[GuinansEyebrows]

you have seriously got to read and understand Eco's 14 tenets of Ur-Fascism [0] if you think that contemporary applications of the term "fascist" are inaccurate in describing what's happening right now in the US.

[0] https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/umberto-eco-ur-fasci...

[JumpCrisscross]

> if you think that contemporary applications of the term "fascist" are inaccurate in describing what's happening right now in the US

Didn't say that. I'm saying I've seen the term thrown around wildly to apply to all manner of things. Like the other terms.

The term is probably fundamentally fucked. If you asked Hitler if he's a Nazi, he'd say yes. If you asked Mussolini if he's a Fascist, he'd say yes. These were the words they used to describe themselves. The reason I'm describing the phenomenon versus blaming the folks using the terms broadly is because I don't think this is a personal failing by anyone as much as something that's linguistically happening.

[trinsic2]

Unless you are suggesting an alternative word, IMHO, that's a great way to side line people that are actually talking about real harms.

[rhcom2]

Orwell said something similar.

George Orwell - What is Fascism? https://www.orwell.ru/library/articles/As_I_Please/english/e...

[Aeglaecia]

i think a great example to back your point is that the terminally online turn out in droves to apply the nazi label to all those not in favor of maximising immigration , rational discourse seems to have broken down and the resulting vacuum of meaning is filled by hyperbole as people scamble to feel heard in a world of weak voices & closed ears

[thrance]

Mussolini literally coined the word "fascist" to name his movement. Hitler never hid the fact he based his own movement on Mussolini's, so he'd probably describe his party as fascist too. Later, the word became extremely negative for obvious reasons, such that current fascists pretend not to be such, but it doesn't mean they aren't. Overall, I'd say it's used well enough.