Autophagia

Autophagia (pronounced aw-tuh-fey-juh or aw-tuh-fey-jee-uh)

(1) In cytology, the process of self-digestion by a cell through the action of enzymes originating within the same cell (the controlled digestion of damaged organelles within a cell which is often a defensive and/or self-preservation measure and associated with the maintenance of bodily nutrition by the metabolic breakdown of some bodily tissues).

(2) In cytology, a type of programmed cell death accomplished through self-digestion (known also as apoptosis and associated with the maintenance of bodily nutrition by the metabolic breakdown of some bodily tissues).

(3) In psychiatry, self-consumption; the act of eating oneself.

The construct was auto- + -phagia.  The auto-prefix was a learned borrowing from Ancient Greek αὐτο- (auto-) (self-) (reflexive, regarding or to oneself (and most familiar in forms like autobiography)), from αὐτός (autós) (himself/herself/oneself), from either a construct of (1) the primitive Indo-European hew (again) + to- (that) or (2) the Ancient Greek reflexes of those words, αὖ (aû) (back, again, other) +‎ τόν (tón) (the) and related to Phrygian αυτος (autos), the existence of alternatives suggesting there may have been a common innovation.  Phagia was from the Ancient Greek -φαγία (-phagía) (and related to -φαγος (-phagos) (eater)), the suffix corresponding to φαγεῖν (phageîn) (to eat), the infinitive of ἔφαγον (éphagon) (I eat), which serves as aorist (A verb paradigm found in certain languages, usually an unmarked form or one that expresses the perfective or aorist aspect) for the defective verb ἐσθίω (esthíō) (I eat).  The alternative spelling is autophagal and the synonyms (sometimes used in non-specialist contexts) are self-consumption & auto-cannibalism.  Autophagia, autophagophore, autophagosome & autophagy are nouns, autophagically is an adverb, autophagocytotic is an adjective and autophagic is an adjective (and a non-standard noun); the noun plural is autophagies.

In cytology (in biology, the study of cells), autophagy is one aspect of evolutionary development, a self-preservation and life-extending mechanism in which damaged or dysfunctional parts of a cell are removed and used for cellular repair.  Internally, it’s thus beneficial, the removal or recycling of debris both efficient and (by this stage of evolutionary development) essential, most obviously because it removes toxins and “effectively “creates” younger cells from the old; it can thus be thought an anti-aging mechanism.  It something which has also interested cancer researchers because all cancers (as the word and the parameters of the disease(s) are defined) start from some sort of cell-defect and the speculation is it might be possible to in some way adapt the autophagic process, re-purposing it to identify and remove suspect cells.

In psychiatry, autophagia refers to the act of eating oneself which is sometimes described as self-consumption or the even more evocative auto-cannibalism.  Perhaps surprisingly, the behavior is not explicitly mentioned in the American Psychiatric Association's (APA) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) which of course means there are no published diagnostic criteria nor recommendations for treatments.  The DSM’s editors note there are a number of reasons why a specific behavior may not be included in the manual notably (1) the lack of substantial empirical evidence or research, (2) the rarity of cases and (3) the material to hand being unsuitable (in terms of volume or quality) for the development of practical tools for clinicians to diagnose and treat a disorders.

It would be flippant to suggest autophagia might have been included when the revisions in the fifth edition of the DSM (DSM-5 (2013)) included a more systematic approach taken to eating disorders and as well as variable definitional criteria being defined for the range of behaviours within that general rubric, just about every other form of “unusual” consumption was listed including sharp objects (acuphagia), purified starch (amylophagia), burnt matches (cautopyreiophagia), dust (coniophagia), feces (coprophagia), sick (emetophagia), raw potatoes (geomelophagia), soil, clay or chalk (geophagia), glass (hyalophagia), stones (lithophagia), metal (metallophagia), musus (mucophagia), ice (pagophagia), lead (plumbophagia), hair, wool, and other fibres (trichophagia), urine (urophagia), blood (hematophagia (sometimes called vampirism)) and wood or derivates such as paper & cardboard (xylophagia).  The DSM-5 also codified the criteria for behaviour to be classified pica (a disorder characterized by craving and appetite for non-edible substances, such as ice, clay, chalk, dirt, or sand and named for the jay or magpie (pīca in Latin), based on the idea the birds will eat almost anything): they must (1) last beyond one (1) month beyond an age in infancy when eating such objects is not unusual, (2) not be culturally sanctioned practice and (3), in quantity or consequence, be of sufficient severity to demand clinical intervention.  However, pica encompassed only “non-nutritive substances” which of course one’s own body parts are not.

Finger food: Severed fingers are a popular menu item for Halloween parties; kids think they're great.  For those who like detail, those emulating nail polish seem to be following Dior shades 742 (top right) and 999 (bottom right). 

