Let’s talk about fascism today, friends. Why is it important? Because in collapse, authoritarianism always increases. Of course we don't like strong man dictators, military coups, or religious fundamentalism – we hate all the different forms authoritarianism takes. But the especially chilling thing about fascism is that doesn't just happen in the political sphere; it happens at the dinner table.
Average people live under authoritarianism, often for generations, without it altering their daily reality much at all. The power struggles of dictators and regime changes might hardly make a difference. But fascism uses the populace and populist movements as part of its social control.
Fascism goes deeper and far beyond fear and military might to secure its stranglehold.
This episode is an excerpt from my online course, Collapse 101, which is accessed as part of my monthly membership subscription program, The Numinous Network. We have a Collapse 101 class lecture, followed by an AMA a week later, almost every month.
In this session, I'm sharing about the hallmarks of fascism so we can be alert to some of the sneaky ways it wends itself into our lives.
Referenced in this episode:
TNP193 How Much Is Enough In Collapse? with Carmen & Ruben
The Rewilding Podcast with Peter Michael Bower, ep. 30: Collapse Care with Carmen Spagnola
End Times/New Times: Numinous Podcast Episode Round-Up for Collapse
Recommended Reading:
Ecofascism: Lessons from the German Experience, by Janet Biehl and Peter Staudenmaier, published under the title, "Fascist Ecology: The "Green Wing" of the Nazi Party and its Historical Antecedents" (1996)
On the Rise of the Right-Wing Mass Movements, (2014)
The Return of Fascism in Contemporary Capitalism (2014)
Economic Collapse and the Rise of Fascism, 1920-1933, A People's History of Modern Europe (2016)
The Pagan and Occult Fascist Connection and How To Fix It, by Amy Hale (2019)
Note the difference in tone regarding America in just one year in the following three articles:
Fascism Is Spreading — And It’s a Sign of Civilizational Collapse, Umair Haque (2022)
How Many Collapsing Societies Does It Take to Teach the Same Lesson?, Umair Haque (2023)
America’s Battle To Save Its Democracy From Trumpism, Umair Haque (2023)
If you want to end on a more upbeat note, here's a classic:
Why Socialism? by Albert Einstein
or
Punching Nazis: Spiritual or No? by me, Carmen Spagnola