Fascism and Mussolini

[Labrocca]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benito_Mussolini

I found that a really interesting read. People often compare this current administration to fascists. I thought maybe I should brush up on fascism a bit (loading my guns).

In all honesty...I don't see the comparison and it makes me wonder if people use the terms Nazi and Fascists without really understanding the context of those regimes.

Anyways...have a nice read and feel free to join in on this topic.

[Technocrat]

Well, it really depends on what type of Fascism you are talking about. Today, people generally tend to conflate Fascism with all types of Totalitarianism. It's a colloquial speech thing. Not everything is actual Fascism, but it has much in common with other types of Totalitarianism.

There are different types of Fascism, though, as I said above. Italian Fascism, the original one, is a specific and the most famous, but not necessarily the most successful or powerful form of it.

The current administration isn't necessarily Fascist in the corporativist italian definition, no. Many people misunderstand or misinterpret what Mussolini said when he claimed Fascism is more appropriately labelled "corporativism."

That is, most think of modern corporations. That's not what he meant. He was attempting to create a brand-new economic and social system that can rightly be called neo-guild feudalism.

To explicate, Fascism was the bonding of the corporate entity and the state. Sometimes, this could be the industrial or business bodies. It didn't work out that, what in practice, though. Any body can and was incorporated accoridng to membership. Labour, Tradesmen, Shippers, etc. They were placed in disinct guilds and then he intended to give each guild representation in a corporate legislature. That is, the guildes would have votes.

To draw an analogy to today, it would be like incorporating all the chemists of the nation into a giant guild and then giving them representation in Congress. This was the "ideal" of Fascism, but it rarely worked that way. Often, the businesses were favoured in the deal. They benefited often from the relationship with the state, but the state itself was supreme over any one corporate body.

In modern corporatism, not corporativism (the first being what is casually referred to as corporate fascism), the corporations put undue influence on the government, not the other way around. They don't have actual representation in Congress, but they lobby and gain special favours. Many of the "business" leaders of certain special interests are put into high ranking department positions which influences their decisions--often in behalf of the corporations they were former presidents of.

You can see examples of this in Georgie the Wonder Chimp's ecological policy in pig farms, lumber, energy, etc.



Edit: some of the major characteristics of Fascism tend to be a strong sense of nationalism and movement around symbols of the nation. The national cause becomes supreme, and the individual is subordinated to the nationalistic, emotional furor of parades, parties, and other "visible" mass-events.

It also incorporates a heavy focus on some form of Religion to unify and pacify the masses. Fascism and Theology go well together, for God is one of the ultimate means of social control for those who truely believe. Slowly, the nation itself begins to take on the nature of the deity, though, and it becomes itself a political religon.

Fascism tends to glorify war and the military to the deteriment of science, the arts, and humanities, etc. It's an anti-intellectual movement and creates an anti-intellectual environment.

[cs0564]

Edit: some of the major characteristics of Fascism tend to be a strong sense of nationalism and movement around symbols of the nation. The national cause becomes supreme, and the individual is subordinated to the nationalistic, emotional furor of parades, parties, and other "visible" mass-events.


Anything can be taken out of context. This could also describe great patriotism. The current admin is no more facsist than the previous.

[Technocrat]

Great Patriotism is often used in Fascism as a primary tool of generating mindless public support. I never said Bush was a Fascist. I was just building on what the original post was about--Fascism.


I think Bush is not Fascist in particular. I think he's a blend of wanna-be totalitarian theocracy.

[cs0564]

Point taken. I can't even help those that are mindless. All party's have a segemnt of followers. I consider myself a leader.

[Anti-Racism]

In all honesty...I don't see the comparison and it makes me wonder if people use the terms Nazi and Fascists without really understanding the context of those regimes.


To a Nazi or Fascist, Bush is clearly a liberal who more resembles Lenin than Hitler...

[Anti-Racism]

Great Patriotism is often used in Fascism as a primary tool of generating mindless public support.


Fascism is nationalist, not nation-statist.

[Anti-Racism]

He was attempting to create a brand-new economic and social system that can rightly be called neo-guild feudalism.


And the definition of the state was nationalist, not solely ideological... BIG difference from modern regimes.

[firefox]

Do you think the claims about the Baathists being fascist is true? BTW, Saddaam might die soon.

[robthoven]

Well, it really ... ..... anti-intellectual environment.

Didn't want to take space by quoting the whole thing hope that's cool.

Informative, thanks, I'm going to review many of the descriptors I've been using lately.

[Anti-Racism]

Do you think the claims about the Baathists being fascist is true?


No, they favor the multiethnic state.

Mussolini-fascism and National Socialism were both Nationalist movements with rightist and leftist elements. See this resource:

Nationalism FAQ (http://www.pan-nationalism.org/faq)