isa’s Reviews > How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them > Status Update

“Knobe and Bear’s work provides a basis for a phenomenon that those who lived through transitions from democracy to fascism regularly emphasize from personal experience and with great alarm: the tendency of populations to normalize the once unthinkable.”

“Democratic citizenship requires a degree of empathy, insight, and kindness that demands a great deal of all of us.”

“Fascist politics preys on the human frailty that makes our own suffering seem bearable if we know that those we look down upon are being made to suffer more.”

“In Nazi ideology, those who depended on the state for their survival lacked value of any kind.”
Sounds familiar doesnt it

“…Empires in decline are particularly susceptible to fascist politics because of this sense of loss from the top…”

“Even those who demonstrably do not benefit from hierarchies can be made to believe that they do; hence the use of racism to ensnare poor white citizens in the United States into supporting tax cuts for extravagantly wealthy whites who happen to share their skin color.”

“…democracy cannot flourish on soil poisoned by inequality.”

“Spreading general suspicion and doubt undermines the bonds of mutual respect between fellow citizens, leaving them with deep wells of mistrust not just toward institutions but also toward one another.”

“Once a public accepts the comfort of conspiracy thinking as an explanation for irrational fears and resentments, its members will cease to be guided by reason in political deliberation.”

“Regular and repeated obvious lying is part of the process by which fascist politics destroys the information space. A fascist leader can replace truth with power, ultimately lying without consequence.”