In these increasingly troubling and ‘interesting’ times, in which – for the moment – UK politics is drifting to the far right, people must distinguish between genuine patriots, and those who try to hide their far-right politics behind national flags. This was a problem only recently, with ‘Operation Raise the Colours’ – a stunt which claimed to be ‘patriotic’, but was organised by fascist individuals and groups.

The characteristics of ‘Ur Fascism’

Some may find it useful to consider a short book written by the Italian novelist, Umberto Eco – who grew up in Fascist Italy. ‘How to Spot a Fascist’– written in 1997 – identifies 14 different features that denote what he calls ‘Ur-Fascism’, or “eternal fascism.”

Significantly, whilst he said that many of those characteristics are often mutually-exclusive and so can’t be grouped in a coherent ‘system’, he also said: “all you need is one of them to be present” to identify a movement as fascist.

Today, second-wave fascism (as distinct from the pre-WW2 forms of first-wave fascism) tends to take the form of what’s called ‘creeping fascism’ (or far-right authoritarian populism) – which, instead of dressing up in blackshirts and jackboots, prefers stomping around in expensive suits whilst sporting pints of beer, national flags and grins!

Here are 11 of Umberto Eco’s main fascist characteristics – which also often apply to today’s creeping fascist parties:  

1. Cult of ‘Tradition’ – which is seen as incompatible with change, all forms of which it dislikes intensely.
2. Rejection of modernism and reason – instead, creeping fascism, like fascism, appeals to the most base emotions (such as hate), using lies and ‘fake news’ to get people worked up to such an extent they can no longer do rational or joined-up thinking.
3. Irrationalism – instead of rational thought, creeping fascism/fascism tries to get people to just take ‘action for action’s sake’ based on ‘gut’ reactions and emotion.
4. Anti-science and learning – scientific facts are rejected in favour of what they call ‘alternative facts’ (and what the rest of us know is just wrong information or outright nonsense!), which is why they dismiss the knowledge of experts.
5. Fear of difference and diversity, and hatred of dissent – creeping fascists/fascists become frightened and angry if they come across anyone who isn’t just like them!
6. Frustration at their current economic situation – while the frustration is often valid, creeping fascists/fascists prefer to take their frustration out on minorities that are even worse off than them, instead of the over-rich elite who’re actually causing their economic and social problems. 
7. ‘Enemies of the nation’ – creeping fascists/fascists always need ‘enemies’ to build up their hate-based ‘nationalism’; a ‘nationalism’/’patriotism’ they often try to wrap up in national flags.
8. Domination – creeping fascists/fascists, especially their leaders, typically have inferiority complexes; to make themselves feel better, they therefore look for minority groups/ ‘others’ they can ‘boss’ or intimidate.
9. Machismo and misogyny – the need to dominate amongst male creeping fascists/fascists is often closely connected to domestic and sexual abuse, with such males being at least twice as likely to commit such crimes as any other group of males.
10. Far-right populism vs. democracy – creeping fascist/fascist leaders often claim that ‘democracy’ is bad , which is dominated by ‘woke liberal elites’, and which should be replaced by leaders who ‘know’ what the ‘people’ really want – even though such leaders nearly always come from… the very wealthiest elites!
11. ‘Newspeak’ – this is Umberto Eco’s version of what we now call ‘fake news’/ ‘alternative facts’; or, in everyday language, lies!

Time for a Red-Green alliance

But don’t let the current evidence of a drift towards creeping fascism make you despair! Because there is now a realistic hope that ‘Change Is Coming’! The election of Zack Polanski as the new leader of the GPEW is an encouraging development on several fronts.

Not only will the election of a green populist as leader allow the Green Party to move from its current fixation with ‘soft Tory voters’, it may also allow the party to move back to the radical campaigning organisation it was before 2017.

Polanski’s election also opens the possibility of an agreement between the Greens and ‘Your Party’. This is a possibility, as both Polanski and those involved at the centre of the ‘Your Party’ project have expressed a clear willingness to work together.

In terms of both the need for a strong opposition to the far right, and the equally urgent need for a determined push on ‘green’ agenda issues, a genuine Red-Green alliance will be crucial. It’s no coincidence a big part of Farage’s creeping fascist agenda involves opposition to ‘net zero’ and renewable energy, alongside calls for coal mines and fracking. With Labour still adopting anti-refugee positions, something like France’s ‘New Popular Front’ would be a real step forward – for both local and national elections.

Polls suggest a genuine electoral alliance between the Greens and ‘Your Party’ could win a significant number of seats – undercutting those who are already arguing that the creation of ‘Your Party’ risks letting Farage’s Refuk into government.

In fact, France’s New Popular Front – and the anti-neoliberal action programme it put before the electorate – resulted in an impressive wave of enthusiastic support for ecosocialist policies, which also helped block a victory for Le Pen.  

AND NOW: A COMPETITION!

How many of those 11 creeping fascist/fascist features do you think apply to Faräggefahrter and his Refuk party?

Remember – you only need one characteristic to identify today’s creeping fascism!

Here’s a clue: it’s more than one!

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