Fascism persists because it matches natural human tendencies that democracy must resist.

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

Categorization

• DEEPTHINKING: The core claim — that democracy is the unnatural system fighting against human defaults — inverts the usual presumption and rewards sitting with.
• XREF: Connects to Milgram’s obedience findings and to the RWA framework established earlier in this book.