Cutline · Grade 8–9 · one of sixteen

P·A·N·R

The Strongman

private · centralized · national · rupture

Authoritarian fascism

Property stays in private hands, all the power moves to one leader or party, the nation gets redefined by who is thrown out of it, and it happens fast. This is the corner fascism sits in. We are not going to call it something gentler.

What the four letters mean

P Ownershipprivatenot collective (C)
A Controlcentralizednot decentralized (L)
N Horizonnationalnot internationalist (I)
R Methodrupturenot gradual (G)

Where this has shown up

HistoricallyMussolini’s Italy; Nazi Germany; military coups that replace a government overnight.

All sixteen

Columns: collective → private. Within each half, internationalist then national.

CAIRThe Permanent Revolutionary CANRThe Vanguard PAIRThe Shock Therapist PANRThe Strongman CAIGThe World Planner CANGThe Planner PAIGThe Technocrat PANGThe National Conservative CLIRThe Anarchist CLNRThe Syndicalist PLIRThe Exit Capitalist PLNRThe Secessionist CLIGThe Commoner CLNGThe Municipalist PLIGThe Free Trader PLNGThe Classical Liberal

Rows: centralized → decentralized. Within each half, rupture then gradual.

This page is not a diagnosis

The Strongman is a box, and a box throws almost everything away. It keeps which side of each line you landed on and forgets how far. Two people in this box can be at opposite ends of it, and somebody two points the other side of a line has more in common with this type than with their own. The four axes are real. Where the lines were drawn across them is a decision a person made.

The point

Cutline tells you the margin it used to hand you each of your four letters — including when one of them was a coin toss. That is the part every other quiz leaves out. And you are fourteen. You are supposed to change.

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