In today’s society, we don’t really hear the term “fascism” or “fascist” as often. I only heard it when referring to past events in history. Occasionally I would hear someone call another a fascist sort of as an insult but I never truly knew what it meant. After reading Umberto Eco’s “Ur-Fascism,” I think I have a better grasp on the word: that of which comes from the individual’s frustration as a result of forcible suppression and dictatorial authoritative power. Eco describes this Ur-Fascism, or Eternal Fascism, with 14 features where even one feature is enough to allow fascism to come from it. Some of these features include: the cult of tradition, rejection of modernism, fear of difference, and disagreement is treason. It is hard not to see parallels in this list to Trump’s “Make America Great Again” campaign. With this observation, I can conclude that Ur-Fascism is alive and well in today’s society. Even though Trump’s campaign for presidency is over, there are still many of his followers that continue to carry and share his ideology. Eco’s #4 “Disagreement is treason” most relates to KKK’s David Duke’s declaration that “voting against Trump is treason to your heritage. (https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/david-duke-voting-against-trump-is-treason-to-your-heritage) Or his #5 “Fear of Difference” correlates to Trump’s advocacy to build a wall to keep Mexicans out or sending troops to surrounding areas near China. Or #1 “Cult of Tradition,” where we can call the whole “Make America Great Again” slogan a cult. The whole movement refers back to the time where America was deemed the best country in some fictional Golden Age. So yes, as long as this ideology that America and the white “race” is superior, Ur-Fascism will remain.
