that’s a fair bit harder. as capitalism continues to decay fascism will continue to sweep up those dissatisfied with the status quo so their ire can be pointed towards scapegoats rather than the people in power who are actually ruining their lives. as an individual, your options are precious and few. as someone who has spent like, 20 of the 30 years i’ve been alive arguing with right-wingers of various flavors, i know for a fact that they can be swayed by a compelling enough counter-narrative. the problem is that the narratives that lead unhappy people into fascism are all but ominpresent throughout our society. fascist ideology is baked into the bones of countries like the u.s. and australia, and wealthy ghouls fund a fucking deluge of propaganda to ensure that remains the dominant “alternative” ideology.
as a society, we could theoretically live in a world without nazis tomorrow. not literally, of course, but a combination of addressing the root material concerns (poverty, etc), shutting down the various fascist propaganda networks, shooting the hardliners and reeducating the rest would eliminate much of its allure, though it would likely take a few generations of work to truly see the end of it as a movement with any teeth. of course, we won’t, because ultimately fascism serves the interests of capital by serving as both a release valve and a bludgeon to keep any movements that might pose a threat to the status quo in line.
Agreed. It’s a good start. I wonder if there’s any way we can stop people harbouring those beliefs.
that’s a fair bit harder. as capitalism continues to decay fascism will continue to sweep up those dissatisfied with the status quo so their ire can be pointed towards scapegoats rather than the people in power who are actually ruining their lives. as an individual, your options are precious and few. as someone who has spent like, 20 of the 30 years i’ve been alive arguing with right-wingers of various flavors, i know for a fact that they can be swayed by a compelling enough counter-narrative. the problem is that the narratives that lead unhappy people into fascism are all but ominpresent throughout our society. fascist ideology is baked into the bones of countries like the u.s. and australia, and wealthy ghouls fund a fucking deluge of propaganda to ensure that remains the dominant “alternative” ideology.
as a society, we could theoretically live in a world without nazis tomorrow. not literally, of course, but a combination of addressing the root material concerns (poverty, etc), shutting down the various fascist propaganda networks, shooting the hardliners and reeducating the rest would eliminate much of its allure, though it would likely take a few generations of work to truly see the end of it as a movement with any teeth. of course, we won’t, because ultimately fascism serves the interests of capital by serving as both a release valve and a bludgeon to keep any movements that might pose a threat to the status quo in line.
tl;dr absolutely yes, but we won’t