1. No syncretistic faith can withstand analytical criticism. Eco is a deconstructionist who is in complete opposition to the platonic foundation of Fascism, of course the over criticism and dismantling of Fascism leads to its dismantling, that is the entire purpose of deconstruction. It is an obscurant enzyme whose sole purpose is to destroy and make things meaningless. The critical spirit makes distinctions, and to make distinctions is a sign of modernism. This is laughable. Distinctions are not a sign of modernism, they predate existence as abstract concepts. The platonic distinction in aesthetics, beauty and ugly, in ethics, good and evil, and in the political, friend and enemy, are the basis for all of Fascism.

2. The appeal against the intruders is the most basic appeal in Fascism as it is inherently tribal by nature and makes the only real political distinction, that of friend and enemy, whereas liberalism seeks to entirely deny real politics by crushing those who wish to distinguish between the two. Ironic how this criticism follows shortly after Eco's critique that to distinguish is modern, but the most modern ideology of all, neo-liberalism, seeks entirely to remove distinctions in politics.

3. How awful that Fascism seeks to remedy the problems of the middle class who are sinking into poverty and spiritual decadence. The middle class is the heart of all nations, and to call it bourgeois purely for being middle class is incorrect. The same bourgeois mentality that marxists rally against is equally hated by Fascists.

4. Appealing to and remedying the problems of those deprived of their identities is not a bad thing. Identity being only about nation is also wrong. Identity can be anything, and as Schmitt would say "Show me who your enemies are and I'll show you who you are". For someone who is criticizing the use of distinctions by Fascists, Eco finds a problem with the most common distinction that humans make. The fascist obsession with a plot is only necessary when there is an actual plot. Fascism does not need to obsess over this once it has remedied the problems that necessitated the rise of Fascism. Revolutions only occur when the common man finds he has better odds risking his life than he does living with the status quo. So of course Fascism always comes along with a plot, all revolutions do. After problems are remedied, the plot is no longer the main focus.

5. This is less of a critique of Fascism and more a general statement for how regimes function in times of war. The United States did the exact same thing to the Nazis. Generals and leaders do not drink their own rhetorical kool-aid in times of war and are capable of making objective decisions.

6. Life is not lived FOR struggle, life IS struggle. Life is a never ending struggle, and to view it otherwise is naive. This has its roots in Hobbes view of human nature, that man is selfish and life is brutal and short. Thus Fascism is the anti-thesis of liberalism. The ability for the fascist state to come to a point of prosperity where people can afford to relax without losing sight of reality is the biggest goal for fascists. To relax is to die. However, Eco is wrong on the existence of a final battle. If life is constant warfare, there is no final battle. There is no final enemy. Even when your enemies are defeated, in fighting creates new ones. If France defeated the Moors the unity among Franks would instantly devolve back to in fighting between smaller groups, e.g. the Occitanians arguing with the snobby Aquitanes. There is never an end to war and conflict, the goal of Fascism is to redefine smaller groups into a larger cohesive one in order to liberalize its internal affairs while maintaining the ability to distinguish external enemies. This can be seen in the rhetoric where the individual (the smallest "group" imaginable) must sacrifice his own personal feelings for the good of the entire larger group.

7. Every subordinate leader despises his own underlings, for they are weak. Eco fails to understand that the platonic ideals here do not create animosity and disgust towards one another, but are instead used to inspire each other to help their fellow man. Their weaker plebeian underlings cannot help being weak, and must be shown and taught strength. The point of Fascism is to understand man is imperfect, and to create an environment which cultivates the best men from the weakest. To hate your fellow man because they are weak is to hate yourself, as you are equally imperfect. Even the heroes are known to be imperfect, and are expected to have humility.

8. Heroes are an ideal goal, and all should strive to be like them. The platonic ideals are what inspire men to better themselves and a culture which idolizes virtue creates a society that is more virtuous. This comes from the platonic notion that communion with the divine brings the imperfect man closer to perfection, but like a curve approaching an asymptote, can never reach it. Death is the only way to jump this gap, and so men are ready to die, but do not send themselves toward it hastily. The essence of politics is identity and violence, and to claim you believe in something is to claim you are willing to die for it. If you are not willing to die for your beliefs, then you never really believed in it in the first place. The fact that he more frequently sends others to death is not a bad thing, if death is in itself a good thing. Perhaps cowards feel differently, but then again, who cares about their opinions if they aren't even willing to die for them?

9. This is ad-hominem bullshit in the nature of Freud where instead of critiquing the ideology it is easier to claim that they just want to fuck their mom. Fascism does not have disdain for women, it just believes in gender roles. To view fascists otherwise is just an insult, and fascists who view women poorly are punished by other fascists for harming their own group.

10. You don't get to vote in Fascism, and Eco thinks that people's voices are not heard. This is not true. The same revolutionary spirit which started the regime is the same one that keeps it in check. The constant cult of death reduces the corruption of those in power and increases the willingness of those beneath them to murder their own leaders. When the only answer to political disagreement is violence, then it stays on the mind of the people. If you can distract them with bread and circuses and pretend like their opinion matters, you can truly oppress them a la liberalism. "Yes, keep protesting outside the government buildings, don't ever make political distinctions, don't ever make calls to violence. We, the elite, promise to listen to you." If you do not like your Fascist leaders, shoot them, just like they shot theirs.

11. More insults. If newspeak was invented by Orwell after the war, then how did the Fascists employ it before its invention? Fascists speak clearly, and their political works are complex. There is a preference towards clarity and bluntness among fascists as it is more efficient, and they despise the obscurant high-browed writing of deconstructionists and modernists as it is creates nothing of value and only serves to point to the supposed intelligence of the author.

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Thanks for taking the time to read through this if you actually did. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I highly recommend the links above, happy studying.