In the profession, autophagia seems to be regarded not as a progression from those who eat their fingernails or hair but something with more in common with the cutters.  Cutters are the best known example of self-harmers, the diagnosis of which is described in DSM as non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI).  NSSI is defined as the deliberate, self-inflicted destruction of body tissue without suicidal intent and for purposes not socially sanctioned; it includes behaviors such as cutting, burning, biting and scratching skin.  Behaviorally, it’s highly clustered with instances especially prevalent during adolescence and the majority of cases being female although there is some evidence the instances among males may be under-reported.  It’s a behavior which has long interested and perplexed the profession because as something which involves deliberate and intentional injury to body tissue in the absence of suicidal intent (1) it runs counter to the fundamental human instinct to avoid injury and (2) as defined the injuries are never sufficiently serious to risk death, a well-understood reason for self-harm.  Historically, such behaviors tended to be viewed as self-mutilation and were thought a form of attenuated suicide but in recent decades more attention has been devoted to the syndrome, beginning in the 1980s at a time when self-harm was regarded as a symptom of borderline personality disorder (BPD) (personality disorders first entered DSM when DSM-III was published in 1980), distinguished by suicidal behavior, gestures, threats or acts of self-mutilation.  Clinicians however advanced the argument the condition should be thought a separate syndrome (deliberate self-harm syndrome (DSHS)), based on case studies which identified (1) a patient’s inability to resist the impulse to injure themselves, (2) a raised sense of tension prior to the act and (3) an experience of release or at least partial relief after the act.  That a small number of patients were noted as repeatedly self-harming was noted and it was suggested that a diagnosis called repetitive self-mutilation syndrome (RSMS) should be added to the DSM.  Important points associated with RSMS were (1) an absence of conscious suicidal intent, (2) the patient’s perpetually negative affective/cognitive which was (temporarily) relieved only after an act of self-harm and (3) a preoccupation with and repetitiveness of the behavior.  Accordingly, NSSI Disorder was added to the DSM-5 (2013) and noted as a condition in need of further study.

However, although there would seem some relationship to cutting, it’s obviously a different behavior to eat one’s body parts and the feeling seems to be that autophagia involves a quest for pain and that suggests some overlap with other conditions and it certainly belongs in the sub category of self-injurious behavior (SIB).  The literature is said to be sparse and the analysis seems not to have been extensive but the behavior has been noted in those diagnosed with a variety of conditions including personality disorders, anxiety disorders, obsessive compulsive disorder, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.  The last two have been of particular interest because the act of biting off and eating some body part (most typically fingers) has been associated with the experience of hallucinations and patients have been recorded as saying the pain of the injury “makes the voices stop”.  Importantly, autophagia has a threshold and while in some senses can be thought a spectrum condition (in terms of frequency & severity), behaviors such as biting (and even consuming) the loose skin on the lips (morsicatio buccarum) or the ragged edges of skin which manifest after nail biting (onychophagia) are common and few proceed to autophagia and clinicians note neurological reasons may also be involved.    

Lindsay Lohan with bread on the syndicated Rachael Ray Show, April 2019.

Autophagia and related words should not be confused with the adjective artophagous (bread-eating).  The construct was the Artos +‎ -phagous.  Artos was from the Ancient Greek ἄρτος (ártos) (bread), of pre-Greek origin.  Phagous was from the Latin -phagus, from the Ancient Greek -φάγος (-phágos) (eating) from φαγεῖν (phageîn) (to eat).  Apparently, in the writings of the more self-consciously erudite, the word artophagous, which enjoyed some currency in the nineteenth century, was still in occasional use as late as the 1920s but most lexicographers now either ignore it or list it as archaic or obsolete.  It’s an example of a word which has effectively been driven extinct even though the practice it describes (the eating of bread) remains as widespread and popular as ever.  Linguistically, this is not uncommon in English and is analogous with the famous remark by Sheikh Ahmed Zaki Yamani (1930–2021; Saudi Arabian Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources 1962-1986): “The Stone Age came to an end not for a lack of stones, and the Oil Age will end, but not for a lack of oil” (the first part of that paraphrased usually as the punchier “the Stone Age did not end because the world ran out of rocks”).

Nipple

Nipple (pronounced nip-uhl)

(1) In anatomy, the small, conical projection near the center of the areola of each mammary gland (breast); also called mamilla, papilla or teat.  In females, the nipple contains the outlets of the milk ducts.

(2) Something resembling (often in scaled-up form) a female’s niipple, as the mouthpiece of a nursing bottle or pacifier (in some places an informal word for a pacifier).

(3) Any device resembling a nipple in shape or function.

(4) A mechanical device through which liquids or gases can be passed in a regulated manner; as grease nipple a small drilled bush, usually screwed into a bearing (or other component needing periodic replenishment of a greasing agent) through which grease is introduced.

(5) In plumbing & gas-fitting, a short piece of pipe with threads on each end, used for joining valves.

(6) Any small physical protrusion on an automotive, a machine part or any other part that fits into a groove on another part (now rare).

(7) In computer hardware, the pointing device in the centre of the keyboard of certain laptops, partially fulfilling the functionality of a mouse, trackball or track-pad (although some (usually male) users insist it is called “the clit”).

(8) In pre-modern ballistics, a perforated segment that fits into part of the breech of a muzzle-loading gun, on which the percussion cap is fixed.

(9) In the design of bicycles, an internally threaded piece which holds a bicycle spoke in place on the rim.

