By Gary Wickert

With the possible exception of “ironic”, there is no word in the English language that is used more frequently by people who don’t know what it means than “fascism.” It can be found on political websites and on signs used during protests by Leftists and Marxists. The name of the radical left-wing protest movement known as “Antifa” is itself a contraction of “Anti-Fascism” and its violent protests are aimed at right-wing organizations and individuals whom it mistakenly believes embody the fundamentals evils of fascism. The truth is, the more an individual or group uses the word the less likely it is that they understand what it really means. Some of these folks should have paid more attention in history class.

Perhaps the most serviceable definition of “fascism” was put forth by Italian historian, Emilio Gentile, who defined it as “a mass movement which sees itself as having a mission of national regeneration and seeks a monopoly of power by using terror and parliamentary tactics to create a new regime, destroying democracy.” It is a convenient slur because of its visceral connection to Adolph Hitler and the eugenics of Nazi Germany. Those who insist on using the word will be surprised to learn that it more accurately describes American liberalism than President Trump or the Americans who elected him. Those carrying protest signs and using violence to punctuate their political beliefs see fascism everywhere—except when they look in the mirror.

There have been many strains of fascism throughout history. The Nazis were genocidal anti-Semites. Italian Fascists aspired to restore the Roman Empire in the Mediterranean and were protectors of the Jews until they aligned with Germany. Nazi Germany was officially anti-Bolshevist, but there was a movement within Nazism called “National Bolshevism.” Some fascists championed “state capitalism” while others—like the Blueshirts in China—demanded seizure of the means of production. All forms of fascism have one thing in common— they are totalitarian. They seek a Deep State system of government that is centralized and dictatorial, use thought and word police to keep the people “correct” and “like minded”, and require complete subservience to the state. They are intolerant to dissidence. Mussolini himself coined the term “fascism” in 1919 in order to describe a society where everyone was taken care of and the state was the great benefactor.

Fascism is a religion of the state. It requires, assumes, and even demands the organic unity of the body politic and longs for a national leader attuned to the “will of the people.” It is totalitarian because it views everything through a political lens and believes that any action by the state is justified to achieve the common good. Those who oppose it are evil—even criminal. Fascism demands uniformity of thought through force, regulation, political correctness, and social pressure. It takes responsibility for all aspects of life—including the economy (New World Order) and the health and wellbeing of everyone (universal single-payer health care). It substitutes the judgment of the state for the free will and freedom of the individual.

Modern politics’ most inconvenient truth is that fascism, properly understood, is not a phenomenon of the right at all. Jonah Goldberg’s bestseller “Liberal Fascism” explains why true fascism is more accurately a phenomenon of the left than the right. In fact, while many believe that fascism and communism are polar opposites, they are, in fact, closely related, historical competitors for the same constituents. Both are utopian visions that seek to dominate and control the same social space. Fascism draws from the same intellectual wellsprings as American Progressivism—the moralistic heirloom seed from which modern liberals have descended.

Liberals today have their doctrinal and emotional roots in twentieth-century European fascism. You can write all the Letters To The Editor you want; but it was Woodrow Wilson who began and Franklin Roosevelt who amplified an almostfascist concentration of power in Washington, and in 1938, it was progressive Time Magazine that named Adolph Hitler “Man of the Year.”

Liberal fascism has been moderated by the American experience—capitalism, ethnic diversity, Jeffersonian individualism, etc. It is an undeniable fact that in the 1920s, fascism was extremely popular on the American left. In the 1930s, H.G. Wells and other liberals publicly stated that they envisioned a “phoenix rebirth" of liberalism as an "enlightened Nazism." That terminology became inconvenient, however, when the horrors of Nazi Germany came to light and Josef Stalin began to label all who opposed him, including FDR, as “fascist.” The eugenics of Margaret Sanger and Planned Parenthood began with the eugenics of Nazi Germany and Mussolini’s Blackshirts. “Buon Sangue Non Mente” was a rallying cry in Italy during the time Mussolini’s tactics were being admired by the FDR administration. It means, “Good Blood Doesn’t Lie.” In 1934, the progressive writer Roger Shaw described the New Deal as “Fascist means to gain liberal ends.”

The FDR administration publicly stated that Mussolini had done “many of the things which seem necessary” and Roosevelt himself called Mussolini “admirable” and professed that he was “deeply impressed by what he has accomplished.” The admiration was mutual. A report from FDR’s National Recovery Administration read, “The Fascist Principles are very similar to those we have been evolving here in America.” The modern American brand of fascism, however, is not a brutal form of fascism, but a softer, nannying version. Dinesh D’Souza’s documentary “Death of a Nation”—which just finished showing at the Saukville and Mequon theaters— poignantly depicts this.

Sign-carrying Progressives conveniently forget that they were the authors of Prohibition, the Palmer Raids, racial eugenics (e.g., Margaret Sanger and Planned Parenthood), loyalty oaths, and what many call “state capitalism.” The angry progressive racism of Margaret Sanger has been replaced by a new brand of anti-Semitism, Afrocentrism, and an indelible indictment of white guilt.

This is all not to say that the American Left doesn’t have any basis for associating the concept of fascism with Donald Trump and political conservatism. Fascism during World War II did include a strong nationalist component. Donald Trump is a nationalist on steroids. But nationalism was only a small part of fascism, and lest we forget, Nelson Mandela, Benjamin Franklin, and Mohandas Gandhi were also strong nationalists.

The Left also claims Trump’s policies are fascist because of his insistence on enforcing U.S. immigration law. While it is true that Hitler and the German Workers’ Party (Deutsche Arbeiterpartei) blamed the Jews, Communists, and Slavs for hyperinflation and unemployment, a key difference is that these groups were legally admitted to reside in pre-Nazi Germany, were immensely successful in German business, and contributed mightily to the economy. Insisting on enforcing established immigration laws and deporting those who violate those laws is a far cry from genocide and eugenics. The word “Nazi” is an abbreviation of the National Socialist German Workers’ Party. Would it be fair to accuse Democrats who support socialism of being Nazis? I hardly think so.

The next time you see Antifa members marching with their faces covered, damaging and burning property, attacking those who disagree with them, and carrying signs that contain the word “fascist”, ask them what it means. Watch them struggle to provide an answer. If we must have a political discussion that includes such an inflammatory term, history supports those who would argue that the real fascists are the ones taking to the streets. Their masked faces and violent behavior mirror the violence of the uniformed Brownshirts of Nazi Germany and the Blackshirts of Mussolini’s Italy.

Don’t be upset with me because I author a column that mentions Hitler, Mussolini and some of the darker elements of human history. Critics who routinely disagree with just about anything I write will object to the term “liberal fascism” as a crass oxymoron. But it was none other than Progressive icon H.G. Wells who first coined it. In a speech to eager liberal students at Oxford in 1932, Wells said, “Progressives must become ‘liberal fascists’ and ‘enlightened Nazis’.” He urged America to “impose progress on the masses” in order to create a “New Republic” and a “New World Order.” Does this sound more like Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton?

It was the Left who injected the term “fascism” into our national political discourse without understanding what the word means. In setting the record straight on its true etymology and history, I am simply standing on the battleground of their choosing. Once we understand its true history and meaning, I would strongly suggest that the term “fascism” is inappropriate as a description for Americans of any political ideology. If the Left insists on going there, however, they need to know what it means.