"Powerful and continuing expressions of nationalism”
(From above ref)
And with this, we have two main problems regarding this as a Warning Sign of Fascism:
1. The qualities listed as being a sign of powerful nationalism, such as the prominent display of flags, patriotic slogans, pride in the military, demands for national unity, etc, are incredibly common to any country with a strong national identity. Indeed, you will find these qualities not only in Fascist regimes, but also in modern America, Mexico, much of Europe, many South American and African nations, Russia, China, Japan and numerous other first and third world countries. You will also find them in virtually all of the nations which stood opposed to Fascism in WWII. As such, this Warning Sign as written by Britt himself is completely useless in determining Fascism, as these “powerful and continuing expressions of nationalism” are generally more common than they are not in any nation with a flag.
2. Britt seems to have ignored (or missed) the fact that while Fascism is ultra-nationalism, it is specifically a form of palingenetic ultra-nationalism. For those not familiar with the term, “Palingenetic Ultra-Nationalism” means that one of the key elements of Fascism is the idea of a national rebirth, that nothing short of a national revolution and a re-discovery of their identity is needed to revitalize the people of the nation who have become disillusioned with traditional politics in order to secure a brighter future under Fascism, by which the nation and its people will rise like a phoenix from the ashes of a degenerate State and the social, economic and politic ills plaguing them. It is this notion of a national rebirth that sets Fascism apart from other nationalist ideologies, as well as the Para-Fascist examples cited by Britt in his original article. Without this element of palingenesis, there simply can be no Fascism regardless of how superficially similar the movements seem.
