Umberto Eco has said that fascism as a state exists always, each time wearing different clothes, and should be recognized, exposed and fought against each time anew.

Umberto Eco's characteristics of Ur-fascism (eternal fascism):

The cult of Tradition

The rejection of modernism

The cult of Action for action's sake

Disagreement is Treason

Fear of difference

Appeal to a frustrated middle class

Obsession with a plot

Enemies are at the same time "too strong" and "too weak"

Life is Permanent Warfare

Contempt for the weak ("losers")

A cult of Death (positive or negative)

Machismo

Selective populism

"Newspeak", coded, limited, key-phrased language