Crypto-fascism

Origin

In an ABC television debate during the 1968 Democratic National Convention, Gore Vidal described William F. Buckley, Jr. as a "sort of pro or crypto-Nazi". Buckley responded, "Now listen you queer, stop calling me a crypto-Nazi or I’ll sock you in the goddamn face, and you'll stay plastered." Vidal later clarified in an essay published in Esquire in 1969, "I had not intended to use the phrase 'pro crypto Nazi.' 'Fascist-minded' was more my intended meaning". In later reporting on this event, the term Vidal used to describe Buckley was sometimes misquoted as "crypto-fascist".

The term "crypto-fascist" had first appeared in print five years earlier in a German-language book by the sociologist Theodor W. Adorno, . Adorno had used "crypto-fascism" as early as 1937 in a letter written to Walter Benjamin. In this document, the term is not linked to secret support or admiration of fascism but it is used to refer to someone who is insufficiently conscious when displaying such regressive tendencies.

Usage

The term was used by German Nobel laureate Heinrich Böll in a 1972 essay titled "Will Ulrike Gnade oder freies Geleit?" ("Does Ulrike want mercy or safe passage?") that was sharply critical of the tabloid newspaper Bild's coverage of the Baader-Meinhof Gang left-wing terrorist organization. In the essay, Böll stated that what Bild does "is no longer crypto-fascist, no longer fascistoid, that is naked fascism. Incitement, lies, filth."

In the 1989 Red Dwarf episode "Timeslides", the lead character Lister goes back in time to meet up with his younger self in order to make himself rich. His younger self calls his older self a Crypto-Fascist.

In a 2011 article for The Guardian, Rick Moody suggested that "mainstream Hollywood cinema" and specifically comic book artist and film director Frank Miller are "crypto-fascist" because they promote the view that "war against a ruthless enemy is good, and military service is good, that killing makes you a man, that capitalism must prevail."

With alternative meaning of the prefix "crypto", similar to its use in "crypto-anarchy", the term "crypto-fascism" has also been used to refer to the embracing of cryptocurrency by overt fascists and the association of cryptocurrency with its use by the far right.

References

References

1. link. (2022-08-09")
2. Vulliamy, Ed. (1 August 2015). "'Don't call me a crypto-Nazi!' The lost heart of political debate". The Guardian.
3. Vidal, Gore, "[https://archive.today/20160220190552/https://geneticmail.com/scott/library/text/vidalesquire69.html A Distasteful Encounter with William F. Buckley Jr.]", originally published in Esquire, September 1969
4. Connor, Simpson. (1 August 2012). "Corrections on The New York Times' Gore Vidal Obituary Are Amazing".
5. Moody, Rick. (24 November 2011). "Frank Miller and the rise of cryptofascist Hollywood". [[The Guardian]].
6. Ackerman, Daniel. (2022-03-15). "Crypto-Fascists".
7. (2022-01-04). "The Ticking Bomb of Crypto Fascism".
8. (2016-10-02). ""Crypto-Nazi" and Other Insults".
9. Grynbaum, Michael M.. (2015-07-24). "Buckley vs. Vidal: When Debate Became Bloodsport". [[The New York Times]].
10. (1976-05-30). "Gesammelte Schriften in zwanzig Bänden: Band 15: Komposition für den Film. Der getreue Korrepetitor". [[Suhrkamp Verlag.
11. (1999-12-10). "The complete correspondence, 1928-1940". [[Harvard University Press]].
12. (1972-01-09). "Will Ulrike Gnade oder freies Geleit? Schriftsteller Heinrich Böll über die Baader-Meinhof-Gruppe und "Bild"". [[Der Spiegel]].