I am being absolutely serious here with the Weimar Republic comparison. Because people are fucking miserable and it’s fucking terrifying.
A hundred years ago, broke people in big cities would go to fascist rallies because they were free, and because sometimes the organizers gave out free food and beer, and because people had nothing better to do.
And they stayed because hate feels good when you’re hurting and simple violent solutions appeal to the angry monkey parts of our brains.
And the fewer community connections you have - the more the economy strips your life down to work and sleep, or to job hunting and sleep, or to scrounging in the gutter to survive and sleep, and the less you go out and socialize with actual human beings - the more appealing the fascist illusion of unity, of being part of a powerful group, becomes.
And the only difference today is that the fascist rallies are beamed directly into your home.
The meaning has changed significantly over the years. I understand that the original intent came from the Fasci Siciliani in the 1890s. Fasci meaning a bundle. The single stick is weak, but a bundle is strong. It was a farmers’ movement seeking economic and land reforms. Later, it was invoked by a certain populist leader to claim he was fighting for the people. And so it came into its modern usage.
My great grandfather was killed on January 3, 1894 in the street in that uprising when the police fired into an unarmed crowd. His wife fled to New York City with their children.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fasci_Siciliani
Just like the Nazis, or national socialist, in Germany dragging socialism through the shit and soiling it with their ideology.
Linguistic morphology is rife with fucknuts ruining perfectly good words. Literally. 🤷🏼♂️