Law & Liberty: The Grifters Behind the Nazis

I’ve been revisiting the “fascism” section of my personal library. I expect I’m not alone here.

Americans have an odd relationship with fascism. In popular discourse it is still presumptively evil, and a lifetime would hardly be sufficient to absorb every book, movie, documentary, or television series built around the Third Reich. Nevertheless, it sometimes seems that we know everything and nothing about Nazis. Many a conservative friend has told me (channeling George Orwell) that the term “fascism” is functionally meaningless; many more contend that it could in principle mean something but has no real application to the politics of today. I understand the sentiment, but it’s obtuse. Is it not obvious that Germany’s experience stands out among history’s many political-military fiascos as the one most relevant by far to our own situation? Did Indiana Jones somehow persuade us not to take this seriously?