The Fascist Personality Checklist (transcript) (Patreon)

Lately, I've been thinking a lot about community. In my early years of martial arts, what probably mattered most was what would beat what in a head-on one-on-one fight. And that's probably why now I think so much about community because that obsession with what is "The Best" can lead to toxic environments and a breakdown of community. The "strongest" calls all the shots. I've not only lived through watching training environments I love turn to dumpster fires, but it is also THE most common question I get.

If someone were to ask me what are the top 5 most common questions I get, I'd say I don't get five. I get countless variations of one question:

How do I find a positive training environment? Either they've been burned in the past or they watched their current training environment fall apart. Or trusted a teacher who turned out to be abusive. Regardless of gender, regardless of politics, this is the question I get.

More than what works in a fight, community is what's on people's minds. It might not get them in the door, but it's what makes them stay, and it's what they look for in their next school.

Which got me wondering, what are the things to watch out for when considering authoritarian types and people who seek authoritarian rule. What are the tell-tale signs we so often miss?

And philosopher Theodor W. Adorno had already thought about this in the 1940s and created a test, which he called the F-Scale or the Fascist test. It's not meant to test a government or your politics, but instead, your personality. 30 statements to see if you tend to be problematic. Now any one of these symptoms in isolation is fine and can even be healthy and positive, but when you have too many symptoms is when you have a disease. Like cleanliness by itself is not a problem, but that along with several other symptoms can mean an obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Now, I want you to think about each statement and why it might be harmful. What each statement says about an individual's personality. Are you hearing these statements by people around you? Do you notice the people you can't get along with always say statements like these? Question the promotion of these statements, why they are often lauded, what culture it is creating, and if it represents the culture already around you. If you notice these traits from those around you, you won't be surprised when they say or do things that are deeply offensive later. Because they are staying consistent to their worldview.

There is this idea from taoism and martial arts, how a person is in one situation is how they are in all situations if you can look critically enough.

So the test is about how much you agree with each statement. Do you find these statements troubling or do you find them to be ideal? Is the Handmaid's Tale terrifying or a utopia? And to many, it IS their utopia. Or at least they don't see the horror in it, they're probably like, what's the big deal? People are overreacting. And you hear that a lot today, don't you? Though this was written in the 40s, you might think it was written this year. Because personality types are timeless.

So in thinking about these statements, don't only think about politicians. Think about your own community, think about yourself, think about your mate, your friends, your parents, your classmates, your training partners, your teachers, your gymmates, your allies, your leaders, and so forth. I know if I had found this test years ago, it would have saved me a lot of abuse and pain.

Statement 1: Obedience and respect for authority are the most important virtues children should learn.

This statement invokes two types of fascist personality traits, Conventionalism, which is a rigid adherence to conventional values, and secondly Authoritarian submission: Submissive, uncritical attitude toward idealized moral authorities of the ingroup.

I can't question tradition, and I can't question the moral authority of people I admire. So if these traditions and people admire happen to be perfect, then I lucked out. It's all gravy. But if they happen to be flawed, then I'm screwed because I'm not going to question it or try to change it anyway.

Statement 2: A person who has bad manners, habits, and breeding can hardly expect to get along with decent people.

This statement invokes two personality traits, Conventionalism, just like the first statement, and also Authoritarian Aggression: Tendency to be on the lookout for, and to condemn, reject, and punish people who violate conventional values.

This is about indignation and moral superiority. You won't get mad when let's say a person of color is discriminated against but if someone doesn't say thank you when you hold the door for them or say you're welcome when you say thank you, you lose your shit. Because discrimination is about justice, which fascists don't care about. They care about tradition, and they care about it with the volume knob all the way up. There's also elitism and racism mixed into this as well. I'm better than you not only because of how I act but also by birthright, by predeterminism, and now by genetics. And this is why tradition or convention is important, because there's no way to prove what's been predetermined so you fall back on, well that's how it's always been.

Statement 3: If people would talk less and work more, everybody would be better off.

Now, as I previously stated, it's not about any one statement by itself, but the general pattern, and also how strongly you agree with each statement. Like with this statement, there is good to working more and talking less. Even listening to authority can save your ass. But how rigid you are and how strongly you feel about it, that's what we're looking at here.

This statement invokes Conventionalism, Authoritarian Aggression, and Anti-intraception, which is the opposition to the subjective, the imaginative, the tender-minded. Too much thinking is bad, too much learning is bad, too much imagination is bad, and being kind-hearted is bad. It's the mean dad morals. What would a mean dad say in this situation? That's where I'll draw my morals from. Help people? A mean dad would say fuck 'em. Let them learn on their own. Stop complaining and just work with the system that exists because tradition and legacy are always fair. This isn't true of course, which is why tradition acts as the ultimate proof for itself. If it weren't fair, it wouldn't be tradition, except you're not allowed to change tradition anyway. Basically change nothing, it's the end of history. Progress is over, just maintain the status quo. And if it's bad, that's your fault, not the system's.

