Sue Jones who writes a very interesting blog called Politics and Insights largely documenting the neo liberalist policies of the last few decades and austerity under Condem and now Conservative just wrote this on her Facebook page about the rise of fascism.
“I'm just writing about the rise of fascism in Europe, the US and UK, and have been researching features of fascism, some of which I have discussed before. We always like to think fascism wouldn't happen here. But it is a process that has been unfolding in the UK, hidden in plain view.
One feature of fascism that I hadn't previously seen was 'productivism' or 'growthism'. This is the belief that measurable economic productivity and growth are the key purpose of human organisation (e.g., work), and that "more production is necessarily good".
I thought of the bizarre ideological claim that "work is a health outcome", the extremely punitive and coercive policies aimed at 'incentivising' disabled people and others who aren't 'economically productive' to work , coupled with the Tories' obsessive narratives on economic growth and productivity.
'Strong and stable' is also a slogan many fascists have used, too.
Critiques of productivism centre primarily on the limits to growth posed by finite planet resources and extend into discussions of human procreation, human agency and autonomy, interfering with life processes more generally, and the 'work ethic.' Many of us have objected to this approach over recent years because of the terrible human costs that productionist policies leave in their wake.
And its associations with authoritarian doctrines, totalitarianism and fascism.”