# Ur-Fascism by Umberto Eco

18 Hacker News commenters recommended Ur-Fascism by Umberto Eco and 2 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 8 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Recommended as a serious, rigorous definition of fascism and a good starting point for understanding it. Critics find the essay meandering and say its list of traits is broad.

## Why people recommend it

- Good starting point on fascism (5 comments): "I recommend Umberto Ecco's essay "Ur-Fascism" if you want to get a more accurate picture of what fascism is." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48956379)) "Umberto Eco's ur-fascism is a good starting point for a more serious definition" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49493059)) "You can read Umberto Eco's essay "Ur-Fascism" to have a more informed view." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47325706))
- Rigorous definition beyond vague labels (2 comments): "Umberto Eco's ur-fascism is a good starting point for a more serious definition" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49493059)) "a more rigorous definition than “things I don’t like”" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46068306))
- Lists fourteen tenets to read (2 comments): "you have seriously got to read and understand Eco's 14 tenets of Ur-Fascism" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46905478)) "I personally favor the features of "Ur-Fascism" by Umberto Eco" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46893967))
- Short, stunning, worthwhile read (2 comments): "An additional short read which is really worth it" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46758106)) "It makes for a stunning read" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46069227))

## What people warn about

- Meandering, loses reader's interest (1 comments): "I found this essay a bit meandering and I lost interest in reading the whole thing" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46761426))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Programming as Theory Building by Peter Naur](https://hackerapproved.com/p/programming-as-theory-building.md): 32 recommend
- [Politics and the English Language by George Orwell](https://hackerapproved.com/p/politics-and-the-english-language.md): 14 recommend
- [Right to Read by Richard Stallman](https://hackerapproved.com/p/right-to-read.md): 12 recommend
- [Meditations on Moloch by Scott Alexander](https://hackerapproved.com/p/meditations-on-moloch.md): 11 recommend
- [Reflections on Trusting Trust by Ken Thompson](https://hackerapproved.com/p/reflections-on-trusting-trust.md): 10 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Ur-Fascism by Umberto Eco", https://hackerapproved.com/p/ur-fascism/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).