But with just three statements, this already sounds like people you know, doesn't it? Maybe you hear these statements all the time. And what you'll find is, if you know someone who says one of these statements, they'll usually also say some of the other statements. Because it's not about each individual statement but a personality trait. And if you happen to have that trait, you'll stay consistent to it.

Statement 4: The business man and the manufacturer are much more important to society than the artist and the professor.

Conventionalism and anti-intraception. You can't allow empathy or imagination if you want to maintain the system. Also this statement believes that wealth makes you more important, rather than merit. So rather than evidence-based, it's based on feelings and a supernatural belief in hierarchies.

Statement 5: Science has its place, but there are many important things that can never be understood by the human mind.

This is authoritarian submission and Superstition and Stereotypy: The belief in mystical determinants of the individual's fate and the disposition to think in rigid categories.

Some things are right even if science says otherwise. And if it's overly complicated, it can't be true. It has to be simple and black and white. An authority says this is the right way and so it must be. We have to keep doing things even if it's contrary to the evidence because of authority and tradition, which usurps evidence. Things are correct because of a higher force we cannot understand. Call it God or natural law or nature or what have you.

So now you're starting to see how one personality trait can reinforce other personality traits and how if you only have one of these traits, it might be fine, but if you have three of them, then you have a problem. Also how strongly you believe in these ideas. Fascists are absolutists.

Statement 6: Every person should have complete faith in some supernatural power whose decisions he obeys without question.

Authoritarian submission, Superstition and Stereotypy. Believing in a higher power is fine, but the problem that arises in real life is hero worship or this belief that a person you admire or look up to can do no wrong. Then they become god-like in your eyes. And if you believe you're better than everyone else, you might believe yourself to be god-like. You are always and absolutely right. The authority you appeal to is always and absolutely right. Faith means in spite of evidence.

Statement 7: Young people sometimes get rebellious ideas, but as they grow up they ought to get over them and settle down.

This is classic authoritarian submission. We'll create the world, and eventually you need to fall in line and maintain what we've created. But that's the problem with blindly following something, it becomes a runaway train. No one remembers or knows why it's headed where it is, and no one is allowed to question where it's going because it's been going that way before you were born. Even if the place where it's headed is bad, like the end of life on planet earth.

Statement 8: What this country needs most, more than laws and political programs, is a few courageous, tireless, devoted leaders in whom the people can put their faith.

This is authoritarian submission and the power-toughness personality trait, which is the preoccupation with the dominance-submission, strong-weak, leader-follower dimension; identification with power figures; overemphasis upon the conventionalized attributes of the ego; exaggerated assertion of strength and toughness.

Put some strong people in charge and they'll straighten everything out. If they couldn't, why would they be born strong? And if they're strong, they'll be the ones to figure it out. It's circular reasoning. And as I previously mentioned, a lot of this hinges on black and white thinking rather than being able to think in a scale or spectrum. There's no plurality, just is or isn't. Yes or no. Strong or weak. And so, black and white thinking needs very obvious traits, it can't handle investigation or research. It's all gut reaction.

Statement 9: No sane, normal, decent person could ever think of hurting a close friend or relative.

Authoritarian submission. Anything bad that happens is an aberration. It does not imply a problem with the system. Also, it assumes normal, decent, sane people could never do anything bad. It's not that we are all possible of doing harm by just simply following orders. But people who blindly follow orders will do bad things if they blindly follow orders that harm others.

Statement 10: Nobody ever learned anything really important except through suffering.

Authoritarian submission. It's that mean dad thing again. Suffering is good. Allowing people to suffer is good. It promotes education. Then all suffering exists for a reason and all suffering is good. They're suffering for their own good. That's the misguided logic to this thinking.

Statement 11: What the youth needs most is strict discipline, rugged determination, and the will to work and fight for family and country.

Authoritarian aggression and power-toughness. Do whatever you need to, sacrifice and suffer, not for justice, but out of loyalty. And above all else, don't question why you're doing it. This is why discipline and determination are important, to make you complete a task without knowing why. The runaway train again.

Statement 12: An insult to our honor should always be punished.

Authoritarian submission and power-toughness. It's about pride and power and being unchallenged. Any challenge must be punished. Control must be absolute.

Statement 13: Sex crimes, such as rape and attacks on children, deserve more than mere imprisonment; such criminals ought to be publicly whipped, or worse.

