Western media and politics has definitely reduced and obscured the overall class characteristic of fascism. People in the West seem to think fascism simply means “big government” and “hating Jews” because those were cornerstones of Nazi ideology. They’re not taught that Nazism is just one historic manifestation of fascist ideology and that the greater ideological movement itself is opportunistic, disguised and flexible according to the particular place it arises from.

If they were taught about the material basis and goals of fascism they would have to reckon with the fact that their own countries histories were proto-fascist projects from their inception. If they were taught to recognize the signs, they would see that the same exact tactics, conspiracy theories, and rhetoric aimed against Jews in Nazi Germany have been used against Muslims in recent history (and continue to be so) and are currently being used against Chinese and other Asian groups as well. But because the way fascism and WWII in general is taught about in the West, Westerners have an incoherent understanding of fascism.