What is a Fascist? Examining Political Labels and Individual Rights

On Friday, October 31, 2025, Kim Monson welcomed a full house for a Halloween broadcast examining the misuse of political terminology. Allen Thomas, author and frequent guest host, presented his essay on fascism. Cain, founder of Task Force Freedom Northern Colorado, challenged listeners on government dependency, and Ben Williams of Ben’s Plumbing, Heating and Cooling offered seasonal home maintenance advice. Understanding Fascism Beyond Political Mudslinging Start listening at 35:08 – Hour 1 Allen Thomas traces the etymology and ideology of fascism back to Mussolini’s Italy and Hitler’s Germany, noting how both movements exploited socialist rhetoric to gain power before abandoning it. The word fascist derives from the Italian “fasci,” an ancient Roman symbol of bundled rods around an axe representing unity under state power. Thomas emphasizes that fascism demanded total state control, with Mussolini declaring “everything in the state, nothing outside the state, nothing against the state.” Thomas distinguishes between fascist nationalism, which justified suppressing individual rights for the nation’s benefit, and civic nationalism practiced by constitutional conservatives who love their country while criticizing government overreach. The fascist economic model represented a middle ground between socialism and free markets, allowing private property ownership while the state controlled production quotas and labor conditions. “If you do all those things, you will fully embrace the anti-fascist movement.” Allen Thomas, Author Personal Responsibility and the Welfare State Start listening at 79:20 – Hour 2 Cain shared an inspiring story of a young man who walked 20 miles through the night to reach his first day at a new job after his car broke down. Police officers relayed him in shifts, and the company owner eventually gave him a car after a GoFundMe raised over $30,000. Cain contrasted this individual initiative with the dependency mindset fostered by government assistance programs. Drawing from personal experience, Cain described how his mother lifted their family off welfare by earning her nursing degree while he was in high school. He later spent only six months on government assistance before committing to self-sufficiency. The discussion touched on the generational cycle of dependency, where some families have never witnessed a parent working regular hours. “The Bible says if you don’t work, you don’t eat.” Cain, Founder, Task Force Freedom Northern Colorado Seasonal Home Maintenance for the Holidays Start listening at 21:04 – Hour 1 Ben Williams offered practical advice for homeowners preparing for holiday gatherings. Disconnecting garden hoses prevents frozen pipes, as water expands into a hexagonal crystal structure when freezing. Williams explained that the valve controlling outdoor spigots sits about a foot inside the house, and connected hoses trap water in the exposed section. Garbage disposals cause significant plumbing calls during Thanksgiving because even powerful units discharge through inch-and-a-half pipes with internal baffles reducing effective diameter to three-quarters of an inch. Williams recommended keeping potato peels and other debris out of disposals entirely and using bacterial enzyme drain cleaners as preventive maintenance. “the disposal is not the problem, it’s the pipe. And um, I don’t care how, if you could grind up a whole...