That Is Fascism

That Is Fascism

10 December 2025

The title comes from the book by Rosan Smits. For me, it is somewhat confusing because I tend to frame the phenomenon slightly differently. Smits says: Worldwide, fascism is re-emerging (Smits, 2025). I say: Worldwide, democracy is under pressure and authoritarianism is on the rise. Experts worldwide are sounding the alarm. The advance of fascism is tied to crises and the search for scapegoats. According to Smits, many people fail to recognize it because they still associate it only with Hitler and Mussolini.

Smits argues that fascism is not a coherent ideology but a political strategy: a strategy to mobilize a dominant group against a supposed enemy by appealing to social discontent. It is a means of gaining power through democratic means and then retaining that power. The fascist leader claims to embody the “will of the people.”

Here again, I formulate it slightly differently. I have written before that populism is a thin ideology: a strategy used by both left and right, attacking institutions and the established order, presenting itself as the one authentic voice of the people—insisting that nothing should stand between the leader and the people (Goede M. , 2018)

Smits refers to Paxton’s five stages:

1. Formation

2. Rooting and organization

3. Power shift

4. Power exercise

5. Radicalization or decline (Paxton, 2004)

The mobilization of “the people” takes place through familiar mechanisms: invoking a mythical past; propaganda; anti-intellectualism; alternative truths; hierarchical thinking; the rhetoric of victimhood; anti-woke sentiments; the elevation of the “hard-working citizen”; the city–countryside divide; and the instrumentalization of the rule of law.

Smits convincingly argues that Trump and certain parties in the Netherlands exhibit fascist characteristics. This is something I have been warning about since Trump’s first term (Goede M. , 2019).

She calls for a joint front against fascism across three domains: politics, journalism, and society.

Politics: democratic parties should exclude anti-democratic parties; combat corruption; sow hope rather than hatred.

Journalism: use precise language, call fascism what it is, expose lies, and uncover anti-democratic practices.

Society: recognize the danger early and show dissent. Too often, silence lasts far too long.

In short, this is a highly relevant publication for Curaçao as well. The patterns are universal, and so are the warning signs.

Democracy does not disappear in a single blow; it erodes quietly. The sooner we recognize this, the better we can defend it.

Miguel Goede