Term Paper on "Fascism of the Strong"

Term Paper 10 pages (3792 words) Sources: 1+

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Fascism of the Strong

Fascism has become in our modern time something of a pejorative term for any authoritarian or totalitarian principle. Common parlance speaks lightly of a boss or parent being a fascist, or of specific foreign non-democratic nation being fascist regardless of whether it bears other resemblances to the original fascists. One might say that these uses of the term are wrong, but the English language is such that a word taken from the Italian to originally mean one thing may legitimately shift meanings in the public practice to mean something else. However, it is nonetheless important to know that originally, and most precisely, fascism has a very specific set of qualities in a government and culture. Though one cannot argue with the evolution of language, it seems that something is lost when "fascism" moves from being defined, indicative term into being a very generalized term of dislike, because it then becomes impossible to discuss current examples of fascist-oriented thinking without passing value judgments which may degrade dialogue. Is America, for example, showing signs of a slow descent into authoritarian fascism? If it is only a negative term, that question cannot be answered concretely. If "fascism" is a descriptive term, then one may actually be able to analyze case examples and news reports to discover a definitive answer. So it is important that the original meaning of the word be rediscovered and re-explored. If history is to be learned from, then it is necessary to have words that accurately describe that history. The following account deals with the original meaning of Fascism and fascism (capitalization making a difference between these terms), and giving examples of the sorts of regimes which have rightly and unrightly been referred to by these terms.

The term Fascism, when so capitalized, makes direct reference to the political movement of fascismo in Italy, which under the leadership of Mussolini ruled the boot of Italy from 1922 to 1943. "The name comes from fascia, which may mean 'bundle', as in a political or militant group or a nation, but also from the fasces (rods bundled around an axe), which were an ancient Roman symbol of the authority of magistrates." (Wikipedia, fascism) Fascism, in its original sense, was considered to be a positive term, albeit it not a precisely egalitarian one, that referred to a political movement towards national and state strength. As the name's meaning implies, the original Fascist movement was very much an outcropping of the historical ramifications of imperial Rome and the nationally powerful social and religious associations with that empire. Italy, which by this point was finally united after centuries of division, was somewhat rightfully experiencing a sense of nostalgia for ancient glory. Fascism suggested bringing it back, and proposed to do this by putting the good of the state over the good of the individuals. Fascism was seeking to resolve class conflict while preserving class status, to provide to all classes some basic measure of life-quality while preserving the wealth of the nation, and to pacify and subdue all the boisterous elements of society without making the people feel enslaved. It was particularly conceived of as a pro-social, pro-capitalist, pro-religion and pro-family political stance, which was also anti-communist, anti-humanist/materialist, and anti-deviance. According to Mussolini in his work the Doctrine of Fascism:

Fascism [is] the complete opposite of... Marxian Socialism, the materialist conception of the history of human civilization can be explained simply through the conflict of interests among the various social groups and by the change and development in the means and instruments of production.... Fascism, now and always, believes in holiness and in heroism; that is to say, in actions influenced by no economic motive, direct or indirect... The maxim that society exists only for the well-being and freedom of the individuals composing it does not seem to be in conformity with nature's plans.... If classical liberalism spells individualism," Mussolini continued, "Fascism spells government."

Oddly, Fascism today has become known as being driven as much by racism as by nationalism or statism. Originally, this was not the case, and in fact Mussolini is reported to have been more concerned about the Jewish population failing to intermarry with the Italian population than he was with the mixing of blood. If they wouldn't intermarry, then how could they be part of the utopian new sense of community he aspired to build? It wasn't until Hitler began to equate treaties and mutual protection with the disenfranchisement of Jews that Italy began deportations, and even then many political leaders and law enforcement agents refused to participate. Racism is not one of the primary characteristics of Italian Fascism or of fascism in general. There are, however, other distinctive characteristics. When Laurence Britt researched seven different fascist or proto-fascist nations (Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, Franco's Spain, Salazar's Portugal, Papadopoulos's Greece, Pinochet's Chile, and Suharto's Indonesia), he found the following trends to be true across the board:

1. Powerful and continuing expressions of nationalism

2. Disdain for the importance of human rights.

3. Identification of enemies/scapegoats as a unifying cause.

4. The supremacy of the military/avid militarism.

5. Rampant sexism.

6. A controlled mass media.

7. Obsession with national security.

8. Religion and ruling elite tied together.

9. Power of corporations protected.

10. Power of labor suppressed or eliminated.

11. Disdain and suppression of intellectuals and the arts.

12. Obsession with crime and punishment.

13. Rampant cronyism and corruption.

14. Fraudulent [or rigged/cancelled] elections.

Britt)

These traits were all present to one degree or another in Italy in the original case of Fascism. When many other nations throughout Europe starting showing the same behaviors, however, it became natural to refer to their actions as fascist as well. So historians may continue arguing indefinitely about which nations are (or, in most cases, were) actually fascist in nature as opposed to being merely authoritarian. There is a great deal of debate on this issue regarding Nazi Germany. At the time, historically, the Nazis did not consider themselves to be Fascists, and in fact they were significantly less influenced by Italy than vice versa. (Italy took to anti-semitic practices introduced by Germany well before Germany took on very many Italian traits) in fact, the Nazis and Fascists had very significant philosophical differences.

Nazism sought the state's purpose in serving an ideal to valuing what its content should be...[race, philosophy, art, etc.] at the expense of all else. In contrast, Mussolini's fascism held to the ideology that all of these factors existed to serve the state... The only purpose of the government under fascism proper was to value itself as the highest priority to its culture in just being the state in itself... " (Wikipedia, Fascist) This is not, however, the most striking difference between Fascism and Nazism. Other important differences include the fact that Nazism saw itself as vaguely socialist, and it professed to be trying to overthrow the established classes in the creation of a classless, racially-based utopia where all the Aryans lived in peace -- Fascism, on the other hand, sought to maintain the class system while making reforms to its functions and using it as the base for an entire society based on corporatism. Additionally, "Nazism was a metapolitical ideology, seeing itself only as a utility by which an allegorical condition of its people was to be achieved, fascism was a squarely anti-socialist form of statism that existed by virtue and as an end in and of itself. [These] underlying theorems [remain valid, but they have hopefully helped...the contemporary Fascists and Nazis see themselves and their respective political labels as at least partially exclusive to one another." (Wikipedia, Fascism)

If Nazism is not, as it is often claimed to be, an example of fascism, then the next question that returns must be what good examples of fascism actually are. Obviously the best example is going to be Italy itself, considering that this is the place where Fascism was enacted and fascism defined as a blueprint, or archetype, for future regimes. There are a number of other possible examples, though it is somewhat difficult to find a single example which one might not find a viable argument against. Most European nations and many Southern American nations flirted with fascism at some point, and certain writers have even argued that around this same time period America itself was undergoing a more quite sort of fascist renaissance. (Many have also argued that America is currently slipping into fascism under Bush's reign) Perhaps one of the most widely recognized of other fascist nations is Franco's Spain, which (despite the fact that many historians claim that it was only borderline fascist and otherwise merely dictatorial) will therefore make a reasonable second example of the way in which fascism takes root.

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