Authoritarian aggression, and anti-degeneracy or sex obsession: Exaggerated concern with sexual "goings-on" of others and resistance to sexual degeneracy within one’s group.

This statement is tough and if this were the only one you felt strongly about, you would still be considered normal and far from a fascist. So why is this in here then? Because it's this in combination with other beliefs.

This statement also speaks to the belief that anything involving sex requires special punishment and special as in worse punishment. It also highlights the paranoia about sex crimes, in particular with children. Conspiracy theories about child sex rings aren't new. One of the fears the KKK conjured up against African-Americans were that they intended to rape white women and children. The same thing happened to the Jews. You want to get a lynch mob, accuse someone of being a pedophile. It's like dynamite, and authoritarians know this can trigger action in people they want to manipulate. It's like a rage button that just needs to be pressed. But this is where the emphasis on the punitive aspect is important in this statement. If it just triggers people to get mad and want someone to stand trial, well that's not really fascist. Wanting to kill someone or take justice into your own hands, that's the part Adorno was trying to get at.

Statement 14: There is hardly anything lower than a person who does not feel a great love, gratitude, and respect for his parents.

Authoritarian aggression. Like the overemphasis on sex, there is an overemphasis on loyalty, to your parents, to your tradition, to your country, religion, or heritage. It's also a test of intensity. You can't just show love, gratitude and respect-loyalty, it has to be great and unwavering or it's just as bad as someone who intentionally disrespects and spits on these same values. Loyalty must be cult and absolute, nothing less is acceptable. This is why black and white thinking is a crucial trait.

Statement 15: Most of our social problems would be solved if we could somehow get rid of the immoral, crooked, and feebleminded people.

Authoritarian aggression. It's never the system's fault. It's the weakness of individuals. The system must remain intact, but get rid of the people making the system look bad. This is why the high punitive and aggressive aspect is important. Strong punishment does not allow for mistakes. So let's say you whip someone or you kill them. If later you find out you're wrong, you can't undo the punishment. Harsh punishments are fascist because harsh punishment are absolute and does not allow room for being wrong, and also it's not about restoring people back into society but about vengeance. And if all that matters is the punishment, finding out the truth doesn't matter as much. Which increases the likelihood of being wrong and no ability to undo that. And also anyone who is out of the norm, born with a disability, or did a wrong, is considered not only valueless but a negative and should be eliminated.  Fascist personalities require hate. Lots of it.

Statement 16: Homosexuals are hardly better than criminals and ought to be severely punished.

Authoritarian aggression and anti-degeneracy. Any sexual behavior that is outside of what you consider "normal," is a crime and anything abnormal needs to be punished. Even if they aren't harming anyone, it doesn't matter. The mean dad approach is not about justice or avoiding harm, it's about maintaining the order through punishment. You see this today, this obsession with other people's gender and sex life. And out of your norm automatically means crime, so to really send the message home, homosexuals and now trans have always been accused of being pedophiles or rapists. I don't know if it's that they are out of the norm makes one assume they must be sex criminals or because they are out of the norm makes one hate them so much, the hate makes them want to accuse someone of something even if it's not true. But fascists have lots of hate to go around. Hate of anyone not like them or hate of yourself projected onto others. You see this with closeted homosexuals with fascist tendencies. They hate homosexuals because they're like them.

Statement 17: When a person has a problem or worry, it is best for him not to think about it, but to keep busy with more cheerful things.

Anti-intraception. There's a lot of self-help, motivation, and positive thinking with fascist types. Don't think about systematic problems, don't try to analyze the problem. Think about something else. Power through. Keep the status quo. You're the problem not the system. Fascists are often great motivational speakers. Like I said, this one trait by itself is not necessarily a bad thing. But if it's this plus a bunch of other things, well now we have a problem. But also consider this, what is the opposite of self-help? Activism.

18: Nowadays more and more people are prying into matters that should remain personal and private.

Anti-intraception, and the Projectivity personality trait: The disposition to believe that wild and dangerous things go on in the world; the projection outwards of unconscious emotional impulses.

Don't think about things. Don't ask. Don't ask people what's going on with them or how they're feeling. We don't need to know. The strong leaders will take care of it.

19: Some people are born with an urge to jump from high places.

Superstition and Stereotypy. Stereotypes and superstition go hand in hand. This is how it's meant to be, that's just how those people are. Everything is the way it was meant to be. Some people were born to jump off a building, some people were born to be sad. It's not because they're being made to feel a certain way. But don't ask anyway to find out. Fascists hate investigation and introspection.

20: People can be divided into two distinct classes: the weak and the strong.