(10) To fit (a baby's bottle etc) with a nipple (archaic).

(11) To give one's nipple to (a baby) to allow breastfeeding (archaic).

1520–1530: From the Middle English nipple, from the earlier neble, nibble, nible & nepil (all of which may be derived from nib & neb (tip; point).  The Old English nypel (elephant’s trunk) was formed analogously as “a protuberance from one's neb”.  The late twelfth century pap & pappe (nipple of a woman's breast) was first attested in Northern and Midlands writing, probably from a Scandinavian source (there’s no record in the Old Norse but there was the dialectal Swedish pappe), from the primitive Indo-European imitative root pap- (to swell), the source also of the Latin papilla (nipple) which may have influenced the English papula (a swelling, pimple) and the Lithuanian papas (nipple).  The spellings neple, nypil, nyppell, neapel, neaple, neble and all obsolete.  Nipple is a noun & verb, nippling is a verb and nippleless & nippled are adjectives; the noun plural is nipples.

One extinct verb which, perhaps surprisingly, wasn’t revived even after it became apparent trends of use on the internet suggested it might be helpful, was expapillate (bare the breasts to the nipples), identified by the outstandingly good OnlineEtymology Dictionary as an entry in an early English "dictionary", published in eleven editions between 1623 and the 1650s.  The book was neither a prescriptive or descriptive work encompassing the whole language but was described as “An Interpreter of Hard English Words”, an approach others later took including Wilfred Funk (1883–1965) in his Word Origins and Their Romantic Stories (1950), the idea being to focus on the less known or more obscure.  The construct of expapillate was ex- + papillate.  The ex- prefix was from the Middle English, from words borrowed from the Middle French, from the Latin ex (out of, from), from the primitive Indo-European eǵ- & eǵs- (out).  It was cognate with the Ancient Greek ἐξ (ex) (out of, from), the Transalpine Gaulish ex- (out), the Old Irish ess- (out), the Old Church Slavonic изъ (izŭ) (out) & the Russian из (iz) (from, out of).  The “x” in “ex-“, sometimes is elided before certain constants, reduced to e- (eg ejaculate).  The Latin papillate was the vocative masculine singular of papillātus (having nipples or buds; shaped like a nipple or bud) and was used in English as a transitive verb (to cover with papillae) and intransitive verb (to take the form of a papilla, or of papillae).

Jaguar tool kit supplied with 1966 E-Type (XKE).  The grease gun (left) was used to force grease into various components through grease nipples.  This was a regular part of automobile maintenance until recent decades and is still a feature of the maintenance schedules of heavy vehicles and machinery.

Until the 1970s, it was common for cars to need periodic “greasing” of certain components, a process which involved attaching a “grease gun” to a “grease nipple” which was permanently mounted to the relevant part and manually, the gun (usually a type of plunger) was used to force grease through the nipple.  This was undertaken either by owners, chauffeurs or mechanics at service stations who routinely would perform an “oil and grease” (changing the engine (and sometimes the gearbox and differential) oil, replacing the filter(s) and greasing all required grease points.  On more expensive vehicles, “one-shot lubrication” systems (known also as centralized lubrication systems (CLS) or automated lubrication systems (ALS) were introduced during the 1920s, the technology adapted from those used in aviation.  Although some attempts were made to create wholly automated systems, the most widely used were those which incorporated a foot pump for the driver to press at specified intervals; this action forced grease from a central reservoir to the required points.  Being a sealed system, this meant that nowhere in the system were grease nipples required (although some may still have been fitted to parts which required less frequent attention.  ALS systems remain common in many places including heavy machinery, ships and the industrial plant used in factories, power plants etc.

The standard grease nipple used on the Jaguar E-Type (XKE) (left) and a diagram with a legend listing the E-Type's oil, brake fluid, transmission fluid and grease nipple locations.  The grease nipples are indicated by the obelus (†).   

In automobiles, by the 1970s the need for multiple grease points or one-shot lubrication had begun to be eliminated (although some older designs maintained the legacy for decades) as advances in metallurgy and lubrication technology permitted the development of sealed, maintenance-free components which are “packed with grease" and thus “lubricated for life”.  However, for heavy-duty machines such as trucks and earth-moving equipment operating in adverse conditions, there are often still components demanding regular greasing and thus grease nipples are still a thing.

The SKIMS Nipple Bra

Wearing it well: Kim Kardashian in SKIMS "nipple bra"

The admirable (and much admired) Kim Kardashian (b 1980) in October 2023 announced the latest addition to her SKIMS product line: a bra with “built in” nipples, designed to be prominent enough obviously to protrude through clothing.  Said to offer the “ultimate shock factor” (although after the shocks of the last decade-odd, some of which members of the Kardashian clan have instigated, that may be hyperbolic) the viewer response suggested many weren’t certain whether product was real or a gimmick designed to attract publicity.  It certainly attracted publicity but turned out to be a real with a SKIMS' part number.  Even if the concept wasn't as “innovative” as claimed, the promotional approach in the video certainly was, the spin being that if women can don a bra to emulate one of the better known consequences of cold weather, the psychological effect might be such that they’ll be less inclined to turn on (or up) the air-conditioner, thus reducing energy use, thereby lowering carbon emissions, meaning a lesser contribution to the concentration of atmospheric CO₂ (and other greenhouse gasses) which causes accelerated climate change including higher temperatures.  That seems to be drawing a long bow but doubtlessly somewhere there will be published research which can be spun to support (or at least not disprove) each of the steps in the Kardashian logic.

