What is Fascism?

Couples Company ^

[John Lenin]

What is
Fascism?

This may surprise most educated people. One of the more common government strategies today, especially in developing regions is fascism. Fascism is commonly confused with Nazism.  Nazism is a political party platform that embraces a combination of a military dictatorship, socialism and fascism.  It is not a government structure. Fascism is a government structure.

More than a class system, fascism specifically targets, dehumanizes and aims to destroy those it deems undesirable.

The most notable characteristic of a fascist country is the separation and persecution or denial of equality to a specific segment of the population based upon superficial qualities or belief systems. 

Simply stated, a fascist government always has one class of citizens that is considered superior (good) to another (bad) based upon race, creed or origin.  It is possible to be both a republic and a fascist state. The preferred class lives in a republic while the oppressed class lives in a fascist state.  Until the Civil Rights act of 1964, many parts of the US were Republic for whites and Fascist for non-Caucasian residents. Fascism promotes legal segregation in housing, national resource allocation and employment. It provides legal justification for persecuting a specific segment of the population and operates behind a two tiered legal system. One segment of society is always considered less desirable, sub-human or second class.

(Note: no single government is pure anything.  Most have elements of several structures with one dominant structure).  Below is the political definition and general characteristics of a fascist country. TOP

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1. Fascism is commonly defined as an open terror-based dictatorship which is:

• Reactionary: makes policy based upon current circumstances rather than creating policies to prevent problems; piles lies and misnomers on top of more lies until the truth becomes indistinguishable, revised or forgotten.
• Chauvinistic: Two or more tiered legal systems, varying rights based upon superficial characteristics such as race, creed and origin.
• Imperialist elements of finance capital: Extending a nation's authority by territorial acquisition or by the establishment of economic and political domination of one state over its allies.

Though a dictatorship is the most common association with fascism, a democracy or republic can also be fascist.

2. Fascism is an extreme measure taken by the bourgeoisie to forestall proletarian revolution; it thrives on the weakness of the bourgeoisie itself. It accomplishes this by embracing the middle-classes love of the status-quo, its complacency and its fears of: TOP

1. Generating a united struggle within the working class

2. Revolution

3. Losing its own power and position within society

The 7 conditions
that foster and fuel fascism are:

1. Instability of capitalist relationships or markets

2. The existence of considerable declassed social elements

3. The stripping of rights and wealth focused upon a specific segment of the population, specifically the middle class and intellectuals within urban areas as this the group with the means, intelligence and ability to stop fascism if given the opportunity.

4. Discontent among the rural lower middle class (clerks, secretaries, white collar labor). Consistent discontent among the general middle and lower middle classes against the oppressing upper-classes (haves vs have-nots).

5. Hate: Pronounced, perpetuated and accepted public disdain of a specific group defined by race, origin, theology or association.

6. Greed: The motivator of fascism which is generally associated with land, space or scarce resources in the possession of those being oppressed.

7. Organized Propaganda: The creation of social mythology that venerates (creates saints of) one element of society while concurrently vilifying (dehumanizing) another element of the population through misinformation, misdirection and the obscuring of factual matter through removal, destruction or social humiliation, (name-calling, false accusations, belittling and threats). b) The squelching of public debate not agreeing with the popular agenda via slander, libel, threats, theft, destruction, historical revisionism and social humiliation

3. Fascism concentrates each imperialist bloc (business and government sectors) into a single economic unit while concurrently increasing in-fighting and distrust between the units fostering advancement towards war. TOP

4. Fascism promotes chauvinist demagogy, junk science and obscuratinism. Fascism combines Marxist critiques of capitalism and bourgeois definitions of democracy to force its issues, confuse logic and create majority consensus between targeted groups. 

5. Both Bourgeois Democracy and Fascism are class dictatorships that use organized violence to maintain the class rule of the oppressors over the oppressed. The difference between the two is demonstrated by the policies towards non-proletarian classes.  Fascism attains power through the substitution of one state form of class domination by another form, generally bourgeois democracy segues into an open terrorist dictatorship.

Definitions

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Proletarian (adj):
1 the lowest class of citizens of ancient Rome who had no property
2: belonging to or characteristic of the proletariat (n) : a member of the working class (not necessarily employed); "workers of the world--unite!" TOP

Bourgeoisie (n): the social class between the lower and upper classes: Middle Class TOP

Imperialism  (n): The policy of extending a nation's authority by territorial acquisition or by the establishment of economic and political domination of one state over its allies and over other nations. 2: The system, policies, or practices of such a government. TOP

Demagogy (n): Impassioned appeals to the prejudices and emotions of the populace TOP

Obscurantism (n):

1. The principles or practice of delivering vague truths and hiding key facts.
2. A policy of withholding information from the public.
3. The act of lying through selective omission TOP

Tyranny (n):

1. A form of government in which the ruler is an absolute dictator and is not restricted by a constitution, laws or opposition etc.
2. Dominance over a populous through threat of punishment, terrorism, oppression and violence  TOP

Autocracy (n):

1. Government by a single person having unlimited power; tyranny, dictator.
2. A country or state that is governed by a single person with unlimited power. TOP

[PeaceBeWithYou]

Bingo. We have a winner.

