How Old Were You when You Learned the Word, "Fascist"?
from Proprietary_Blend@lemmy.world to nostupidquestions@lemmy.world on 10 Nov 2025 01:04
https://lemmy.world/post/38584803
from Proprietary_Blend@lemmy.world to nostupidquestions@lemmy.world on 10 Nov 2025 01:04
https://lemmy.world/post/38584803
#nostupidquestions
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High school age I guess, like 16 maybe, at the latest.
12ish or so, when we learned about Mussolini. It wasn’t that substantive, though, since it took quite a lot longer to learn to differentiate between fascism and Nazism.
Mussolini is who first got described to me as fascist as well. 10 years old, 5th grade. Also similarly, it really took my own effort to separate multiple, shall I say, un-American government descriptors because they were all pumped together as evil. Fascism, dictatorship, communism, and a bit of socialism due to the Nazi’s true party name.
Surprisingly, nationalism just never fell into the mix in school. That’s just patriotism for other countries, right? Right?
Middle school, probably 13-14.
Back when the history channel had history documentaries. There was a week long block of WWII shows when I was 12(ish), like shark week but Hitler.
deleted
Depends what you mean by ‘learned’ — my grandparents talked about their time fighting the fascists from the time I was born.
What part of the world are you from?
Whoops. Thank you!
15 or 16
10 I think. I originally thought it meant bigotry based on fashion choices.
In a better world it would
I think that’s great for a ten year old. When did you become more aware of fascism?
Probably a couple years later when I started learning more about World War II. I had a decent History Channel phase back when that’s what it was mostly into
That reminds me. I thought tourist was another word for terrorist until 13; I finally checked the different definitions cuz I was cast in the Despicable Me school play and got confused about the opening scene where a bunch of tourists discover the Pyramids of Giza were stolen.
I don’t remember how old I was in 4th grade; but 4th grade was when school started covering WW2 in my school days.
Maybe like 13. However it wasn’t until my twenties until I learnt what it actually means, and I’m convinced most of the general populace never learn that.
What convinces you that folks don’t understand the meaning?
The fact that there’s textbook fascists in the US government and many people I know seem to still be in denial. Mostly non-US people, in case that changes the equation.
I don’t know how anyone could answer this honestly, unless they have a photographic memory
How about a general timeframe? Was there a specific event that brought fascism into your consciousness?
The thing is, I was a voracious reader since I was a kid. I started reading early and never stopped. My school had competitions to get kids to read and I always won by a landslide, so I honestly probably heard or read the term then, but couldn’t tell you when. Could have been five, could have been fifteen years old.
About the only specific thing I remember about anything with a name when I was a kid was that the first book I ever failed to finish was Anna Karenina, when I tried to read it in fifth grade since it was worth the most points in the reading competition.
Other than that, it’s amazing to me that people really remember anything specific about their childhood, because it’s all a blur and blank to me.
Much of my childhood is a blur with occasional fits of extraordinary clarity.
lol great description! I agree completely
I finally had a definition stick when I heard Dan Harmon yell that Trump is a fascist on his old podcast. Back during the first term. In 2017 IIRC.
I’m part of the problem, I guess, considering I was in my early 30s.
The 2016 election was the first time I didn’t “throw now away”. They lost anyway.
Definitely 13 because I remember looking the word up after hearing it in song from a band I discovered that exact year.
Which song?
In my native language, the ideology is referred to as fascism, so any English uses of Nazi (except for the actual German NatSoc party) were would have been replaced with “fascist” for me.
I personally think this is better, since it bypasses the claim that accusing someone of Nazism is an ad hominem or whatever
The political ideology is Fascism, unless someone is a neo-nazi calling them nazi is weird, they are fascists.
I mean I have learned the word itself really early, as for what it means that’s quite different.
i like this video on fascism, and has a quite good video essay series about how fascism works nowadays online, at the workplace etc.
youtu.be/5Luu1Beb8ng
“How old we are you”
Words hard, apparently.
Thanks. I fixed it.
10ish, but I thought it was pronounced “face-ist”.
When Jeffrey Lebowski got a mug thrown at his head
10 years old. When I saw The Rocketeer, when Jenny found Neville Sinclair’s secret radio room to talk to his Nazi handlers.
11 probably, I spent a lot of time on Wikipedia.
Maybe 12 or 13
Not sure but its never had as much meaning as it does now for me.
I don’t remember but do remember my dad calling me an anarchist when I was very, very young. Like maybe 4 or 5.
History class in the 7th grade, so I was about 13 years d. That was when I learned what it meant, but I’d heard the word a lot before then.
My father really, really loved watching any WWII-related stuff. I had to had overheard that word a few times when I was like single digits.
Learned is hard to quantify. I probably heard it around 6 but it wasn’t something in my mind that you could be, just something that others were. It wasn’t until later that I recognized it as an ideal.
Depends
First see it? I must have been eeeeh six. Saw the word in Civilization: Call to Power
COMPREHEND it? 12 years old at history class.