The fascist performer

GEOLOGICS MARIAN PASTOR ROCES Is this contemptuous heart of national leadership the true reason for the failure of democratic institutions? Is this the foul core of governance that guarantees the failure of education, civic responsibility, the creation of common good?

- MARIAN PASTOR ROCES

Methinks it’s wise to resist drawing similarities between fascists, say, Rodrigo Duterte with Donald Trump. Context matters: cultural, economic, and historical specifics make for useful markers of difference.

Sometimes, though, picking up fascist-to-fascist analogies is a useful urge.

Because while allowing ample space for difference feeds a capacity for nuance in cultural analysis — back to this below — detecting similarities feeds a capacity for big-picture description. Such as: both Trump and Duterte are contemptuous of their base. As fascists are wont.

The Donald thinks his rabid followers are idiots who will pay more for groceries and health care without connecting the cost-of-living upward spiral to his preferential options for the very wealthy. The Duts thinks his fans are stupid. Feeding them troll talking points justifying murder in the streets, or yowling for his “human rights” as he awaits trial at the International Criminal Court, the fans are no more to him than minions.

Similar, too, are their phenomenal skills at rabble rousing around their captivating personae. These captivating qualities are not ironically described here. The Donald and The Duts are truly compelling figures.

Think Hitler. Think Syria’s Bashar al-Assad. Think the Shah of Iran, Reza Pahlavi. Think, even, of Uganda’s Idi Amin. The longevity of a fascist regime hinges on a Satanic attractiveness. Think, therefore, of Mao Zedong.

And then there’s Marcos Sr. of the Philippines, who actually worked mysticism (semi-secretly, that is, seductively) to produce fascination.

THEATER