Fascism

Fascist Groups and Society

# Social Presence

Historically all societies have had and continue to have fascist elements and fascis
tic groups;

# Political Office

They rarely hold political power;

A few have even been elected in democratic systems.
However they have not, usually remained in political office for long.

# Influence

They have however, held and exerted considerable social and political influence.

That is often shown by specific developments such as the spread of a climate of fear and i
ntimidation without obvious or widespread physical violence.

To create such climates, fascist movements often use particular phrases or other forms
of language which express indirect or menacing threats.

The use of violence, often carefully targeted and often with the help of sympathetic pub
lic officials, does help to propagate a climate of fear and it is a notable feature of
fascist movements.

Fascism 1
 # Examples

The term Fascism became more explicitly associated with what we today call fascistic i
deologies, when Mussolini formed paramilitary groups during and after the First World War.

In modern times there have been only four explicitly fascist states.

Explicit →
Italy : Benito Mussolini (‘ll Duce’/‘The leader’)
Germany : Adolf Hitler (‘Führer’/‘The leader’)
Spain : Francisco Franco’ (‘El Generalissimo’/‘High commander’)
Portugal: Antonio Salazar

Implicit →
Imperial Japan especially during the Second World
Argentina under Juan Peron

Main Doctrines of Fascism

# Main Doctrines
1. Symbolism
2. Nation as an Organic Unity
3. Ultra Nationalism
4. Glorification of the Past
5. Permanent Struggle and Glorification of War
6. Sharp Division of Gender Roles
7. Anti-rationalism’ - Action springing solely from the will
8. The Leader Principle

1. Symbolism

Symbolism is a strong feature of all fascist systems and fascistic groups.

The word fascism is derived from the Latin word ‘F A S C E S’,which meant an Axe pointin
g through a Bundle of Rods tied together at one end.
The Axe-Blade represents the Leader which cuts with the Power derived from the Unity
of the Rods which represents the Nation and its Citizens.

Fascist movements use and broadcast a small set of symbols, which are designed to represe
nt aspects of fascism.

‘The Nazi Swastika’ is probably the most famous fascist symbol.

Others include, for example, the black shirts worn by followers of Sir Oswald Mosley who l
ed the British Union of Fascists in the 1930s.

Fascism 2
 2. Nation as an Organic Unity

Fascist concept of National Membership is based on the Race of the People which is exclusi
vist and exclusionist in nature.

Thus a Nation is an Organic Unity of People of a specific Race which makes State borde
res Irrelevant.

Hitler himself saw the ‘Aryan Nation’ as One Nation consisting of German’s , Nordic peop
les, and British Peoples.

The Nazi annexation, in Austria and Czechoslovakia where large numbers of Ethnic Germa
ns lived were part of Hitler's attempt to
unify the ‘Aryan Nation’ within one territory.

3. Ultra Nationalism

For Fascism, and specifically Nazism , Races and consequently the Nations are not equal
but Hierarchical.

This Racial theory of Hierarchy inherited from 19th century thinkers and writers
suggests there are inherent or innate biological differences between the di
fferent races of the world.

These biological differences ultimately leads to antagonistic cultural differences.

Nazism took the highest race to be white skinned and to be referred as Aryan.

Thus For Fascism, National and Cultural regeneration required Racial Pu

rification of Aryan race based on the principle of blood and soil.

This is known as Ultra Nationalism.

4. Glorification of the Past

Fascist theories and Nazi theories in particular asserted that at some unspecified time i
n the past the Aryan Nation had existed in a state of Racial and Cultural purity - that i
s, before other Races had corrupted it.

For the Nazis, this past was a rural or pastoral idyll in which Aryan peasants lived pe
acefully in the countryside, innocent of the threats and corruptions of modernity.

Such visions of an idyllic agrarian past, incidentally, mark a significant difference

between Nazism and Italian Fascism, because ‘Mussolini’ saw fascism as
providing a way to unify Italy and modernize it through industrialization.

5. Permanent Struggle and Glorification of War

Fascism 3
 For Fascism, and specifically Nazism , Races and consequently the Nations are not equal
but Hierarchical.

Thus all other so called lesser Races were a threat to National and Cultural purity of the
Aryan Nation in the form of cultural contact and interbreeding.

Therefore, fascism requires that nations be permanently ready for war, and that could als
o mean invading other people's territory and subjugating them.

