The only thing that can stop a fascist regime is…the fascist regime
“To do nothing is sometimes a good remedy” — Hippocrates
Countless hours of life have been snatched from me by the unprincipled wavering of right-wing politicians and their followers. If you try and question them on one contradiction they will double contradict themselves, then triple, then quadruple, and so on until you are nothing but a cork getting screwed.
Why do I do it? Who am I trying to save, and from whom?
Of course the answer is that I am trying to save myself and other oppressed people from the majoritarian forces wreaking havoc everywhere.
But, do I even know what victory in this fight is supposed to look like?
Is it an electoral victory? But that is like being the ball in a match of tennis.
Is it a societal victory? But will society really change through logic and common sense when it has avoided that for so many centuries?
So then will victory against the right-wing forces come in the form of the complete obliteration of right-wing ideology? That is the only victory that’s likely to stick.
But, if my logic and common sense cannot counter fascist ideology (and yes, in the current context it is undeniable that right wing equals fascist) then what can?
Simple — fascist ideology will destroy itself.
What does fascist ideology demand above all else? Loyalty.
If they need to put someone in charge of the nation’s economy who will they choose — an economist or a loyalist? A loyalist.
If they need to put someone in charge of internal security who will they choose — an interlocutor or a loyalist? A loyalist.
In charge of technology — a believer in science or a loyalist? A loyalist.
In charge of meteorology — a meteorologist or a loyalist? A loyalist.
And on and on and on.
Loyalty is the singularly most important criterion for a fascist system and that is evidenced in all fascist regimes, whether you look at Nazis, Maoists, Stalinists, Islamists, White Supremacists, Hindu Nationalists, and so on. In every such nation the fascist ideology and fascist supreme leader is beyond question, even if the questions will actually help in strengthening their own positions of power.
It’s like a car being driven with abandon and the driver cannot be questioned on the route, because any questions could indicate you are less than unimpeachably confident of the route or the driver.
Instead, not matter how roughshod the car is driven over potholes, or how lost-er you get, it’s better to keep changing your destination in real-time than to ever wonder where you had set out to reach in the first place. A supporter of a fascist regime will prefer to drink poison and call it nectar, than to question a flaw in their ideology.
Such a car is bound to go up in flames.
But, is this good news? I should hardly think so. Millions of people (believers and non-believers) will suffer, and even die, because of such foolishness.
Then again, they will die despite your or my best intentions to drill sense into anyone (people still smoke cigarettes, don’t they).
What, then, is the good news? That over something like two decades of time a fascist regime will engineer its own downfall without any need for opposition. Their ideology is hollow, and it has no vision for life or growth, only suppression and death. Fascists opt for force over faculty, so eventually they become too imbecile to breath on their own (and maybe they will leech themselves out of the evolutionary process if we leave them to their own devices).
Hence, fascism’s loss will come irrespective of any resistance.
Very few fascists were defeated by armies of the oppressed. But all fascists have been deserted by their followers. All of them died as less than human.
Then my only concern is why must I suffer if it precipitates no change? Why must I spend nights crying in anguish for the blameless ones suffering for the mistakes of others?
That’s just a choice I make for myself. On some days I need not suffer if I cannot bear it. On other days I can choose to suffer in solidarity with my oppressed brothers and sisters. That’s a personal choice, not a responsibility to be forced on me, or on you.
As an individual I must fight individual instances of oppression, but when the entire regime is oppressive, then it’s best to let the problem take care of itself. Let loyalists reveal themselves as the unqualified sycophants they were all along.
And, in their final days when they need Hippocratic medical doctors, they will only find hypocritical witch doctors instead.
First they came for the minorities, and YOU did not speak out —
Because YOU were not a minority.
Then they came for the conscientious objectors, and YOU did not speak out —
Because YOU were not a conscientious objector.
Then they came for the apolitical, and YOU did not speak out —
Because YOU were not apolitical.
Then they came for YOU — and there was no one left to speak for YOU.
[with apologies to Martin Niemöller]
