Fascism: Zaid’s Stinging Zinger

ARCHIVES 2010

By Aurora On Jul 9, 2010

by G. Krishnan

Zaid Ibrahim was recently quoted as describing Malaysia at risk of becoming a fascist state. Perhaps you too came across the report about his remarks? Well just in case you missed it, he is quoted to have said, “The medication now being pumped into the sick body of this nation is fascism… fascism has a penchant for abusing religious or ethnic identities, where they are moulded into a culture of supremacism.”

Well, I for one was struck by his words. “Is he being hyperbolic?” I wondered. Could it be, that we’re at risk of degenerating into a fascist state? After all, when we think of fascism, we typically think of Nazi Germany or Mussolini’s Italy. Surely, Malaysia could not be approaching anything resembling these two notorious standouts of fascism.

That got me wondering, but what exactly makes a particular government a fascist regime? So I decided to look into it. Well, I came across a very enlightening article by Laurence Britt who has actually thoughtfully spelled out 14 key characteristics that identify a fascist state.

Whilst you can surely look up what he has to say, I thought I would list them here. As you scroll down the list, you might find it interesting (and eery?) to note how our government’s policies, actions, and modus operandi are spot and correspond with Britt’s 14 characteristics of fascism. Here is Britt’s list:

1. Powerful and continuing expression of nationalism. Catchy slogans, pride in the military, and demands for unity…usually coupled with a suspicion of things foreign that often bordered on xenophobia.

2. Disdain for the importance of human rights. The regimes themselves viewed human rights as of little value and a hindrance to realizing the objectives of the ruling elite. Through clever use of propaganda, the population was brought to accept these human rights abuses by marginalizing, even demonizing, those being targeted. When abuse was egregious, the tactic was to use secrecy, denial, and disinformation.

3. Identification of enemies/scapegoats as a unifying cause. The most significant common thread among these regimes was the use of scapegoating as a means to divert the people’s attention from other problems, to shift blame for failures, and to channel frustration in controlled directions. The methods of choice—relentless propaganda and disinformation—were usually effective. Often the regimes would incite “spontaneous” acts against the target scapegoats, usually communists, socialists, liberals, Jews, ethnic and racial minorities, traditional national enemies, members of other religions, secularists, homosexuals, and “terrorists.”

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