How to Be a Fascist

June 29, 2020
Italian novelist and political activist Murgia (Accabadora) exposes the insidious nature of authoritarianism in this tongue-in-cheek guide to remaking a democratic society into a fascist one. Probing how commonplace political rhetoric mainstreams fascist thinking, Murgia adopts the persona of a fascist indoctrinator to contrast the “speed of action” attainable by all-powerful heads of state with the bureaucratic inefficiency of elected leaders. She tells readers to lay the foundation for authoritarianism by “insist that all organs of democratic negotiation are useless red-tape dead ends where nothing ever happens,” and discusses the need to blame marginalized groups for social ills. Aspiring fascists can rate their commitment to the cause by selecting “common sense” statements from a long list of political tropes (“there is a reason that Western culture has shaped the world”; “if the state can’t protect me, I’ll have to do it myself”). Only in the concluding “Disclaimer” does Murgia break character to identify the book’s true purpose—revealing how complicit nearly everyone is in “the legitimization of fascism as a method.” The book’s arch tone will turn off many progressives who agree with Murgia, but she succeeds in making the scale of the problem clear. Readers will gain new insight into why illiberalism is on the rise.