A century ago, a horrendous political movement was created by Benito Mussolini. Although Hitler would take this crappy mindset even further, resulting in three percent of the planet being killed and practically all Jews in Europe exterminated, Mussolini came from a different background.
He was originally a from the Italian Left. His mother named him Benito after the famous Mexican present Benito Juarez, not a favorite amongst conservative Mexicans or European colonials, especially the French. Mussolini was also a member of the Italian Socialists and publisher of the newspaper Avanti (“forward”). Why he broke with them would require me to read a book (someday) but I’m guessing his experiences in WWI. Unlike the other victors in the Great War, Italy wasn’t in a much better shape than the defeated. This eventually led to him practically overthrowing the rightfully elected government in 1922 and declaring himself il Duce (“leader”) several years later.
We all know the rest of the story.
Another thing I want to bring up. There’s an apologist cliché you may occasionally hear, “at least Mussolini made the trains run on time.” No, he didn’t.
Today, it seems that the West, namely America, has forgotten how evil, immoral and terrible Fascism is. Compared to Hitler’s Nazis, Mussolini and Franco were amateurs yet racism, nationalism, sexism and violence are in the movement’s DNA. Trump is not really a Fascist though. He’s a demented, spoiled prick. More akin to an inbred European king of old utilizing dog-whistle tactics to rally the American Fascists and their ilk hiding in the woodwork. Both sides are using each other to further their agendas until they’re no longer useful. Thankfully Trump is old so he’ll be dead soon. What I’m now worried about is this anti-intellectual movement finding their new leader after Ill Douche.