Posted on 01/14/2010 10:36:58 AM PST by thefoundersrock
If a formal architect of fascism can be identified, it is Benito Mussolini, the onetime Marxist editor who, caught up in nationalist fervor, broke with the left as World War I approached and became Italy’s leader in 1922. Mussolini distinguished fascism from liberal capitalism in his 1928 autobiography:
The citizen in the Fascist State is no longer a selfish individual who has the anti-social right of rebelling against any law of the Collectivity. The Fascist State with its corporative conception puts men and their possibilities into productive work and interprets for them the duties they have to fulfill. (p. 280)
Before his foray into imperialism in 1935, Mussolini was often praised by prominent Americans and Britons, including Winston Churchill, for his economic program.
Similarly, Adolf Hitler, whose National Socialist (Nazi) Party adapted fascism to Germany beginning in 1933, said:
The state should retain supervision and each property owner should consider himself appointed by the state. It is his duty not to use his property against the interests of others among his own people. This is the crucial matter. The Third Reich will always retain its right to control the owners of property. (Barkai 1990, pp. 26–27) ... It is a matter of controversy whether President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal was directly influenced by fascist economic policies. Mussolini praised the New Deal as “boldly . . . interventionist in the field of economics,” and Roosevelt complimented Mussolini for his “honest purpose of restoring Italy” and acknowledged that he kept “in fairly close touch with that admirable Italian gentleman.” Also, Hugh Johnson, head of the National Recovery Administration, was known to carry a copy of Raffaello Viglione’s pro-Mussolini book, The Corporate State, with him, presented a copy to Labor Secretary Frances Perkins, and, on retirement, paid tribute to the Italian dictator.
(Excerpt) Read more at econlib.org ...
not TOO long :)
One of the main points that needs to be understand in regards to economic fascism is that it emphasized a ‘third way’ in relation to socialism and capitalism.
Whereas the socialist endorsed complete government or collective ownership and control of economic activity, and the capitalist in contrast endorsed complete private or individual ownership and control of economic activity, the fascist endorsed a ‘third way’ whereas either method could be used as long as economic activity served the state.
The main ideological principle of fascism is for all activity (private sector or public sector) to serve the state.
That is why the symbol of the fasces is branches intertwined. The private sector and the public sector intertwined. All areas of life to serve the state. In practice fascism would have all business entities intertwined with government whereas instead of simply operating on free market principles, each business would operate by a combination of political principles (or agendas) and free market principles both.
This is what we have for the most part in the United States today. The housing market and the banking markets have not been operating on simply free market principles but have been heavily intertwined with political agendas. This is the same ideology that the progressive movement wants to bring to all industry under the banner of the greenie movement as well. All companies must intertwine the greenie political agenda with their free market strategies according to the plan that they set forth. The progressive movement seeks to do the same with healthcare (intertwine their political agendas and the free market) The progressive movement goal is to try to get everyone marching lockstep in every aspect of life.
The progressive movement is a fascist movement. Jonah Goldberg’s book “Liberal Fascism” is a great book and helps expose a lot of this.
Saving this, and coming back to it for reference.
I read an article Rand wrote in the 60’s saying she foresaw fascism rather than socialism for America.
And once again, she was right.
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