[pyuser583]

Mussolini is insanely popular in Sicily, which is alarming because not only was he a Fascist, but a Northern Italian.

By “popular”, I mean tour guides will sing his praises to American tourists. Jewish, American tourists.

[wolverine876]

Fascism is popular everywhere right now, so it's not dependant on the location (Sicily in this case). The question is, how did it become popular in so many places simultaneously?

[pyuser583]

This was in the 1990s.

Historical Fascism is unpopular.

It’s made a come back in Italy and India.

But the modern, far-right neofascists admire Israel more than the Third Reich.

The resurgence of the far-right began in the early 2000s when Jörg Haider‘s Freedom Party took power in Austria and Jean-Marie le Pen made the run-off in France.

It got much more powerful during the financial crisis of 2008 and the migration crisis caused by the Arab Spring in the mid 2010s.

It’s not a mystery why people are pissed off and looking for non-mainstream candidates.

A big mystery is why the far-left has vanished.

The Occupy Protests fizzled out, Jeffrey Corbyn imploded the Labour Party, and Jacobin put up a paywall.

[wolverine876]

> This was in the 1990s.

Interesting!

> It’s not a mystery why people are pissed off and looking for non-mainstream candidates.

Why are they? Generally, economies are doing well, there is peace - at least, they were until the fascists started disrupting it.

> It’s made a come back in Italy and India.

Hungary, Poland, US, Russia, Brazil, El Salvador, ... where does it end?

> A big mystery is why the far-left has vanished.

Agreed, and even the moderately left.

[pasabagi]

Inflation in basic goods and exorbitant rents mean that a lot of people are struggling far more than GDP-style indicators would imply.

There's also secular decline in a lot of southern european manufacturing, so the economic basis for stable income and family life in a lot of places just isn't there anymore.

[wolverine876]

That would seem to lean people toward the left wing, which supports workers, not the right, which supports the wealthy and powerful.

[pyuser583]

The left wing is also very pro-immigration and globalization.

That’s the big wedge issue for the far right - migration of people and capital.

When their factory closes down and is moved to a cheaper country, might the workers be worried about open borders?

[tharmas]

He was popular in Sicily during the time of his reign as well because his regime nullified the Mafia.

[pyuser583]

What the tour guide said was it’s because “he created jobs in Sicily” and “treated Sicily like it was a part of Italy.”