WHAT IS FASCISM?
Dr. Jai Maharaj
THE DEFINITION OF FASCISM
By William Ebenstein
Great Political Thinkers
1951
Unlike the authoritarianism of the 17th and 18th centuries, fascism
is a post-democratic political system and cannot be understood save
as a reaction to democracy. Fascism is impossible in countries with
no democratic experience at all: in such countries dictatorship may
be based on the army, bureaucracy, and church, but it will lack the
mass enthusiasm and participation characteristic of fascism.
Conversely, fascism has never succeeded in a country whose
democratic experience had been prolonged and generally shared by
the people.
Fascism has learned from democracy the value of popular support for
national policies, and it seeks to manufacture popular consent by a
mixture of propaganda and terror. The character of fascism is also
expressed in it’s borrowing from socialism, enough anti-capitalist
slogans and catchwords to attract a part of the working class.
Another element in fascism that puts it in proper historical
perspective is that fascism can flourish only in countries with at
least some industrial experience. The connection between fascism
and industrialization is twofold: internally, fascist propaganda
and terror require a minimum degree of technological development;
externally, fascism as a system of permanent mobilization for war,
cannot hope to succeed in the 20th century without considerable
industrial skills and resources.
In it’s social background, fascism has particularly appealed to two
groups: first, a numerically small group of industrialists and land
owners who are willing to finance fascist parties in the hope of
getting rid of free labor unions and radical political movements;
second, the numerically much more important lower middle classes
that dread the prospect of proletarianization and look to fascism
for the salvation of their status and prestige in society.
Typically it is the employee, rather than the worker, who is
susceptible to the fascist virus, and the small businessman who is
afraid of Big Business and Big Labor.
The most characteristic feature of the fascist temper and outlook
is irrationalism, the distrust of reason, and the stress on the
irrational, sentimental, uncontrollable parts of man. Fascism
opposes the whole Western tradition of rationalism that stems from
Greece. The psychological mood of fascism is fanaticism, not
skeptical reflection. Because of it’s basic irrationalism, fascism
has taboo issues such as race, the dogma of the party, or the
personality of the leader, that must not be critically discussed.
During the fascist regime in Italy, Mussolini’s picture was in all
the classrooms, and it had the caption, "Mussolini is always
right".
The code of fascist behavior affirms the values of violence and the
lie. Because it distrusts reason and rejects universally valid
standards of conduct, fascism does not hesitate to use any means in
pursuing it’s aims. For the same reason, fascism is ready to
sacrifice the individual to the state: in the fascist view, the
State is the end and the individual is the means - the exact
opposite of the democratic philosophy. "For the Fascist" says
Mussolini, "everything is in the State, and nothing human or
spiritual exists, much less has value, outside the state."
Mussolini therefore also candidly admits that the fascist state is
necessarily totalitarian, allowing no competing values or social
associations besides itself. By contrast, the democratic state is
pluralistic: it must recognize the fact that in a free society the
loyalty of the individual to the state may conflict with his
loyalties to the family, church, or his own conscience as a free
person.
The fascist acceptance of inequality and violence naturally results
in the theory and practice of government by an elite: some men are
born to rule, others to obey. Fascist regimes are undemocratic, not
because they lack the support of the people (in some cases this
support may be wholehearted), but because they rule independently
of popular consent. The leader is considered infallible, endowed
with mystical gifts and insight, and he personifies the nation. In
a conflict of opinion between leader and people, the will of the
leader prevails because his is the General Will, whereas the will
of the people is only the will of all.
Officially, the fascist state is impartial between capitalists and
workers; yet the cemeteries of fascist countries are filled with
the bodies of trade unionists, not bankers and industrialists. The
underlying assumption is that the common man should not be
politically articulate in his capacity as a citizen, given that
common political issues are to complicated for him; rather he
should be proficient in his work or profession. Because fascism is
not just a political system, but a way of life, it employs
authority rather than discussion in all spheres of social activity.
Relying on authority and obedience, fascism attracts not only those
who want to command, but also those who want to obey. In every
society there are those who would rather follow and obey than think
for themselves and assume responsibilities. The "escape of freedom"
is one of the chief psychological conditions necessary for the
spread of fascism.
Not for commercial use. Solely to be fairly used for the
educational purposes of research and open discussion.
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This sure helps to understand the lockstep Clinton apologists.
Posted by: spycatcher 12/21/98 09:48:43 PST
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Source of the above and more news and discussion:
http://www.freerepublic.com/
Click on the "Latest on Clinton" link at
http://www.flex.com/~jai