Disclaimer: There is an active situation in the US at the moment- federal agents (ICE) are tearing apart local communities, assaulting, kidnapping and even killing innocent people. RIP Renee Good, Keith Porter Jr and Alex Pretti to name just a few. Please inform yourselves using reliable US sources and help your brothers and sisters however you can.

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In today's episode, we try to understand why fascism has always been popular in modern European political history and is making a comeback all over the Western world. Whenever inequality rises and poverty takes hold, fascist politicians always seem to be able to manipulate the people and exploit racial division to create a political platform of hatred, violence and ultimately murder.

We start by exploring identity groups- are they an unavoidable part of the human experience, or are they an optional part of societal living? The distinction of the in-group and out-group is a key part of Fascist Philosophy, but is it actually built into human nature? And by being part of an 'identity group', do we open up the door to mistreating people who aren't in our group?

Once an in group and out group has been established, a slippery slope to Fascism might be inevitable, but how do these ideas even manage to take hold in a modern society? It could be that Western society was susceptible to fascism all along. Here, we explore how Fascist ideas have been embedded into Western society, and material possibility of a full blown Fascist state in a modern internet age.

If you have made it this far down, I want to ask you a question. Sure, you are anti fascist. But how does your anti-fascism manifest itself? It might feel right to demonise fellow citizens who support MAGA, or Reform UK, but ultimately, aren't we just creating another in group/ out group, which is the very thing we are accusing them of doing? Some food for thought.

Enjoy xx

Chapters:

0:00 Intro

1:22 Is group identity an unavoidable part of human nature?

17:20 Is modern society inherently susceptible to fascism?

28:02 Moral Dillema