The Auron MacIntyre Show How Anti-Fascism Became the West’s Civil Religion | 12/18/25
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Dec 18, 2025 After WWII, the West coped with ruins by adopting antifascism as a core moral consensus. Anti-fascism morphed from a wartime reaction into a rigid framework that stigmatizes dissent. Interestingly, while fascism faces social ostracization, communist ideals find modern acceptance. The episode discusses how broad redefinitions of fascism have led to cultural censorship. Auron warns that this absolute moral framework might nurture authoritarian governance, leaving society with troubling futures if left unchecked.
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Anti-Fascism As The Postwar Moral Foundation
- After WWII elites built a 'postwar consensus' making anti-fascism the West's overriding moral imperative.
- This elevated anti-fascism from historical judgment to a permanent civil religion shaping politics and institutions.
Selective Moral Framing To Preserve Legitimacy
- The West allied with the Soviet Union to defeat Hitler, creating a moral contradiction that elites needed to smooth over.
- Treating Nazism as the singular unrivaled evil preserved the postwar order despite Soviet crimes.
Asymmetry Between Communism And Fascism
- Communism retained defenders in elite institutions, so fascism became the only universally condemnable ideology.
- This asymmetry let some openly embrace socialist ideas while fascism alone stayed socially radioactive.