Fascism is the result of the collapse of Europe's spiritual and social order. ...catastrophes broke through the everyday routine which makes men accept existing forms, institutions and tenets as unalterable natural laws. They suddenly exposed the vacuum behind the facade of society. -- The End of Economic Man (1939)
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Fascism emerged from the collapse of societal structures, exposing a vacuum when routine failures revealed the lack of real foundations.
- In plain terms
- When society's basic structures failed, people saw the emptiness behind them, leading to fascism.
- What can you take from it?
- Social collapse can reveal underlying instability that radical movements exploit.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- What happens when social routines fail?
- How do crises expose societal flaws?
Another view
The quote attributes fascism solely to spiritual collapse without mentioning other factors.
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