Fascism exploits natural human tendencies while democracy requires uphill virtues

Evidence

Fascism has proven as vile and persistent in this century as prejudice, which has shown it can be quietly passed from generation to generation even when the state vigorously discourages it. And unlike Communism, fascism cannot be expected to fail because it makes some fatally wrong assumptions about human nature. Instead, democracy seems to be fighting the current here: by depending on tolerance, when fear and dislike come so easily; by asking for generosity of spirit, when selfishness is so natural; by championing equality, when hierarchy seems so inevitable. — Bob Altemeyer, The Authoritarian Specter, 3857 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Genuine consent to fascism would satisfy purely procedural definitions of democracy — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man: Studies in the…, 458; Fascism rests on a long-term anthropological reshaping of social character. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 280; Fascism persists because it matches natural human tendencies that democracy must resist. — Bob Altemeyer, The Authoritarian Specter, 3857 (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Fascism persists because it matches natural human tendencies that democracy must resist. #corroborates (0.97) — Bob Altemeyer, The Authoritarian Specter, 3857