Left wingers love to go on about imaginary "fascism" because they lack meaning in life and need to manufacture it by envisioning themselves as members of the Resistance (this is also why they're obsessed with Star Wars, Marvel etc).
As part of this hobby, they like to come up with supposed signs of fascism (while ignoring the really important ones, like cancelling elections, massacring people and invading other countries).
One of the more recent lists I came across was, on further thought, ironic:
"The 10 signs of fascism I’m explaining here come from political philosopher Jason Stanley and his book How Fascism Works. These are widely used by historians and political scientists to identify authoritarian movements early.
Stanley’s 10 common features of fascism:
1. A mythic or fake golden past
2. Propaganda and manipulation of information
3. Anti-intellectualism and attacks on education
4. Unreality, where facts no longer matter
5. Hierarchy and belief in natural social order
6. Victimhood narratives used by those in power
7. Law and order rhetoric used selectively
8. Sexual anxiety and control of bodies
9. Appeals to a glorified rural or “real” nation
10. The idea that certain people do not truly belong
These patterns repeat across countries and eras. Knowing them helps us recognize what’s happening before it’s too late. #Fascism #Authoritarianism #USA @jason_stanley_anti_fascist"
And this was shared by a photography service of all sources (left wingers shove the left wing agenda into everything).
The reason I found this ironic... was that all of these described the left in the US (see also: Fascism in the USA):
1. A mythic or fake golden past
The left loves the myth of the Noble Savage - the myth that pre-European contact cultures were perfect. This also applies to Islamic Empires (e.g. the Myth of the Islamic Golden Age in Spain which if nothing else glosses over the non-toleration of non-Abrahamic Religions).
2. Propaganda and manipulation of information
Biden's senility was covered up.
3. Anti-intellectualism and attacks on education
DEI and wokeness take priority over dispassionate research and learning.
4. Unreality, where facts no longer matter
Post-modernism came from the left, after all. To quote the face of the Democratic Party: “I think that there’s a lot of people more concerned about being precisely, factually and semantically correct than about being morally right.”
5. Hierarchy and belief in natural social order
Intersectionality, for example as seen in the progressive stack, is a hierarchy, and how much the left fetishises (or hates) you is determined by your social category (which you can do very little to change).
6. Victimhood narratives used by those in power
The left literally runs on victimhood: Islamophobia, racism, sexism, transphobia etc.
7. Law and order rhetoric used selectively
This is the very essence of anarcho-tyranny; criminals are released onto the streets to terrorize the population while law-abiding citizens are relentlessly controlled. See Peanut the Squirrel.
8. Sexual anxiety and control of bodies
Rape panic and fainting couch feminism perfectly encapsulate this.
9. Appeals to a glorified rural or “real” nation
This is not rural but left wingers regularly dismiss those they disagree with as illegitimate, e.g. "deplorables".
10. The idea that certain people do not truly belong
See 9. Left wingers see MAGAs as Nazis, which means up to half of their countrymen do not truly belong.
This list can easily be adapted to the European context, of course, with their favourite bogeyman of the "far right".
