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Summary of Fascism a Warning by Madeleine Albright
Fascism examines fascism, both as a historical phenomenon and a present-day threat. It explores the factors that lead to fascist governments as well as the common threads connecting them, while also cautioning citizens against complacency. Even today, there are many reasons to fear for the health of democracy.
36 pages, Paperback
Published December 21, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 24, 2019
The parallels between Mussolini's, Hitler's, and Trump's words and actions are clear. The question is, will we recognize it before it is too late? The book is a very sobering review of the fascists that have risen to power over time, including Erdogan, Chavez, Orban, and Jong-Il, and how they stoked hate and fear and used lies to seduce an unwitting public.
Albright asked her graduate students whether a Fascist movement could gain a significant foothold in the US, and a wise young man said, "Yes, it can. Why? Because we're so sure it can't." She quoted a German who grew up during the rise of the Third Reich: "To live in this process is absolutely not to be able to notice it...Each step was so small, so inconsequential, so well-explained...that, unless one were detached from the whole process from the beginning, unless one understood what...all these 'little measures' that no 'patriotic German' could resent must some day lead to, one no more saw it developing from day to day than a farmer in his field sees the corn growing....And one day, too late,...you see that everything, everything, has changed and changed completely under your nose."
Albright ends by listing questions we should ask ourselves of any potential leaders of the nation. The first two are critical: "Do they cater to our prejudices by suggesting that we treat people outside our ethnicity, race, creed, or party as unworthy of dignity and respect? Do they want us to nuture our anger toward those who we believe have done us wrong, rug raw our grievances, and set our sights on revenge?" And finally, "Or do they invite us to join with them in building and maintaining a healthy center for our societies, a place where rights and duties are apportioned fairly, the social contract is honored, and all have room to dream and grow?" Our better angels need to be with us in the voting booth.
Albright asked her graduate students whether a Fascist movement could gain a significant foothold in the US, and a wise young man said, "Yes, it can. Why? Because we're so sure it can't." She quoted a German who grew up during the rise of the Third Reich: "To live in this process is absolutely not to be able to notice it...Each step was so small, so inconsequential, so well-explained...that, unless one were detached from the whole process from the beginning, unless one understood what...all these 'little measures' that no 'patriotic German' could resent must some day lead to, one no more saw it developing from day to day than a farmer in his field sees the corn growing....And one day, too late,...you see that everything, everything, has changed and changed completely under your nose."
Albright ends by listing questions we should ask ourselves of any potential leaders of the nation. The first two are critical: "Do they cater to our prejudices by suggesting that we treat people outside our ethnicity, race, creed, or party as unworthy of dignity and respect? Do they want us to nuture our anger toward those who we believe have done us wrong, rug raw our grievances, and set our sights on revenge?" And finally, "Or do they invite us to join with them in building and maintaining a healthy center for our societies, a place where rights and duties are apportioned fairly, the social contract is honored, and all have room to dream and grow?" Our better angels need to be with us in the voting booth.
June 7, 2022
Ms. Albright is well positioned and qualified to write a book on the effects of Facisim and the inherent evil is poses, typically controlling the masses to obey the will and benefit of the few. One might expect it to be a diatribe against Trumpism but it is not although she does demonstrate how Trumpism, follows a familiar path pioneered by other fascists before him.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews