institutions, to the independent judiciary, is extremely dangerous and anti-democratic. And his general disdain for the rule of law is genuinely alarming. ...
Note that the interview, including the reference to Viktor Orbán, was published in 2019.
abcnews.go.com
