“For your safety and that of the community, conform. Or else . . . .”
I’ve said this many times —
All through my schooling in the 70s and 80s, I had teachers that discussed Marxism. Some of them obviously liked it. Some of them tried to be neutral on it. All of them thought it was important that American students understand what Marxism was all about. It was the Cold War.
No one ever discussed Fascism.
Fascism was bad. Okay? End of story. It’s rightwing craziness and we don’t talk about it.
But the thing is: any system of political economy which support Big Government, a totalitarian system, and the power of the Group over the rights of the Individual is by definition Collectivist, and is therefore a Leftwing phenomenon. Especially if the political movement calls itself the National Socialist Workers Party.
But the American school system seemed very focused on making sure that American students did NOT know anything about Fascism. So, when it got here, not many people recognized it.
Conformity and Community? Oh, gee, they sound like nice things, don’t they?