LETTERS.

• Date: 01 December 2022

What Is Fascism?

I applaud The Progressive for its point-counterpoint coverage of fascism ("What Is Fascism?" and "Yes, You Can Call Them Fascist," October/November issue). Too often the left ignores the possibility of reasonable, differing perspectives. That said, I found Jay Hatheway's "What Is Fascism?" less convincing and more frustrating than David Masciotra's "Yes, You Can Call Them Fascist."

"What Is Fascism" seemed encased in a disciplinary (in this case, historical) straitjacket. Hatheway's argument reminds me of certain geologists who are loath to accept the Anthropocene as a geological epoch. Their stubbornness comes from their narrow disciplinary definition of what constitutes a new epoch.

Hairsplitting about what constitutes fascism seems analogous. Rhetorical accuracy is important, but a rigid definition of fascism may prevent us from naming the very real threat posed to democracy by the fascism that is currently in ascendency.

To be fair, Hatheway points out one particular difference between European fascism and ours that seems valid: Historical fascism depended on a universal belief in a unified collective consciousness. Our cultures rampant individualism runs counter to this adherence to an "organic whole."

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