Very well then. Since you answer me seriously I shall as well.
The idea that fascism is an ideology originated with the fascist leaders themselves. Hitler and Mussolini never stopped saying they were prophets of ideas. That viewpoint however is propaganda. Fascism is not an ideology like any other ideology, it's a shabby collection of incoherent propaganda. The ideas espoused by the fascist leaders were only ever intended to harness support. The leaders did not take their own propaganda seriously. They told the working class they were on their side; they told the industrialists they would keep the working class down; they told malcontents there would a revolution and so on.
The fascists enacted radical changes to be sure, but an ideology is more than a lump sum of ideas, it is total system of thought. The hackneyed fascist dogma does not fit the bill.
Fascism was an invention that conveniently found it's place in a world of emerging mass politics. Prior to the twentieth century, politics was something conducted by learned gentleman in parliamentary debate. That moldy old world was in a state of flux as voting was opened up to the masses. Fascist leaders were the first to take advantage of modern politics.
The iconic image of fascism is a bellicose leader haranguing throngs of delirious
supporters. It sought to appeal to emotion by use of ritual, carefully staged ceremonies and intensely charged rhetoric. In this way the fascists were successful in rallying the masses to their banner.
There were only two significant instances of fascist takeover, which were of course Italy and Germany. The two states were formerly monarchies and the business of democracy was new to them. The traditional parties didn't quite adapt as well as they could have.
In Germany democracy was imposed forcefully by foreign powers after her surrender. The country was rife with contempt for democracy to begin with and so it's days as a democratic state were practically numbered.
But even with the ideal breeding ground for radical politics that post-war Europe offered, the success of fascism was not guaranteed. Hitler and Mussolini had to take some significant risks in coming to power and had things gone a bit differently they could very likely never have succeeded. The success of Mussolini's march on Rome, for instance, was a fluke.
Myself I dont believe in political ideologies because they are "a shabby collection of incoherent propaganda". Political ideologies exist to make difference between political parties and give voters options. In the end ideology of party does not matter but it matters who wields the power. Under Deng Xiaoping, a hardcore Communist, China become a capitalist nation. When Tony Blair was UK prime minister he descripted his party (Labour) position on "radical centre". To me "radical centre" is complitely nonsense. Another way to translate it is "we can do anything on political spectrum". So I agreed with you that Fascism is propaganda, like any other poltical ideology.
I am going over this brief history of fascism to explain one very short point: it is not going to return. Modern parties are now experts at manipulating mass politics, there is no longer an opening in that regard. Democracy has been strongly embedded in the West, and while I do not expect it to last forever there is no reason to suspect that fascists could swoop in and overthrow it. Dictatorship could perhaps be possible in the unclear future (provided something like a nuclear war or economic collapse occurred), but even so I would not expect fascists of all people to rise from the ashes, so to speak. A regular old military dictatorship ala Castro and Franco would be more likely. Or perhaps feministsthis is very tangential, but feminists rank second highest on Authoritarian personality tests after religious conservatives (both groups are way higher than everyone else) and critically, unlike neo nazis, feminists aren't yet pariahs.
Today old school distatorships dont exist anymore or they are not so stable atlest. Putins Russia is pretty much a single party state controlled by group of few oligarhcs and ex-KGB state police. US is distatorship of two parties and there are no credible challengers. Media propaganda works better than ever because we believe it and it looks natural. "it is no use to vote third parties" is America, in Russia "all other parties are nuts". Both are true because we believe on it. Media manipulation is stronger than ever, how many of us knows that US has funded and trained ISIS like talibans in Afganistan and now US is again war, enemy they made up themself. We dont want to believe this because it sounds insane but really there are parties that profits on it: military business. However this is heavily censored away from media. Todays Fascism, dictatorship is not something that looks like Fascist Italy, Stalins USSR or Nazi Germany. It is democratically elected people on black suits with smiles who deny everything and moved media attention on something else to hide their actions.
The fascist governments may have wanted to do so, but they failed to exert totalitarian control over society, especially in the affairs of everyday life. They were successful in some affairs, but for the most part the modern consumer lifestyle remained until the war got underway. Incidentally, the war measures enacted by the Allies were more totalitarian than what Germany and Italy were able to exert. They had the will but not the power.
One reason for this was that Fascist states were heavily corrupted and mismanaged. Germany was not a super state, they simply had a good start. Later on war persons like Göring and Hitler were the biggest problems of Germany and allied leaders decied not to assasinate them for this reason.
What the Nazis did to German business was to plaster everyone with red tape while winning the allegiance of big business through lucrative rearmament contracts.
And maintain peace on society. It was extreamly populist ideology after all.
Asides from what happened to the Jews, that simply did not happen. If anything, Nazism sought to destroy class barriers through the youth programs, which brought Germans of all classes together. The Nazis were successful in instilling a sense of camaraderie between all Germans, rich and poor, urban and rural, man and woman. A popular slogan was, "Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Führer".
You think of this like a modern person. First barrier was between Germans and non-Germans. Second barrier was between males and females. Third barrier was "better people" and normal people. Persons like Hitler and other high figures in Nazi Germany were displayed as super humans.
They could only be considered fascist in a metaphorical sense. Fascism was a specific phenomenon. Perhaps there are aspects of modern politics that are reminiscent of fascism, but that is all. In modern political usage, the word fascist is flung around as a way of ridiculing opposition. If you don't like what the other group is saying, you call them fascists and your fanatical supporters bleat the chorus, "Fascist! Fascist! Fascist!" like the sheep in Animal Farm. The political threats on the horizon will take fresh forms, unlike any we have seen. As such, they will elude the fools keeping watch for phantoms of the past...
Pure Fascist nations does not exist anymore and most likely wont on a long time. But as you said Fascism is propaganda, and goal of this propaganda is to form a dictatorship of few people. To me Fascism means dictatorship and now propaganda as well. Fascist is a dirty word like calling woman a slu*, the fastest way to discredit anybody without a good reason.