As Ms Kardashian put it: “The earth’s temperature is getting hotter and hotter. Sea levels are rising. The ice sheets are shrinking. I’m no scientist, but I believe everyone can do their skillset to do their part.  That’s why I’m introducing a brand-new bra with a built-in nipple so matter how hot it is, you’ll always look cold.  Some days are hard but these nipples are harder. And unlike the icebergs, these aren’t going anywhere.”  The bra will be available in six colors and a stated “10% of sales” (the exact math of that calculation not disclosed) will be given in a “one off donation” to 1% for the Planet (a multi-national collective of businesses pledged to gifting at least 1% of the annual revenue to “environmental causes”).  So it sounds like a real product with a real part-number (not yet listed) but there were those who thought the release date being Halloween (October 31) suggested it might not be wholly serious.  Even if not, it was a good promotional video, the only opportunity missed being Ms Kardashian should first have appeared in a scientist's white lab coat, peeling it off as she spoke the words "I'm no scientist".

The 1970s: Rudi's sheer bra (left & right) and the original Nipple Bra.

It’s actually not a new idea.  In the early 1970s, several manufacturers advertised a line of bras with cups in a sheer fabric which offered coverage and support but clung to the nipples' definition.  This approach was for those who wanted to display the profile of their own nipples.  The "Nipple Bra" offered enhanced engineering and the ancestor of the new SKIMS bra used the same concept: built-in nipples, the spin all those decades ago being the look was “so provocative” and in 1975 to achieve that the “Nipple Bra” cost US$20 (US$114.42 adjusted for 2023) so Ms Kardashian setting her price at US$120.00 seems not unreasonable.  The somewhat obtuse contribution to averting climate change aside, reaction to the product included the observation the bra will provide permanently “perfectly aligned nipples”, something not always achieved by the real things because, like most body parts, between left and right, there’s often some variation in size, shape, direction or distance from the ground.  Like many aspects of structural engineering, “perfect alignment” is achieved with slight adjustments.

In the United States, patent law exists to protect inventions, processes, and methods rather than abstract ideas and the general criteria (interpreted with some latitude) for eligibility is that an invention should be novel, non-obvious, and useful.  What does qualify is the implementation or embodiment of an idea in a tangible form so while a mere thought or concept can't be patented, a specific application or embodiment of that idea can be and this includes a new product, process, machine, or composition of matter.  Within all that, patents can be granted to cover improvements made to existing inventions.  Whether SKIMS have applied for or been granted a patent isn't clear but several for products in this vein have been granted over the last 50-odd years.  On 24 August 1976 Mr Jakob E. Schmidt of Charlestown, Indiana was granted U.S. patent #3976083 (Brassiere Having Simulated Nipples) as well as #4241737 & #4127128 covering “Brassiere Having Simulated Nipples and Attachable-Detachable Nipple Simulators”.

Conceptual drawing supplied with application for patent #3976083 (Brassiere Having Simulated Nipples), granted 24 August 1976.  The patent expired 24 August 1993.

The abstract filed with the application for #3976083 included: A brassiere is disclosed having cups which are provided with a nipple-like protuberance simulating the bulge of a natural nipple. The nipple-like bulge or protuberance may be a built-in component of the brassiere, usually situated under the fabric of the cup; a component which is permanently attached to the external surface of the brassiere cop; or an individual structure which may be attached to or detached from the brassiere cup as will, by means of several linkage and attachment mechanisms.  Simulated nipples for a brassiere would offer an acceptable compromise for ladies who do not wish to go without a brassiere and a welcome release from the subconscious effects of the suppression brought on by wearing brassieres of the types variously available, which obliterate the nipple.  That’s informative but Ms Kardashian might have phrased things a little differently. 

A nipple patch (left), the nipple patch writ large to function as a special-purpose bra (centre) and the advertising concept (right) which could be used by the manufacturers of either the "nipple bra" or the "nipple patch".  All that would be required is transposing the photographs, depending on whether the object was to display or conceal.

However, while one niche market will like the idea of being “so provocative”, there are others who find the sight of their own nipples “too provocative” and for this niche, there are ranges of products which offer coverage and concealment, smoothing away any suggestion of a nipple with patches which can be worn under bras with cups of even the most sheer fabric.  Self-adhesive (using a skin-friendly temporary glue), they can also be used without a bra and the same technology has been adapted to larger-scale units which actually function as a bra.  Marketed as being ideal to be used when wearing “backless” dresses or tops, they’re also said to be easier to use than the “fashion tape” (better known in the industry as “booby tape” or “tit tape”), especially if being self-applied.  Helpfully, if one changes one’s mind after having smoothed away the nipples, stick-on nipples are available in a range of styles and colors.

