When fascism comes marching home

If you were asked to come up with a short description of what fascism meant, you will most likely be inclined to describe it as a movement or an ideology that supports unfettered nationalism, a disdain for democracy and a disposition to promote a culture of violence.

The world first experience the awakening of fascism through Benito Mussolini’s 1922 Italy. The ‘Blackshirts’ movement was recognised as a nationalist movement that was more authoritarian than democratic merely because it accepted the idea that political power can only be attained through violence. And it is this violent political struggle that the present ruling regime tries to disseminate and sow into the minds of every citizen with maniacal desperation.

To fully understand just how such unreasonable movements can replace democracy, we need not look further than our own backyard. The socio-political strife felt by present day Malaysians are a reaction to the slow erosion of democratic values and the constant denial of constitutional rights.