want to read something that explains fascism in a clear way without being overly political or pushing an agenda. Something that looks at the history, the ideas, and how it shows up today.
Open to fiction or nonfiction as long as it’s thoughtful and neutral. Would appreciate any suggestions that make the topic understandable without oversimplifying.
by Emotional-Addendum-9
3 Comments
paxton’s anatomy
Some of the books/blog posts by Curtis Yarvin (a.k.a. Mencius Moldbug) have been very influential on the contemporary far right. Likewise, Nick Land’s *The Dark Enlightenment* also has been influential. Note that these texts are certainly “pushing an agenda” (a far-right one), but reading them critically can help to understand what is going through contemporary fascists’ minds and identify the problems and fallacies in their ideology.
Mark Sedgwick’s *Traditionalism* is an interesting text on the influence of perrenialist religious philosophy (Guenon, Evola, et al.) on historical fascism, and how it is reappearing in modern times.
You could try reading a history of early 20th century fascism and totalitarianism, like Shirer’s *The Rise and Fall of The Third Reich* or Hannah Arendt’s *The Origins of Totalitarianism*, and identify where parallels to modern times arise.
The far right in the “Christian world” love to bang on about Christianity. Reading the gospels (especially Luke) is quite enlightening as to how unchristian the far right is – Jesus was all about love, not hate.
Any book by left wing authors or liberals.