I Researched Every Attempt to Stop Fascism in History. The Success Rate Is 0%
Original: I researched every attempt to stop fascism in history. The success rate is 0%
Key topics
A provocative article claiming that every attempt to stop fascism in history has failed sparked a heated debate, with commenters dissecting the author's assertion that the success rate is 0%. Some pointed out exceptions, such as Brazil's Bolsonaro not being re-elected and Finland's successful resistance in 1932, while others argued that the real issue lies with the Democratic party's undemocratic primaries and the influence of elites. The discussion revealed a consensus that blaming "the other side" for fascism is a cop-out, with many insisting that the onus is on addressing the root causes of the problem rather than just assigning blame. As the conversation unfolded, parallels were drawn between the US and other countries, such as Israel, where conscientious citizens are fleeing in response to rising authoritarianism.
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Aug 28, 2025 at 8:13 PM EDT
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Assigning the blame to the “other” side seems like a cop out.
I’d rather describe blaming “the Democrats“ as adopting the framing of this administration. They blame all “Democrats”, name a wide range of strawmen using the former president’s name like an adjective.
It’s quite destructive running around screaming rape, murder, fire. The president is willing to do it, the current congressional majority is all in, and the Supreme Court is YOLO. All branches are captured by the propaganda of this corrupt administration. This boat don’t turn around on the drop of a dime.
So not 0.
Maybe 0 when the future dictator is invited to power as a deep state move, not by the people but by the government?
Finland was not cited as an exception. His point about Finland was that the fascists messed up - they tried to use violence before that point.
I guess we can take Irish solution and employ work-to-rule, passive resistance and the like. Prevent the cash from leaving the state, prevent the Guard from mobilizing or leaving the state. Rely on ejecting non-whites and women from the services doing a number on effectiveness.
Who gets to invoke Nato? The nukes are in red states I think, will they nuke themselves? Is there enough of an edge to teeter on to get people to wake up and turn on other branches of government? The Civil War was bloody. The French Revolution was bloody, perhaps the lack-of-bloodthirstiness will help people say "ah, f*ck it" and let things part?
Never, ever thought this sh*t possible. And so quickly... Puts China in a very odd position, trying to determine which result is optimal for China. Strong, well-armed rogue states aren't good for business.
That's the RED part of California. Just saying.
OP Refuted by:
Italy (Mussolini’s Fascist Regime)
Spain (Franco’s Regime)
Portugal (Estado Novo)
Chile (Pinochet)
> Once fascists win power democratically, they have never been removed democratically. Not once. Ever.
Unless they go to war...
The real issue is that nobody with any degree of power really cares.
- Francoist Spain: 40 years.
- Pinochet Chile: 17 years.
- Salazar Portugal: 36 years.
If you were 22 when Pinochet took power for example you didn't see the end until 39. Your best years lost. And that's the "lite" version. (I ignored Italy because of WW2)
If the US MAGA contingent gloms on to this fascism malarkey by anointing a true believer after Trumps inevitable death (he is pushing 80, after all) we would be looking at decades of loss.
> Here's what I found: Once fascists win power democratically, they have never been removed democratically.
United Sates:
There was Ku Klux Klan (KKK) in the south.
In the 1930s fascism became very popular in the US. 25% of Americans listened regularly fascist radio program from father Charles Coughlin. "It is fascism or communism. We are at the crossroads. I take the road to fascism.” Large number of "shirts" organizations (fascists with different shirt colors, silver, black, green, .. ). In the Congress America First Committee, while not a fascist organization itself, included several core members with antisemitic and pro-fascist sympathies.
They would shut off the water supply to California
They can afford water facilities.
But states playing no-rules hardball with each other would end up being a gigantic fail for everyone.
If you look at an electoral map by county of the United States, you'll see that the major cities are blue and almost everything else is red. The everything else is the part of America that produces food and manufactured goods.
https://tmp.propublica.org/assets/img/2024-us-election-resul...
Isn't JD Vance married to an Indian lady?
The article is very interesting and smart and well written with some really great ideas, but I think there may be a little bit of hyperbole which Im still ok with.
These days we have more sophisticated control mechanisms involving government regulations.
Walking away from it would be, uh, problematic. Especially for the demographic who voted most enthusiastically for this administration. Which might make for some poetic justice, but a lot of others would also find themselves in dire straits.
One can clearly offer these differentiations, but it's all so much Utopian Progressivism that has simply not withstood the test of time, if we're being honest about the debt.
But honesty scales like Utopian Progressivism, so expect continued ignoring of the problem until the economy 'splodes and the "experts" stand around looking aghast.
But this gets at why precedent is such a cautionary thing.
What's your point? One GOP married a brown-skinned person, so they all get a pass?
This is the equivalent of a person on the right calling all liberals "coastal elites that support child molestation"
It's a tribal trait to demonize the "other".
And I say that being mostly a leftist.
I mean: At almost any point in time, when fascists are NOT in power, it's because they were, one way or another, stopped.
The logic would be: fascism is a systematic/automatic force that wants to seize power, usually by basing its ideology on anti-intellectualism, glorified past, enemies of the nation that must be eliminated/deported, imperialist motives (conquest, war, etc.).
This systematic force always exists. It always exists because there are always people who wants to dominate, oppress, express violence against this or that group of people.
Therefore, the few times fascists reached power in any country around the world it's because of a combination of factors and that's what we KNOW about.
For instance, this movement https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boulangisme never reached power. BUT it for sure planted the seeds of future hatred, extreme nationalism, etc. and they were VERY determined to take the power, and they didn't. But we don't 'count' it as "fascism that was stopped" because there was no clear, obvious, big event that we can pinpoint as fascists being stopped.
The actual claim in the blog post:
> Once fascists win power democratically, they have never been removed democratically. Not once. Ever.
Boulangisme never reached power democratically, so not a relevant example.
"I researched every attempt to stop fascism by democratic means. The success rate is 0%"
Also see:
"I tried to talk the neighborhood bully out of punching me in the face. The success rate is 0%"
I get that it poses an alarming precedent for our future in the US, but we haven't fully failed yet. Teetering, maybe. And if we fail, no election is going to save us, nor save the world from us.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_Putsch
Fascist supported by Nazi Germany killed the dictator of Austria, who was supported by the Italian fascist government .
But yeah, we're screwed
I am in the US, but my approach to the oligarchy/AIPAC takeover is real simple, though maybe not effective: just cut spending to a bare minimum. The billionaires need to make more more more, well not if I can help it. Politcally, everyone should switch to Independent status! Don't let them takw your vote for granted. Never ever vote straight party choices. It's more work to research each candidate but hey, enjoy learning sometimes unsavory details. Check opensecrets.org about who is bankrolling each candidate. Read responsible alternative news sources that don't push ads, and donate to the best ones.