No accessories required: Lindsay Lohan displays “perfect alignment”.

Fascism

Fascism (pronounced fash-iz-uhm)

(1) A system of government led by a dictator (nominally with total power), forcibly suppressing opposition and criticism, regimenting (to various degrees) industry, commerce, the arts etc and emphasizing an aggressive nationalism, often with an overtly racist emphasis (often used with an initial capital letter).

(2) The philosophy, principles or methods of fascism.

(3) A political movement that employs the principles and methods of fascism (based at least nominally on the model established in Italy in 1922 but the variations within implementations were numerous (often used with an initial capital letter).

(4) A now generalized term used to describe certain regimes based on their behavior rather that the labels formerly adopted.

(5) A general term of disparagement nominally based on alleged political or other behavior but now very loosely applied.

(6) As a slang modifier, (grammar-fascism, eco-fascism, fashion-fascism et al), a term of derision aimed at those thought excessively focused on rules and regulations.

1915–1920: From the Italian fascismo, the construct being fasc(io) (bundle of sticks; political group) + -ismo (the noun-forming suffix (the plural –ismi)) from the Latin -ismus.  The significance of the connection between what came to be known as political fascism and fascio (bundle of sticks) was the use of the symbol in ancient Rome where it was part of the standard (flag) of the magistracy, symbolizing the authority of the state.  Certain political organizations in modern Italy thus came to be known as fasci and the fasces was adopted as the symbol of the Italian Fascist party which took power in 1922).  Fasces dates from 1590–1600 and was from the Latin fasces (bundle of rods containing an axe with the blade projecting), the plural of fascis (bundle or pack of wood), from the Proto-Italic faski- (bundle) possibly from the primitive Indo-European bhasko- (band, bundle), (the source also of the Middle Irish basc (neckband), the Welsh baich (load, burden) and possibly the Old English bæst (inner bark of the linden tree)).  In Ancient Rome, the bundle was carried by a functionary before a lictor (a senior Roman magistrate) as a symbol of the judiciary’s power over life and limb (the sticks symbolized the use of corporal punishment (by whipping or thrashing with sticks) while the axe-head represented execution by beheading.  From this specific symbolism, in Latin the word came to be used figuratively of “high office, supreme power”.  Fasces is a noun (usually used with a singular verb); the noun plural is fascis but fasces is used as both a singular & plural.  For this reason, some in the field of structural linguistics suggest fascis remains Latin while fasces has been borrowed by English.  Fascism is a noun, fascistic is an adjective and fascist is a noun & adjective; the noun plural fascists is in much more frequent use then fascisms.

Fascism as a label has been so over-used in casual political discourse that it has become devalued.  However forms like anti-fascism and pro-fascism (with many variations) remain in use and the US left-wing collective “antifa” (pronounced an-tee-fah) is a non-hyphenated clipping of anti-fascism (or anti-fascist).  In some cases where actual fascism is in more recent living memory, the word is more established in political “discussions” and in post-Franco Spain, some such “debates” can probably be reduced to “You’re a fascist!” vs “No, you’re a fascist!”.  It can be quite entertaining.

Le Serment des Horaces (Oath of the Horatii (1784-1785)), oil on canvas by Jacques-Louis David (1748–1825), the Louvre, Paris.  Le Serment des Horaces is a work often used as a case-study in the teaching of art theory because it so exemplifies the techniques of those painting in the Neoclassical style, both in the use of classical motifs and the way in which it represents the reaction against the Rococo.  As a tool of academic study, it’s useful too because its large size (3298 mm × 4248 mm (129.8 in × 167.2 inches) permits close examination of detail.

The scene it depicts is based on the Roman legend of an episode (dated usually to the reign of Tullus Hostilius (third King of Rome between 672–642 BC) in the wars between the cities Rome and Alba Longa in which the decision was taken to select three men from each to fight to the death, the victorious survivor(s) determining which city would be declared the winner.  The advantage was it was an alternative to each sending their whole armies, thereby avoiding mass slaughter, the drawback from a military point of view being the result would not necessarily reflect how a full scale battle would have been resolved.  The way the curious dual of the triumvirates unfolded is of interest to students of battlefield tactics but the political implications cast a longer shadow, providing some of the underpinnings of twentieth century fascism will all of its bloody consequences. In Le Serment des Horaces, a father is shown offering three swords to his sons who eagerly reach to take them, signifying their willingness to fight and, if need be, die for their city.  To reinforce the message, at the conclusion of the battle, a sister of the sole surviving victor (shown in the painting to the right), was killed by him for the sin of mourning the death of one of the slain opponents to whom she’d been betrothed.  Not only must one be loyal in body and ted to the state but also in mind and soul and although pre-dating the French Revolution (1789) by half a decade, such sentiments were common in many circles at the time as the idea gaining currency that “being French” should mean being loyal to the nation rather than the church or some sectional identification.  It was this notion of the supremacy of the state and the subordination of the individual to it that formed the basis of twentieth century fascism.

