One of the problem with using the term "fascist" is that it lets people off the hook. They look at what's being attacked, and find that in some respect it doesn't really match the term, and move on to the view that in that case it means things are really OK.

"Fascism" is a particular deformation of society in particular times and places. This has some aspects which are also increasingly characteristic of some of the societies we are living in, and we should be very worried about that. But using the word loosely actually makes it easier for many people to avoid those worries, because they can look at other aspects where there are real differences.

And what it also misses is that there are some very threatening aspects of our societies which weren't available under Fascism in its various forms. Technology means that it is now possible for the authorities to have far more knowledge of and control of us in our daily lives than would ever have been possible in Nazi Germany or Fascist Italy.

It is now actually possible for our rulers to exercise total control over us, one by one, as and when they choose. That has never been possible before, not even in slave societies. The all-embracing nature of this control means that it can be exercised without any need to use the heavy-handed methods that are associated with "fascism" - and if we think about it, that potentially makes it even more frightening.