Fascism is not just capitalism in decay¶

Fascism is not just capitalism in decay. It's its own beast. We cannot ignore that fascism would still be a threat in a socialist society. Especially in a new society, where a core group of people still hold an idealized view of the old social order. Fascism is a paradoxical ideology, in which an imagined old is held as a paragon, but the driving force is desire for violent upheaval. Fascists view themselves simultaneously as change-bringers, reinvigorating a sclerotic culture, and as stalwart protectors against degradation. That base is manipulated by powerful interests. Forces that don't give a shit about "traditional values" or "cultural stagnation," and are entirely motivated by avarice. In a nascent socialist society, those forces and the regressive instincts they prey upon will still exist. We can see how this has played out in socialist projects like the USSR and China. Even as these states emerged and unseated capital, the eternal spirit of fascism AND capitalism persisted. During the collapse of the USSR, they seized their chance and installed themselves. So it's less that capitalism inevitably decays into fascism. Any social structure in decay is vulnerable to regressive elements seizing and consolidating power. Fascism feeds on some of the nastiest natural inclinations in the human psyche, and must be treated as such.