We object to the inquisitors
who want to create faith and virtue from without;
We object to all forms of fascism
which seek to fashion the happiness of man from without;

And also the paternalism
which thinks that it has done something for [humankind]
by prohibiting him from certain possibilities of temptation,
whereas what is necessary
is to give him reasons
for resisting it.

-excerpt, The Ethics of Ambiguity by Simone de Beauvoir p. 149

These words compelled my attention.  Paternalism is the form of fascist imposition that is practiced by an individual or by group with enough authority to insist upon a way of thinking, a manner of dress, or upon an entire while way of life which another person or group would not independently chose, — if they had a choice.  Mind you, the imposition is allegedly for the other’s “good.”

Examples:  A spouse may insist upon exclusive control of the purse strings, control over household finances.  A male may insist that a female partner always defer to his ideas, his desires, etc.  The conscious intent of these habits, – to maintain harmony by imposing ‘proper’ order in the relationship.

A more obvious, egregious example of paternalism/fascism: To remove indigenous people from their customary place of habitation, in order to give them a “reservation” segregated from the majority culture.

The forms which fascism may take are indefinite.  Fascism is a spectrum of behaviors from the exercise of ‘soft’ power seen often in styles of parenting, in male and female relationships, etc. to the ‘hard’ types of fascism, curbing of freedom through religious or political ‘textual originalism.’  Textual originalism, is the delusion that authorized persons are able to interpret the original intent of the authors’ of a text, whether of the Christian bible, or of the U.S. Constitution.  The literalism principle is typical of religious fundamentalism and of political parties on the right and the left.

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The California F-scale is a 1947 personality test, designed by Theodor W. Adorno and others to measure the “authoritarian personality”. The “F” stands for “fascist”. The F-scale measures responses on several different components of authoritarianism, such as conventionalism, authoritarian aggression, dislike of subjectivity or imagination, superstition and stereotyping, power and “toughness,” destructiveness and cynicism, projection upon others, and sex. –wikipedia

Curious to take the F-scale personality test?  CLICK HERE.

So, how did you score?  My score was really low.  I am sure that you might have guessed.

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