It was fashionable for much of the late twentieth century to dismiss the idea that Fascism had no intellectual or philosophical underpinnings and it was a thing based wholly on personalities and spectacle which captured the imagination of political scientists and others only because it genuinely did seem new, something of a novelty in a field where everything else had a literature dating back hundreds or thousands of years.  However, even if there was nothing like the wealth of work associated with doctrines like liberalism, conservatism or Marxism and while attempts to construct something like a “theory of fascism” have never been wholly convincing, much work has been done distilling the experience of fascism to a list or recognizable characteristics.  Independent commentator Laurence Britt published a number of pieces exploring the nature of the experience of fascism in power and provided one widely shared list of 14 fundamental characteristics:

Powerful and Continuing Nationalism: Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.

Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights: Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of "need." The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc.

Identification of Enemies & Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause: The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial, ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, etc.

Supremacy of the Military: Even when there are widespread domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized.

Rampant Sexism: The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Opposition to abortion is high, as is homophobia and anti-gay legislation and national policy.

Controlled Mass Media: Sometimes to media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation, or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in war time, is very common.

Obsession with National Security: Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.

Religion and Government are Intertwined: Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the government's policies or actions.

Corporate Power is Protected: The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.

Labor Power is Suppressed: Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are either eliminated entirely or severely suppressed .

Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts: Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education, and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts is openly attacked, and governments often refuse to fund the arts.

Obsession with Crime and Punishment: Under fascist regimes, the police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses and even forego civil liberties in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations.

Rampant Cronyism and Corruption: Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders.

Fraudulent Elections: Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections.

It’s a helpful list and what many noted was the extend of the overlap of those characteristics into countries in which the governments are inclined to self identify as “liberal” or “democratic” but then the prime imperative in politics is always regime survival so some duplication of tactics should not be unexpected.  That does emphasize how the labels of political science are useful only to an extent.  World War II (1939-1945) has often been called the great conflict between democracy and fascism but its bloodiest theatre was Europe’s eastern front where in what Moscow styled the “Great Patriotic War” (1941-1945), the battle was between communism and fascism yet even if one finds Laurence Britt’s list of 14 in some way flawed, there’s an extraordinary degree to which it can be mapped onto both comrade Stalin’s (1878-1953; Soviet leader 1924-1953) “communist” system and Adolf Hitler’s (1889-1945; Führer (leader) and German head of government 1933-1945 & head of state 1934-1945) fascist regime.  To synthesize the factors for the list, assessed not on the constructs of Hitler and Benito Mussolini (1883-1945; Duce (leader) & prime-minister of Italy 1922-1943) but also those built by General "Muhammad" Suharto (or Soeharto) (1921-2008; president of Indonesia 1967-1998), Generalissimo Francisco Franco (1892-1975; Caudillo of Spain 1939-1975) and General Augusto Pinochet (1915-2006; dictator of Chile 1973-1990).

Another obvious mapping now is probably the People’s Republic of China (PRC), run since 1949 by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).  Early in September 2023, it was reported the CCP intended to ban clothes which “hurt national feelings” and a draft law outlawing speech and dressing “detrimental to the spirit of Chinese people” is already under consideration.  It has been confirmed that under the proposed statute, people found guilty could be fined or jailed and the move to crack down on subversive clothing is one of a number of proposed changes to public security laws, the first substantive reform in decades.  No details have yet been released beyond it being said those who wear or force others to wear clothing and symbols which “undermine the spirit or hurt the feelings of the Chinese nation” could be detained for up to 15 days and fined up to 5,000 yuan (US$680).  In parallel, anyone who creates or disseminate articles or speech with the same effect would face the same punishment and in that aspect the CCP was more specific, indicating the proposed laws will prohibit “insulting, slandering or otherwise infringing upon the names of local heroes and martyrs” as well as vandalism of the memorials of their lives.

How to "hurt national feelings": Lindsay Lohan in costume as Suicide Squad’s Harley Quinn (a comic book character created by DC Comics), “Halloween bash”, Albert's Club, South Kensington, London, October 2016.  Any young Chinese lady wearing this might risk being accused of being dressed in a manner “detrimental to the spirit of Chinese people” and be fined or sent to “re-education” camp. 

On the vibrant, if by Western standards still respectful, Chinese social media, concerns were expressed that the notion of “detrimental to the spirit of Chinese people” was so vague and allow police officers and others a broad scope of personal interpretation about what the words meant that it would be impossible for people to be certain if they were complying.  One commentator cited the example of a Chinese woman who had been detained (even before any such law was passed) at a music concert because she was wearing a kimono, a classic style of Japanese attire.  Given that, it was asked whether wearing a suit & tie, a style which originated in the capitalist West would on the same basis be thought likely to “hurt national feelings”.  Given it’s the apparently compulsory uniform for the upper echelons of the CCP (including the Central Committee), that seems unlikely but does indicate how difficult it would be to codify such a rule.  One UK cartoonist once invented the imaginary offence “Being dressed in a manner likely to cause a breach of the peace” to illustrate how UK police might take advantage of such a law.  The woman in the kimono has actually been told exactly that she was dressed in a manner likely to cause a breach of the peace, the authorities in Suzhou accusing her of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble”.  Good, hard crackdowns of displays of individuality are a hallmark of fascist regimes and of late there’s been much attention paid to those wear rainbow colors and other symbols of “Western decadence and depravity” and in his decade at the top, Xi Jinping (b 1953; general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and paramount leader of the People's Republic of China (PRC) since 2013) has paid much attention to social engineering, re-defining what makes the model Chinese citizen and sartorial matters are the latest to be added to the “morality guidelines” the CCP issued in 2019 which included making compulsory “politeness”, “lowering one’s carbon footprint” and “having faith in Mr Xi and the CCP”.

