Maybe it’s worth going back to basics and reminding people of the fun­da­mental dif­ference between fascism and democracy.

So, what is this dif­ference? It’s pretty simple and we all learnt it in school: fascism rests on a pess­im­istic vision of human nature and demo­cracy rests on an optim­istic one. According to fas­cists, men are bad, and their decisions are dan­gerous for the sur­vival of the species. Their range of choices therefore needs to be con­trolled, restricted, des­troyed. They must be manip­u­lated and dom­inated (the notion of "boss"). [You’ll note that through some strange psychotic transfer, fas­cists do not think that "Men are bad", but that "Others are bad". Fascism starts with self-​​hatred, but a self-​​hatred that is always rejected on others, on some so-​​called "inferior people" (be it Jews, Black people, social para­sites, bad cit­izensÖ).] According to pro­ponents of demo­cracy, men are good, and their decisions are good. They must be encouraged and we must foster the trans­mission of the culture and know­ledge that will allow them to find better solutions.

Then, things are clear: dem­agogy, as a denial of free choice, is fascism. Culture and ped­agogy are demo­cratic. Cap­it­alism, when per­ceived as a way for people to blossom, is demo­cratic. When it’s seen as a way to squash and dom­inate others, or when advert­ising uses manip­u­lation and repe­tition (one of the bases of manip­u­lation), it’s fascism.

Pro­ponents of demo­cracy have the fol­lowing view: Men are good "a priori", their contact is enriching and human rela­tions are based on trust/​confidence. In a society where social ties are sac­ri­ficed in the name of com­pet­ition, solid­arity is sac­ri­ficed in the name of indi­vidu­alism, and friendship sinks in a sea of rivalry, keeping faith in Others is a never-​​ending fight.

That’s the first step against fascism.