The Nazis in particular ran a huge rearmament programme;

This substantially aided their public popularity as it provided industrial employment o
n a national scale - which helped the country to recover from the Great Depres
sion.

It also served to revive national confidence, which had been severely

damaged by the harsh terms of the Treaty of Versailles.

This form of industrialization through militarization benefited the German private corpo
rations well, as they made enormous profits by manufacturing weapons and other industrial
goods for the state.

Moreover, as other countries developed their own armaments, Nazi Germany needed constantly
to update and refine its own weapons.

6. Sharp Division of Gender Roles

Due to Permanent Struggle and Glorification of War society had to be organized on fascist
lines.
Fascist socities always had sharp division in Gender Roles.

Role of Men was to be ready for war and save the Nation. Military-style training was comp
ulsory for men.

By contrast Women's role was to run the home and give birth to the next generation of nati
on-saving warriors.

Mussolini made birth control a crime, so that women would continue to reproduce members of
the fascist nation.

During the war however, women were increasingly drafted into industrial jobs as part
of the war effort, especially as more and more men were sent to the front lines.

7. Anti Rationalism

The Nazis, like other fascists, saw modernity as weakening and corrupting, because the
y associated democracy with modernity;

They saw democracy as producing endless negotiations and compr

omises, and these often led to a feeling of paralysis and helplessness.

Fascism 4
 Furthermore, the Nazis saw all intellectual life, including scientifi
c inquiry, as cold and lifeless;

This amounts to a comprehensive form of Anti-rationalism.

This Anti-rationalism therefore, makes the will the sole wellspring of action.

In contrast to the lifelessness of reason and the messy i

nconclusive compromises of democracy, a life based on the
expression of the will is honest and direct.

8. The Leader Principle

For Fascism, and specifically Nazism , Races and consequently the Nations are not equal
but Hierarchical.

According to Fascist doctrine Anti Rationalism , a life based not on reason but on the ex
pression of the Will is honest and direct.

And for Nations and its Race the individual will is part of the General wi
ll which is expressed by the Will of the Leader.

Similar to Nations and Races the Will is also hierarchical.

Due to Anti Rationalism clashes of Will can only be resolved by struggle to the death ,
as Rational compromise means enslavement.

This is why any disagreement with the Will of the leader counts as betrayal or treason to
the Nation because it means the will of the leader is not infallible or that all is not p
erfect in the fascist
society concerned.

This idea of infallibility has been called charismatic authority, which in fascism is the
source of supreme wisdom and expresses the general will of the people.

This directly leads to the principle of Permanent Struggle and Glorification of War i
n Fascist thought.

Thus if the very existence of another Race , Nation and Will is a threat to the existence
of another , the only solution is the extermination or
enslavement of any and all other Races and C
ultures.

Hitler called this the 'Final Solution' which led to

'The Holocaust'.

Problems in Fascism

Fascism 5
 # Problems in Fascism

Due to Fascist Doctrine of Anti Rationalism and the Charishmatic Authority of the Leader
s Infallible Will Fascist societies are riddled with Contradictions.

These have often caused them enormous problems and may well have
contributed to the collapse of some of them.

1. Complexity of Modern States

Fascism's inherent suppression of problems due to Infallibility of Leaders Will means that
the system can only be sustained by an ever expanding series of lies about
its Perfection.

Due to the complexity of large modern states problems will inevitably

arise.

Such as coordination issues or unexpected technical difficulties in large scale projects.

2. Political Institutions with Overlapping Responsibility

Fascism's inherent suppression of problems due to Infallibility of Leaders Will means that
the system can only be sustained by an ever expanding series of lies about
its Perfection.

This means the public have to be prevented from learning which public institutions are
responsible for particular areas of activity.

Because if the public learn which institutions are responsible for what, then they can sta
rt to hold such bodies responsible .

This could lead to their holding the Leader responsible and that is utterly inadmissible
in Fascism.

The typical fascist response consists in creating several instit

utions with overlapping responsibilities, so that it is never clear whether a given matter
is the responsibility of the municipal authorities, or the police, or the
military, or the ruling party.

Even those who work in and run such bodies are moved from one institution
to another while also changing the definitions and duties of each post to minimize acc
ountability.

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 3. Myth of the Pastoral Idyll

Fascist movements assert that the past was Glorious and Peaceful Pastoral Idyll contrast
ing with War torn and Problem ridden Modern society without any historical evidence.