Squad

Squad (pronounced skwod)

(1) In modern military use, a small number of soldiers (typically between 4-10), under the authority of a corporal or staff sergeant, usually a sub-set of a platoon and the smallest operational unit recognized by the military.

(2) In law enforcement, a group of police officers or other officials, especially one organized to deal with a particular area of law enforcement or a particular event or situation.

(3) Any small group or party of persons engaged in a common enterprise.

(4) In sport, group of players from which a team is selected.

(5) In slang, any group of people with some identifiable connection (especially one’s friends, taken collectively).

(6) In zoology, an (informal) collective noun for a group of squid.

(7) To form into squads (rare except in technical use).

(8) To assign to a squad (rare except in technical use).

(9) In some dialects (UK, dating from the mid-seventeenth century), sloppy mud, of uncertain origin.

1640–1650: From the French escouade, from the Old French esquade, an alteration of esquadre, from the Italian squadra (battalion, literally “square” (from which French gained escadre), from the Spanish escuadra (square (so called from square shape of the formation)), from the Old Spanish, from escuadrar (to square (from the square formations used)), from the from Vulgar Latin exquadra (to square), from the Latin  squadra (a square), the construct being ex- (out) + quadrare (make square), from quadrus (a square), from the primitive Indo-European root kwetwer- (four).  Squad is a noun & verb, squaddie & squadron are nouns and squadded & squadding are verbs; the noun plural is squads.

Before advances in ballistics extended the range of firepower, infantry troops tended to fight in a square formation because it was the most effective to repel cavalry or superior forces. And from this came the idea of the squad as a basic military formation, the Latin squadra meaning “square” although that doesn’t imply Roman squads could number as few as four (as is the modern practice, reflected in the slang term for private soldiers (the army’s lowest rank (technically non-ranked)) in some armies being “squaddie”.  In historic (army) use, a squadron was a body of cavalry comprising two companies or troops, averaging from one hundred and twenty to two hundred soldiers.  Probably the best known military squad is the firing squad, a traditional method of military execution and regarded as among the most honorable forms of dispatch.  By the early nineteenth century the word was extended to any small party or group of persons and the use in sports is traced to 1902.  With the evolution of sporting competitions to become professional, larger groups of players were needed to be on stand-by for selection (to cover injury, illness etc) and these groups came to be called squads.

The use by police forces as both standing institutions dedicated to certain duties (drug squad, dog squad, vice squad, bomb squad et al) and ad hoc formations for a one-off purpose (essentially task forces: royal visit squad, test match squad et al) appears to have begun in 1905 and is now institutionalized.  In police use “squad car” can probably has been applied to any vehicle but is most associated with a marked patrol car.  God squad is a casual terms for those spreading the word of God and is usually reserved for especially devoted lay members of a church.  A cheer squad can either be a formal group of attractive young women employed (cheerleaders) to dance and wave pom-poms in support of sporting teams (their numbers diminishing as attitudes to this and that change) or a description of those who (in a usually unorganized fashion) offer unquestioning and often vocal support to someone (Donald Trump, crooked Hillary Clinton et al) or some idea or institution.  In recent US political use, “The Squad” is the collective term for nine (originally four bolshie women of color) Democrat Party members of the US House of Representatives who self-identify as “progressive” and are labeled by Fox News etc as “socialist” or worse.  It was one of the squad members who coined the term “The Squad” although it’s not believed the inspiration was the Irish Republican Army (IRA) of the same name which was tasked with the assassination of political opponents but that’s probably crossed the mind of many of the old, white men who have dominated US politics for centuries.

Some of "the squad", who seem often angry about something, House of Representatives, Washington DC.

Navies in the 1580s picked up the idea of the squadron (from the Italian squadrone, from the Latin squadra (a square) but that does not imply naval squadrons were either originally or even typically of four ships.  The squadron was simply analogous with the army’s platoon / company / regiment / brigade / division arrangements whereby several squadrons made up a flotilla and several flotillas a fleet (confusingly, several fleets could be assembled into a fleet so to make things clearer tags like “home fleet”, grand fleet” et al emerged and squadrons also attracted specific designations such as “China squadron”, “East Africa squadron et al.  Air forces by 1912 began to use the squadron as the basic formation upon which organizational arrangements pivoted.  Over the years the number varied greatly but classically a squadron consisted of twelve aircraft, made up of four “flights” of three.  Squadrons were organized into “wings”, a collection of which was a “group” and beyond that point the arrangements and naming conventions varied.   In the US military’s recently constituted Space Force, multiple squadrons make up an operations delta or a support garrison.

