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Jason Stanley: How fascism works (2018, Random House) 4 stars

As the child of refugees of World War II Europe and a renowned philosopher and …

Review of 'How fascism works' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Fantastic read. But the reality it reveals is somewhat depressing. There seem to be two completely incompatible views of people’s worth: for fascists, people are only valuable for what they procure for society or how they benefit the fascists. For liberalism: people have inherent value. These two disparate world views seem to explain fascists and supporters turning a blind eye to even unspeakable horrors.

Liberals are at a distinct disadvantage playing by the rules and telling the truth. Truth does not matter to fascists. In fact, this book explains how to understand even irrational narratives like pizzagate as a tool used to represent feelings and a consistent worldview — not at all intended to convey objective reality. The stories are useful for political purposes - not unlike the fascist supporters who eat up the lies authoritarians tell them, so long as they comport with their core beliefs (such as how liberals are actually mortal enemies of freedom,etc.)