Modern Historical , Anthropological and Archaeological evidence has proved with certainty
that older periods of history were as troubled as any other pe
riods, with war, disease, famine and social and political oppression.

4. Anti Rationalism and Its Implications

Due to Permanent Struggle and Glorification of War fascist states also have to b
e permanently mobilized for war because every other nation, race and culture is a permanen
t threat.

Thus fascist societies have to have huge industries, designing and manufacturing the lates
t weapons and armaments so that they are not overrun by other cultures.

Pastoral and Agrarian societies can neither create nor sustain such industries - or the Mo
dern Military.

In addition, modern industries need highly trained scientists, eng

ineers and mechanics - which require rational scientific intell
ectualism.

This contradicts with the Fascist emphasis of the doctrine of Anti Ration
alism and action springing solely from the will.

Fascist doctrine of Purity of Descent which they called Blood and Soil is an assertion wi
thout any supporting evidence.

Modern Genetic and Anthropological research show humans have always moved around and inter
bred among different races and among hominid species such as Neanderthals in the past.

Thus concepts such as Racial Purity based on Purity of Descent and Nation as an Organic Un
ity are full of contradictions with scientific evidences.

For example, the picture of baby used by Nazis themselves to denote the most beautiful Ar
yan baby was of Jewish origin.

Similarly, modern genomic studies have concluded that early modern British people who live
d about 10,000 years ago had dark to black skin which contradicts with the Ideal German vi
ew of Aryanism as white skinned.

This happened because Aryan was an language class which was misinterpre
ted as Racial class by 19th centuary thinkers and picked up by Fascism in the climate of e
xtreme Nationalism.

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 5. Liberty in Fascist State

Fascism claims to liberate us from the chains of complex , corrupt and relatively disorder
ly modern state.

We’ll be liberated from bureaucracies and rules and regulation, but fascism then subordina
tes all individuals to the General Will of the Nation expressed in the Will of the Leade
r.

This subordination is total and any dissent or disagreement becomes treason to the Nation.

The comment "Jumping into the Jaws of Lion to escape Fox" by John Locke describes this si
tuation perfectly.

Widespread Support for Fascism Despite

Contradictions
# Support from Mutually Hostile Groups

An ideology which is so inherently fragmented and contradictory can’t gain and retain s
upport across so many sections of many
different societies, yet that is exactly what has happened.

Fascist Parties and their Charishmatic Leaders had great appeal across all classes of s
ociety.
The popularity Hitler and Mussolini enjoyed is almost legendary. Yet it is not clear whe
ther or not fascist parties themselves have become genuine mass parties.

This attraction across classes is a notable feature of fascism throughout.

For example, in Nazi Germany gained mass support from various groups whi
ch included small business people from lower middle classes, the owners o
f large industrial corporations, the landed aristocracy, sections of the cler
gy in the institutionalized religions and even some German Feminists and Socialists
which are often very hostile to one another.

Historically, what seems to have united them as followers of fascism is t

hat fascist leaders showed or persuaded each group to hate the same things that each grou
p hated.
And if they all hated the same thing, that united them because they forgot about their dif
ferences.

Fascism 8
 Eric Kurlander’s book,

Nazi appreciation for Hinduism to unify germany based on religion to overcome the
protestant catholic divide and bypass the cultural effect of Christian doctrines.

Central elements would nevertheless include a nontranscendental religion similar to

occultism in its this-worldly mysticism; a moral revolution based on power, race and loyalty
to the Fuhrer; and a metaphysical emphasis on death and rebirth within the context of blood,
soil and race.”

Ordinary peoples role in fascism worked example still left

Fascism 9
 For fascism, Races and consequently the Nations are not equal but Hierarchical.

As a result they are permanently hostile to one another and intend to destroy others.

Fascism therefore, requires an intense and militant sense of national identity as a matter
of survival and regeneration through the repeated assertion of national unity.

The Holocaust even gave rise to a new word - ‘genocide’ - and a new crime, that of crimes
against humanity, crimes against humanity as a whole. Well, there have been other genocides
before a sense, but the Holocaust by itself raises most of the relevant questions. It requires the
coordination of tens, perhaps hundreds of thousands of administrators, military personnel,
engineers, railway staff, and even civilians who exposed or denounced their Jewish neighbors
to the authorities.
It seems to have been carried out almost without a question. These features have been noted in
other genocides, such as the one carried out in Rwanda in 1994,

Fascism 10