@scottyx @velartrill @Moon yeah Orwell pretty much said as much, although he wasn’t talking about Italian fascism, he was writing a review of “Mein Kampf”, and basically said the reason Hitler was so beloved in Germany, was because unlike the liberal-democratic regimes which offer material comfort and complacency, Hitler offered “struggle, self-sacrifice, war and death”. Don’t remember if he has a similar take on Mussolini, but he probably did.