This is Superstition and Stereotypy and Power-Toughness. But even without explanation, this will stand out to many of you as a fucked-up statement. I mean, it's something a child would come up with but we're supposed to grow out of it. And childish ideas in the hands of adults. Imagine that in policies, where the powerful get all the spoils and the weak are fucked and that's how it's supposed to be. Wait, you don't have to imagine it.

Statement 21: Some day it will probably be shown that astrology can explain a lot of things.

Superstition and Stereotypy. Magical thinking. Mysticism. Woo-woo, belief without evidence. And at the heart of it is this belief that it is I who is right and it is the world that is wrong. That's authoritarian, however you cut it.

How superstition often ties with stereotyping is when you hear talking about the samurai spirit too much. Racist stereotype plus superstition. Or when sports fans think doing the tomahawk chop will bring their team good luck, stereotype and superstition. Or people who really into energy systems and alternative medicine and then the mystical stereotypes and tropes they place on Asians.

But stereotypes are almost always based on superstition. It's not based on any science, it's based on feel and what you think is preordained about certain groups.

Born to be a certain way by a great creator

Statement 22: Wars and social troubles may someday be ended by an earthquake or flood that will destroy the whole world.

It's Superstition and Stereotypy and Projectivity. I hear this sort of statement all the time. This want to destroy anything that isn't perfect but also projecting your cynicism and destructive traits onto nature. It's like, I get it, you want the world to end, but don't speak for the rest of us. But authoritarians LOVE to speak for the rest of us. Even if you still want to go on living, sorry. We all should die anyway.

Statement 23: No weakness or difficulty can hold us back if we have enough will power.

Power-toughness, this trait is at the heart of all self-help. No institution or systematic oppression can hold you back. It's all on you, you just have to want it bad enough. Just pull yourself up by your bootstraps. If you didn't succeed, win, lose weight, or whatever the goal, then it's because you didn't want it bad enough. Not because the odds are stacked against you. Never because of that.

Statement 24: Western democracies need some institutions that are themselves outside of democratic control to keep order in the chaos that we see today.

Power-toughness. You need strongmen in positions of power outside of our control to save us from ourselves. It's an idea I often hear from rich elites, that true democracies aren't worth the trouble. Let us decide things for everyone else. It'll be oppressive but much more orderly. And you'll often hear this idea, it's unpredictability, not oppression that's the true evil.

Statement 25: Most people don't realize how much our lives are controlled by plots hatched in secret places.

Power-toughness and Projectivity. Conspiracy theories are nothing new, it's the currency fascists peddle in. It promotes the rage and hate that is needed for them to survive. Like I said, conspiracies were at the heart of the KKK and Nazis, and even alternative health, self-help, and magical thinking. There are people out there who are trying to stop us, who don't want us to know. It's us vs. them. We must attack them to protect ourselves.

Statement 26: Human nature being what it is, there will always be war and conflict.

The personality trait of Destructiveness and Cynicism: Generalized hostility to things not in line with one's personal values, and the devaluation of human life and tendencies.

It just is the way it is, we are meant to live in an evil world. Might as well give up and change nothing. Don't even bother trying. Then what's it matter if people get hurt, that's how it's supposed to be anyway. Why have empathy or compassion? This is a destructive worldview.

Statement 27: Familiarity breeds contempt.

Destructiveness and Cynicism again. Now is this being used as a criticism or as an excuse? This naturalness to hate, that it is acceptable. Then that's a problem.

Statement 28: Nowadays when so many different kinds of people move around and mix together so much, a person has to protect himself especially carefully against catching an infection or disease from them.

Projectivity. It's a hate and mistrust of the unknown. Now add this with punitive trait, the conspiratorial trait, and many of the other traits, and you got someone who is principled in their hate. Which means they have to do things out of principle.

Statement 29: The wild sex life of the old Greeks and Romans was tame compared to some of the goings-on in this country, even in places where people might least expect it.

Again with these personality types, sex is an obsession. That people are doing weird things and that's bad, that's criminal, that's evil. Fascist control often starts with controlling sex life.

Statement 30: The true American way of life is disappearing so fast that force may be necessary to preserve it.

Power-toughness. When people say a lot of the dog whistles are the same things people heard in the past, well it's true. Like I said, this was written in the 40s based on propaganda that was used at the time. This fear of losing tradition, this hate of change, this want to hurt those who challenge your ways.

All 30 of these ideas, all 9 of these traits, Conventionalism, Authoritarian Submission, Authoritarian Aggression, Anti-Intraception, Superstition-Stereotypy, Power-Toughness, Destructiveness-Cynicism, Projectivity, and Anti-Degeneracy-sex obsession.

That's the list. Now it's not perfect but it is an interesting springboard to think about politics being downstream of personalities and even if you are not engaging with people politically, or consider relationships apolitical, it does not mean it is free of fascist personalities.