The cult of tradition idealizes a primordial past. It is characterized by synthesis of often contradictory traditional beliefs and practice, which supposedly allude to the same primeval truths that reaffirm fascist narratives about racial superiority.

The attack on rationality rejects the rationalistic development of Western culture. It is often characterized by anti-intellectualism and manifests in attacks on modern culture and science.

Fascism devalues intellectual discourse and critical reasoning as barriers to action, as well as out of fear that such analysis will expose the contradictions embodied in its ideology.

Fascism seeks to exploit fear of difference, whether racial, sexual, gendered, or religious.

One of the most typical features of fascism is the appeal to frustrated social classes “suffering from an economic crisis or feelings of political humiliation.”

Followers in fascist regimes must feel beseiged. This often combines an appeal to xenophobia with a fear of disloyalty and sabotage from marginalized groups living within the society.

There must always be an enemy to fight. This principle leads to a fundamental contradiction within fascism: the incompatibility of ultimate triumph with perpetual war.

An attitude linked to popular elitism, in which every member of society is superior to outsiders by virtue of belonging to the in-group.

In Ur-Fascism, everybody is educated to become a hero, which leads to the embrace of a cult of death. As Eco observes, "[t]he Ur-Fascist hero is impatient to die. In his impatience, he more frequently sends other people to death."

The cult of masculinity tends to manifest itself in an obsession with sexual politics. This machismo "implies both disdain for women and intolerance and condemnation of nonstandard sexual habits, from chastity to homosexuality.”

In Ur-Fascism, the will of the “People” is conveived as a monolithic entity, superior to the will of any individual. The Leader pretends to be their interpreter, leading to a condition in which a small group of citizens can be presented and accepted as the “Voice of the People.”

Fascism employs and promotes an impoverished vocabulary in order to limit critical reasoning.

Fascist regimes reject science but have faith in technology as a means to conquer and to reaffirm inegalitarianism.