> Well, fascism is another one of those words thrown about too casually and inaccurately nowadays.
Used to. It's unfortunately getting more accurate. Russia is pretty much full-blown fascist right now. Their propaganda ticks all the classic fascist talking points, and Putin is following much of Hitler's playbook. The one thing he lacks is the adoring crowds seeing him as the saviour of the nation. Trump has those. Again, he's doing a lot of the things Hitler did, including an attempt to overthrow the government.
Both rely on a glorification of an imagined past to sell their message. Both expect corporations to follow their government's lead. Both demonize critics and opposition, would really like to punish them (from "lock her up" to poisoning and defenetration), block press access (though to very different degrees), undermine civil rights that they feel is at odds with the traditionalism they use to sell their message, and try to sow division between the people who belong and the people who don't.
They're doing so in very different ways of course, and of course Putin is much further down that road, but the similarities are there.
DeSantis is another example, which his book bans and rewriting education to suit his political message. And see how he treats Disney World for refusing to toe the line and daring to criticise him.
All of these are elements of fascism. That doesn't mean they're ready to start another holocaust (though Putin definitely seems to be, and some Trump supporters seem to be leaning that way too), but they're absolutely warning signs, and we should be wary about the direction they're taking us.