Fascism gets slung around like cheap mud these days — anyone you disagree with is suddenly a "fascist," right? But strip away the slogans and the history-book caricatures (funny moustaches and all), and you get something far more insidious: a system where the state devours everything, while dressed up in "for your own good" and "national greatness" garb.

Unpacking John T. Flynn's Eight Marks – And Why They Feel Way Too Familiar

Back in 1944, journalist John T. Flynn — once a New Dealer himself—dropped a bombshell book called As We Go Marching. He wasn't ranting about swastikas in Europe; he was warning that the same economic and political rot was taking root right here in the U.S., such as the New Deal and other wartime central planning schemes. Flynn, part of the America First crowd, saw endless wars and deficit spending as the ultimate big-government scam.

Flynn boiled fascism down to eight core marks of policy — not uniforms or salutes, but the nuts-and-bolts — the ways the state turns "free" society into a command economy run by parasites.

Let's walk through them, old-school style with a modern edge: no fluff, just straight shots of reality.

Mark 1: The government is totalitarian – it acknowledges no restraint on its powers.

Total state. No "hands-off" zones. Mussolini nailed it:

All within the State, nothing outside the State, nothing against the State.

Flynn saw this creeping in during FDR's era, and today? Try starting a business without drowning in permits, or traveling without getting groped by TSA theater. Healthcare, food labels, speech on platforms — government's tentacles are everywhere. One "wrong" opinion or unapproved transaction, and the fines (or worse) rain down. It's not left vs. right; it's the state vs. you. Power doesn't care about ideology and/or party labels — it just keeps on expandin'.

Mark 2: Government is a de facto dictatorship based on the leadership principle.

Not necessarily one cartoon dictator, but executive power dominates. Congress? Courts? Mostly rubber stamps. Presidents issue executive orders like candy, and the bureaucracy enforces them. Elections give the illusion of choice — like picking the mascot for the machine —but the machine keeps running the show. Flynn spotted this under FDR; swap the names, and it fits every administration since. Feels like the White House is the DJ, and we're all forced to dance to whatever tune they're spinning.

Mark 3: Government administers a capitalist system with an immense bureaucracy.

It's "capitalism" in name only — private ownership on paper, but strangled by red tape. The New Deal birthed this monster, modeled on wartime planning. Today we've got thousands of government agencies micromanaging everything. Bastiat's unseen costs hit hard: jobs never created, innovations killed before they start. It's like inviting a dragon to dinner and wondering why the table's empty. The bureaucracy isn't solving problems — it is the problem, eating prosperity one regulation at a time.

Mark 4: Producers are organized into cartels in the way of syndicalism.

Forget free-market competition where consumers call the shots. Instead, big players (banks, pharma, defense contractors, auto giants) get cozy with regulators for bailouts, subsidies, and protections. 2008 crash? Recent "rescues"? Classic cronyism. Small businesses and actual consumers get screwed while the VIP cartel club thrives. If real capitalism ruled, prices would drop and innovation would explode. But this rigged game keeps the house winning.

Mark 5: Economic planning is based on the principle of autarky.

Autarky = national self-sufficiency, often chased through empire and control. Wars for "resources," dollar hegemony to force the world to buy our debt, interventions in the Middle East—it's all tied to keeping the system afloat without real market discipline. Flynn linked this to fascist expansionism; today it's "energy independence" rhetoric mixed with endless foreign entanglements. Like a board game where you hoard by conquering neighbors.

Mark 6: Government sustains economic life through spending and borrowing.

Endless deficits, stimulus packages, "infrastructure" bills that mostly enrich cronies. Bridges still crumble, but trillions get printed and spent. The Fed's money printer goes brrr, inflation eats savings, and hiring stays tough thanks to regs. It's a leaky bucket filled with a firehose — looks impressive until the flood hits everyone else.

Mark 7: Militarism is a mainstay of government spending.

The sacred cow. U.S. military budget dwarfs the next several countries combined, yet we're always the "victim" needing more. No real debate—both parties salute it. It's the ultimate jobs program for the connected: contractors, bases, endless R&D. Question it? You're unpatriotic. Imagine treating Pentagon spending like choosing a streaming service: "Do we need another aircraft carrier sequel?" But no — it's untouchable.

Mark 8: Military spending has imperialist aims.

Wars aren't for defense; they're for enforcing compliance, building client states, and keeping the spending machine humming. Aggression gets rebranded as "spreading democracy" or "humanitarian." Nuremberg called it a crime; today it's policy. Left used to protest forever wars—now mostly silence. Statism promises peace but delivers endless conflict.

Flynn's bottom line: this isn't "left" or "right" — it's statism vs. freedom. The state class (politicians, bureaucrats, crony capitalists) vs. the productive class (you and me). They deliver fear, poverty, war. We could have voluntary cooperation, real markets, peace.

The system's cracking under its own weight — debt mountains, inflation, blowback from interventions. Their model is bankrupt. Ours, peaceful exchange, individual liberty, is rising.

So yeah, fascism is not an attitude, a dress code, a moustache or even some foreign boogeyman. It's the slow boil of unchecked state power that's been taking place right under our noses. Flynn saw it in 1944. It's a lot clearer now!

What do you think? Spot any of these in the headlines lately? Drop your take below.