A young scholar writes that she intends to bring forth the terrible woes of the marginalized communities in the country to invade the comfort smugness of the privileged upper caste elites, who, according to her have cornered every opportunity in the world leaving the lower castes as victims of systematic oppression. If this is research, then it is like numerous ones which preceded hers without a concern for a counter question, what if this thesis is not true and what would be the exceptions to the rule and in which circumstances? The trouble is that when I asked her about the counter question, she had no clue what it meant. As an avid opponent of fascism, this young brilliant mind fails to realize that willingly she has herself fallen to the fascist trap precisely for the absence of her counter question. Fascism, a totalitarian order finds its legitimacy in minds which seek an uncontested totality, neat, well ordered and non-controversial. Discourses which seek only one side of the question are thus the building blocks of fascism and that is exactly how, fascism lies as the final form of evolution of any government, but more so for democracy, because no other form of government is founded upon individual freedom as democracy is.

On the face of it, fascism is the very opposite of democracy; it does not tolerate opposition while opposition is the very constitution of democracy. People matter in democracy, people come last in fascism and yet, fascism is the final stage of democracy and indeed, no other form of government can snuff out opposition to itself the way democracy can yield to fascism. Fascism manifests the best in democracies. This is because fascism works the best not when leaders want it, but when people uphold it whole heartedly with their beliefs and ideologies. Against fascism, liberalism has no chance because fascism feeds on the very facts that liberalism holds as sacred without acknowledging counter facts.

A central tenet of democracy is the rule of the people and inclusion. This is an ideal because inclusion can only be genuine when there is equality among humans; in reality, the asymmetrical endowments of wealth and power, status and entitlements make equality an impossibility. Democracy’s promise of equality thus uses political power to equalize the statuses among humans what the real socio-economic situation denies. This produces a strong class resentment where those economically and socially not well off try to dominate those who are endowed. Fascism has a strong contempt for talents, if those talents emerge from long held tradition, eg; those who are good in studies because they inherit a lot of knowledge that goes in with families with long educational background. The Brahmins of India have had a long and unbroken tradition of learning and they occupy the best positions in almost all professions. The resentment of first-generation learners against those who belong to traditionally educated families translate into preferences for political parties with ideologies which though detestable to the learned is delectable to the first generation of the educated. Atrocious distortions of history, upholding superstitions as science and even a contempt for genuine learning and sciences is transported into the education system through political appointments of those who believe in the party’s ideology.

The point in fascism is not that the less qualified are appointed politically, the point is that the liberal discourse has no defense in its favour. Liberalism is a struggle for emancipation against the various non democratic forms of governments; it fights kings and monarchs through persons of exceptional capabilities and with equality because the new leaders seek equality with the kings. This goes beyond equality because the new age elite is more talented than kings. When, however, the lesser talented, the less vital, the less capable ones also demand equality with the elites, the elites cannot deny them their claims. The insistence on merit is also a dividing force in society, sparring at equality. Liberalism’s upholding of equality boomerangs against it, making it appear as elitism and hence inimical to democracy. In its quest for inclusion and equality, liberalism is forced to admit people of lesser merit and capabilities and not raise the bar of merit against them. The people of lesser capabilities will want equality, use political power to seek appointments and fill spaces in offices. Fascism thus is best held by clerks, teachers, bureaucrats, and professionals appointed politically to mask their basic incapability of incumbency.