A handy guide to understanding fascism

Many young people come to me and ask: what is fascism? It’s a question political philosophers have studied for decades.

In the end, though, the answer is really quite simple. Here’s a handy guide to understanding what fascism is, and just as importantly, what fascism is not.

IS NOT FASCISM

• Using an attack on a large, prominent building as an excuse to clamp down on civil liberties

• Calling for the execution of the editor of a large newspaper

• Threatening a Jewish family until they flee their city

• Imprisoning citizens for years without charges

• Government lawyers claiming a country’s leader has the authority to “crush the testicles” of a child if necessary

IS FASCISM

• Sending mean emails to Lee Siegel

• • •

You see? As I said, simple. I hope this clears things up.