Episode six hones in on the fascist ability to exacerbate and exploit intrinsic fears of difference. For fascists, danger is everywhere, all the time. Ignoring it does no good because those who are unlike us are hellbent on destroying us. Luckily, for fascists, the leader knows who the bad guys are, how to identify them, and how we should deal with them. In this context, Kristallnacht and Unite the Right rallies begin to look awfully similar, don’t they?

You’re either with us, or you’re against us. That’s what episode five is all about. Dissent and opposition are hallmarks of a democratic society; they should result in centrist compromises to everyone’s benefit. Debate gums up the inner processes of government, though, and makes it difficult for a strongman to see his agenda come to fruition quickly. It’s more efficient to accuse dissenters of hating the nation and posing a threat to national security. They are, after all, traitors. That’s how fascists think, and in this episode, we’ll find it in the past and in the present.

Our fourth episode examines the tendency of fascists to act for the sake of action, without any clear or deliberate objective and ignoring any intellectual discourse that might delay the action. Fascism relies on the projection of strength, and what better way to project strength than to shoot first and ask questions later? Whether dressed in brown shirted uniforms or red MAGA ballcaps, there are always a band of non-thinkers ready to do the leader’s bidding. Beware of them, they’re dangerous.