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Crypto-fascist dates at least to the progressive social movements of the 1960s, which used it as a term to demonize their enemies, the forces of social conservatism. Gore Vidal famously called William F. Buckley a "crypto-Nazi" during a joint appearance on TV, prompting Buckley to threaten to punch the "little queer" in the nose.
It's been my experience that the "crypto-fascist" tag is rarely if ever applied to organizations--only to individuals. It seems to have been invented to account for the phenomenon on the "lone fascist"--an individual who has totalitarian political views but who is not formally affiliated with a related party.
A single fascist must be, by definition, part of a larger group that shares his view: just as there is no communism without a commune, there is no fascism without a State, or some other group serving as a surrogate State. A crypto-fascist is a fascist without a flag, a Nazi without a fuhrer.
The "crypto-" prefix, for hidden, assumes that these individuals could become "activated" given a trigger: the rise of a charismatic leader, a new political movement, a disaster or crisis, et cetera. Ideological sleeper agents, if you will.
This is as opposed to proto-fascist, which implies an inchoate disaffection still looking for a coherent ideology to which to attach itself. |
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