Reply #216: sorry, still not buying it [View All]

the logic of fascism is that might makes right, and that strength and power are the only legitimate avenues to authority. The exercise of authority in this case rests on an entirely different form of legitimacy than raw power. The actions of the bully represent only raw power/strength. Appealing to a legitimate authority to prevent or protest the unlawful use of individual power is simply not fascism, nor does it follow the logic of fascism, which would hold that the offender has the legitimate authority (within that realm) to inflict such pain as he sees fit because he is stronger. That is the logic of fascism.

Again, appealing to the rule of law is not inherently fascist, whether you do it after weeks of putting up with the behavior or whether you do it the first time you're assaulted (as you seem to assume is the case here, given that you initially complained about a general intervention of the state apparatus and you now argue against the "immediate appeal" to authority).



First, that doesn't mean that belief is exclusive to fascist thought. Second, I'm not sure who here has argued that everything should be adjudicated by an authority figure. Saying that something is legitimately subject to adjudication by an authority figure is not the same as saying it should be handled that way in all cases (or even in this specific case).

Often the best resolution (for all parties) involves something other than an appeal to an outside authority, but it seems to me this is pretty much up to the discretion of the offended. In this case, a kid and/or his family chose to appeal to a (democratic) authority to prevent/protest the unlawful/uninvited/harmful exercise of individual power. Some on here have recognized the legitimacy of democratic authority over the illegitimate power of the offender (a power which, essentially, is only legitimate in the fascist sense). This does not make them crybabies or pussies and clowns or willing fascists. They are, in fact, resisting a fascist theory of authority by appealing to a democratic authority.