337 Fascism portrayed in Science Fiction
1/30/2026 events:
Bruce Springsteen’s Streets of Minneapolis : https://x.com/mariashriver/status/2016618469740204114?s=61
Streets of Minneapolis hits #1: https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/pop-culture-news/bruce-springsteens-streets-minneapolis-anti-ice-protest-song-hits-no-1-rcna256711
Working definitions:
- Populism as a general rubric covering political stances that emphasize the idea of the “common people” and position this group in opposition to “elites”.
- Fascism as ultranationalist populism of the far right; wealth is transferred to the private sector
- Communism as ultranationalist populism of the far left; wealth is transferred to the “public sector”
Political theorist Roger Griffin proposes that a myth of palingenesis, or national rebirth, is a minimum requirement for any “true fascism”, in combination with populism and ultranationalism.
Umberto Eco, in his famous essay, “Ur-Fascism”, counts fourteen common features of fascism. “I think it is possible to outline a list of features that are typical of what I would like to call Ur-Fascism, or Eternal Fascism. These features cannot be organized into a system; many of them contradict each other, and are also typical of other kinds of despotism or fanaticism. But it is enough that one of them be present to allow fascism to coagulate around it.”
- The cult of tradition
- The rejection of modernism
- The cult of action for action’s sake
- Disagreement is treason
- Fear of difference
- Appeal to social frustration
- The obsession with a plot
- The enemy is both strong and weak
- Pacifism is trafficking with the enemy
- Contempt for the weak
- Everybody is educated to become a hero
- Machismo and weaponry
- Selective populism
- Ur-Fascism speaks Newspeak
Nearly a decade later, political scientist Dr. Lawrence Britt collected a separate list of fourteen features of fascism.
- Powerful and continuing nationalism
- Disdain for the recognition of human rights
- Identification of enemies/scapegoats as a unifying cause
- Supremacy of the military
- Rampant sexism
- Controlled mass media
- Obsession with national security
- Religion and government are Intertwined
- Corporate power is protected
- Labor power is suppressed
- Disdain for intellectuals and the arts
- Obsession with crime and punishment
- Rampant cronyism and corruption
- Fraudulent elections
Resources Mentioned in this episode:
- Ur-Fascism, by Umberto Eco (essay)
- The 14 Characteristics of Fascism, by Lawrence Britt
