Mussolini and Hitler
My sister Rosalie recommended a book to me the other day, and I was able to download it to my Kindle from the library that same evening and started reading it. I could only stop because I knew I had to get a lot done the next day, including a poetry reading so had to get some sleep!
The book is “Fascism: A Warning” by Madeleine Albright, published in 2018. It is brilliant and fascinating, but also an easy read. No matter how much you know about the history and development of fascism or the parallels with the current global situation, I’m fairly certain you will learn something new.
In an interview on Vox with Sean Illing, she said, “What you almost always see in fascist regimes is propaganda being used to set people against each other without any potential solutions to any of the problems. Fascism is always, in the end, about stirring people up and giving them someone to hate.” She also emphasizes the use of propaganda and lies, vilification of the press, the judiciary, other aspects of legitimate democratic government, and the group being blamed for all the ills confronting the country.
She calls the U.S. president anti-democratic and alarming, but she doesn’t label him a fascist…yet. According to Albright, real fascism involves use of “the military to deploy or incite violence,” although she does demonstrate that he clearly has fascist tendencies, along with many other current world leaders.
Her advice: “reengage with each other and our democracy….I think we have to call it (anti-democratic, fascist tendencies) out, and that’s what I’m going to do.” She means her book to be a warning because democracy is fragile and the forces working against it are absolutely alarming. She is particularly concerned about the president’s relationship with Putin, which was emphasized again just now at the G7 meeting when that man (I can’t stand to write his name) again brought up that Russia should be included.
PLEASE READ IT. I think it is critical to our understanding the roots of our current situation, which I find not just alarming, but terrifying on many fronts. Whether or not you agree with my assessment, this is an important book for comprehending the world today.
It sounds like an excellent book and one that I definitely intend to read! Thanks!