Where We Get the Fascist Right Wrong

“And that’s where we get the fascist right wrong. The fascist right actively gets its satisfaction from hurting other people. That’s why we keep losing – we’re all like “I am doing this political stuff, but really I would rather be home making dinner or on a date or playing with my kids or reading a book”; they’re all “I’m out here heckling LGBTQ people and it’s great”. Racism, violence in general, sexual violence in particular, making people cry or hurt – that’s stuff that they actually do because it’s fun.

“A lot of people who are not part of the fascist right don’t understand this and that’s why we’re just bowled over when we see people doing stuff that’s horrible. We can’t get our heads around how they could enjoy it and actively want to do it, so we keep thinking that it’s some kind of mistake or sign of some personal suffering on their part.

“The people who tortured prisoners at Abu Ghraib did it because torturing prisoners was fun and no one bothered to stop them. There were other reasons wrapped up in it – chains of command, group culture, etc – but the social ground for what happened was that people tortured because it was fun.

“We need to get our heads around this and be ready – policy discussion and economic problems are not really of concern to the fascist right and they will not stop just because something is a bad idea or produces obvious social harm. It’s easy to be confused or hypnotized by this kind of…well, let’s call it evil, because it fills the social function of evil. It’s easy to look into the void, right? That’s how they get you. We have to give up on the idea that there’s some kind of policy or humanitarian angle which will reach these guys (and they’re mostly guys), because they are actively motivated by the opportunity to do harm.” http://www.metafilter.com/163603/Our-first-Magic-8-Ball-president#6825261


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