Suicide Squads

HH Asquith (1852-1928) and his young friend Venetia Stanley (1887–1948).

Although few were quite as vituperative as Paul Keating (b 1944; Prime Minister of Australia 1991-1996) who once describes the members of the Australian Senate as "unrepresentative swill", governments in the twentieth century often found upper houses to be such a nuisance they schemed and plotted ways to curb their powers or, preferably, do away with them entirely.  As the electoral franchise was extended, governments were sometimes elected with what they considered a mandate to pursue liberal or progressive policies while upper houses, by virtue of their composition and tenure (some with life-time appointments) often acted as an obstruction, rejecting legislation or imposing interminable delays by sending proposed laws to be “discussed to death” in committees from which “nothing ever emerged”.  This was the situation which confronted the glittering Liberal Party cabinet of HH Asquith (1852–1928; UK prime minister 1908-1916) which in 1909 found the Lords, in defiance of long established convention, blocking passage of the budget.  The Lords was wholly unelected, its membership mostly inherited, sometimes by virtue of some service (virtuous or otherwise) by an ancestor hundreds of years before.  Successive elections didn’t resolve the crisis and Asquith resolved to pursue the only lawful mechanism available: the creation of as many peers as would be necessary (in the hundreds) to secure the passage of his legislation.

That of course required royal ascent and the newly enthroned George V (1865–1936; King of the United Kingdom & Emperor of India 1910-1936), while making his reservations clear, proved a good constitutional monarch and made it known he would follow the advice of his prime-minister.  As it turned out, the “suicide squad” wasn’t required, their Lordships, while not at all approving of the government, were more appalled still at the thought of their exclusive club being swamped with “jumped-up grocers” in “bad hats” and allowed the legislation to pass.  Actually, “castration squad” might have been a more accurate description because while the Lords survived, Asquith ensured it would be less of an obstacle, substituting the road block of its power of veto with a speed-bump, a right to impose a two-year delay (in 1949 reduced to six months).  The New Labour administration (1997-2010) introduced further reforms which were designed eventually to remove from the Lords all those who held seats by virtue of descent and even the Tories later moved in that direction although the efforts have stalled and a few of the hereditary peers remain.  As things now stand, the last remaining absolute veto the Lords retain is to stop an attempt by a government to extend a parliament's life beyond five years. 

The preserved Legislative Council Chamber in the Queensland Parliament.

Some upper house assassins however truly were a suicide squad.  In Australia, the state of Queensland followed the usual convention whereby the sub-national parliaments were bicameral, the Legislative Council the upper house and like the others, it was a bastion of what might now be called "those representing the interests of the 1%" and a classic example of white privilege.  Actually, at the time, the lower houses were also places of white privilege but the Australian Labor Party (ALP) had long regarded the non-elected Legislative Council (and upper houses in general) as undemocratic and reactionary so in 1915, after securing a majority in the Legislative Assembly (the lower house) which permitted the party to form government, they sought abolition.  The Legislative Council predictably rejected the bills passed by the government in 1915 & 1916 and a referendum conducted in 1917 decisively was lost; undeterred, in 1920, the government requested the governor appoint sufficient additional ALP members to the chamber to provide an abolitionist majority.  In this, the ALP followed the example of the Liberal Party in the UK which in 1911 prevailed upon the king to appoint as many new peers as might be needed for their legislation to pass unimpeded through an otherwise unsympathetic House of Lords.  That wasn’t needed as things transpired but in Queensland, the new members of the Legislative Council duly took their places and on 26 October 1921, the upper house voted in favor of abolition, the new appointees known forever as "the suicide squad".  Despite the success, the trend didn't spread and the Commonwealth parliament and those of the other five states remain bicameral although the two recent creations, established when limited self-government was granted to the Northern Territory (NT) and Australian Capital Territory (ACT), both had unicameral assemblies.

Lindsay Lohan in costume as Suicide Squad’s Harley Quinn (a comic book character created by DC Comics), "Halloween bash", Albert's Club, South Kensington, London, October 2016.

Across the Tasman Sea, the New Zealand upper house lasted another three decades but it’s eventual demise came about not because of conflict but because the institution was increasing viewed as comatose, rejecting nothing, contributing little and rarely inclined even to criticize.  Unlike in England and Queensland, in New Zealand the abolition movement enjoyed cross-party support, left and right (although the latter in those days were pretty leftist), united in their bored disdain.  One practical impediment was the New Zealand parliament couldn’t amend the country’s constitution because no government had ever bothered to adopt the Statute of Westminster (1931) by which the Imperial Parliament had granted effective independence to the Dominions but in 1947 this was done.  Despite that, the Labour Party didn’t act and after prevailing in the 1950 general election, it was a National Party administration which passed the Legislative Council Abolition Act, its passage assured after a twenty-member “suicide squad” was appointed and the upper house’s meeting of 1 December 1950 proved its last.  Opposition from within the chamber had actually been muted, presumably because to sweeten the deal, the government used some of the money saved to pay some generous “retirement benefits” for the displaced politicians.  New Zealand since has continued as a unitary state with a unicameral legislature.