Fascism is more than political or organizational structure; it’s a state of mind, and that state of mind is about justifying dominance of strength over weakness. Taking their cue from a misunderstanding of nature, Fascists view human survival and achievement in simple predatory terms of winners and losers. Losers, they believe, are weak and therefore deserve to be preyed upon by winners who are strong, just as powerful lions dominate weaker animals.
While this attitude has existed for a long time, it’s valuable to remember that modern political Fascism was a post-Darwinist movement. Like its competitor Communism, it moored itself to a pseudoscientific materialist theory to justify its actions of dominance and repression. The weak, Fascists proclaimed, exist to serve the interests of the strong. Were it not so, the weak would not exist; it is their purpose and destiny, they believe.
Only a little over six percent of the world’s population live within a full democracy. Dominance and control govern the lives of the other ninety-four percent. One might conclude, accordingly, that the law of the jungle – might makes right – does largely govern human affairs. Even democratic societies struggle with dominance and control, like America in 1776, 1860, 1950, 1970 and 2026. The efforts of the strong to dominate others never rests.
Humanity emerged hundreds of thousands of years ago, but as naturalist E.O. Wilson observed in The Social Conquest of Earth, that emergence was from a bipedal primate ancestor which was highly territorial and developed aggressive tactics to guard and protect family and tribe, in short, modes of predation to insure a steady food supply. So it is that Fascism is in part instinctual; to dominate others in order to preserve the survival of the tribe. Tribal allegiance, Wilson believes, is in-born and humans are hard-wired to be social animals. Notably, the violent among us both terrify and fascinate us. Do you identify with predator or prey?
Our tribal nature can be used to manipulate us, and is, constantly. Feeling a part of this or that group, movement, place of origin, race, color, religion, political party and so forth fuels society with efforts, motivation, and sense of purpose. Lacking any such identification generally produces feelings of loneliness, alienation, misanthropy, neuroses and psychosis. Yet, we are more complicated than that. We also have a gene for altruism, including sacrificing one’s life on behalf of others. Altruism can be manipulated too, however, and its allegiance redirected in ways that harm others.
Sorting all this out is humanity’s great work. While our powers of intellect and accumulation of knowledge have geometrically increased, our emotions remain primitive. The permutations of the four basic emotions – happy, sad, scared and mad – continue to govern our responses and behaviors. Our sophisticated selves, the high-minded thinkers that search for understanding, are up against our primitive selves – fearful, territorial, aggressive and controlling. This is not news, and yet it is the story being told every hour of every day.
Now in power, American Fascists are exerting predatory control and influence over those they designate as weak prey – immigrants, ethnic minorities, political opponents, religious activists, environmentalists, and even scientists. How far they will go and how long they will last is unknown, but what is certain is it will not go on forever. Nature always levels the playing field.
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