[weikel]

I look forward to the day that inhabitants of the moon can look down on Earth and tell them to FO.

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress.

[Coleus]

bttt

[UnBlinkingEye]

I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together...

See how they run like pigs from a gun, see how they fly! I'm crying...

John was right, the advocates of war will never put themselves in harms way, the farther the battlefield the braver they are.

Let our rabid political class lead the charge into war, politicians first, pundits second, their families third.

[ffusco]

The fasces are present in US government symbology. They flank Lincoln's Chair at his monument.

[ffusco]

Maybe it'll be "Starship Troopers". A highly mobile, well educated body politic, Low crime and swift justice, A prosperous middle class, and a large mechanized armed forces, a society that values masculine virtues of loyalty and service yet isn't chauvanistic.

The Brits call it Jolly Fascism.

[PeaceBeWithYou]

Classic liberals, US-style conservatives, libertarians, are not a part of this continuum, they have no place in this left-right model.

True, Capitalism is a different module. Think of it as a step progression whose starting module is Communism out of which grows Feudalism out of which grows Capitalism. If Capitalism cannot be sustained it will regress to either Feudalism or Communism. Each module has it's own left-right factions. Some models put this progression in a circle or even a spiral.

[bonesmccoy]

If you list the major points in Das Kapitale... you'll see that the RATS have basically adopted the Communist playbook.

[tiki]

So are the French and if the Germans didn't invent it they at least have practice.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

Duh, I thought a facist was one who carried around a bundle of sticks with an ax head sticking out!

[tiki]

Though they've never been a part of my everyday vocabulary, I learned those terms in world history.

[tiki]

Yep

[John Lenin]

The Democrats are definitely following a script of some sort, that would explain why they never disagree with each other.

[weikel]

They've been a front for the communist party more or less ever since they nominated William Jennings Bryan. Woodrow Wilson and Jimmy Carter were taking orders from communist groups directly. FDR and LBJ had some limited independence, Truman a bit more. Only Dem President since then completely independent of direct commie influence was JFK.

[JoeA]

And the ultimate definition, in cow terms:

SOCIALISM: You have two cows. The government takes one and gives it to your neighbor.
FASCISM: You have two cows. The government seizes both and sells you the milk. You join the underground and start a campaign of sabotage.
COMMUNISM: You have two cows. The government seizes both and makes you stand in line for a cup of milk.
DEMOCRACY, AMERICAN STYLE: You have two cows. The government taxes you to the point you have to sell both to support a man in a foreign country who has only one cow, which was a gift from your government.
A REPUBLICAN: You have two cows. Your neighbor has none. So what?
A DEMOCRAT: You have two cows. Your neighbor has none. You feel guilty for being successful. You vote people into office who tax your cows, forcing you to sell one to raise money to pay the tax. The people you voted for then take the tax money and buy a cow and give it to your neighbor. You feel righteous.
CAPITALISM, AMERICAN STYLE: You have two cows. You sell one, buy a bull, and build a herd of cows.

[weikel]

Cambodian Communism: You have to cows, the government takes them both and shoots you. It was all to liberate the people from years of foreign imperialism.

[John Lenin]

Modern History Sourcebook:
Benito Mussolini:
What is Fascism, 1932

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Benito Mussolini (1883-1945) over the course of his lifetime went from Socialism - he was editor of Avanti, a socialist newspaper - to the leadership of a new political movement called "fascism" [after "fasces", the symbol of bound sticks used a totem of power in ancient Rome].

Mussolini came to power after the "March on Rome" in 1922, and was appointed Prime Minister by King Victor Emmanuel.

In 1932 Mussolini wrote (with the help of Giovanni Gentile) and entry for the Italian Encyclopedia on the definition of fascism.

Fascism, the more it considers and observes the future and the development of humanity quite apart from political considerations of the moment, believes neither in the possibility nor the utility of perpetual peace. It thus repudiates the doctrine of Pacifism -- born of a renunciation of the struggle and an act of cowardice in the face of sacrifice. War alone brings up to its highest tension all human energy and puts the stamp of nobility upon the peoples who have courage to meet it. All other trials are substitutes, which never really put men into the position where they have to make the great decision -- the alternative of life or death....

...The Fascist accepts life and loves it, knowing nothing of and despising suicide: he rather conceives of life as duty and struggle and conquest, but above all for others -- those who are at hand and those who are far distant, contemporaries, and those who will come after...

...Fascism [is] the complete opposite of…Marxian Socialism, the materialist conception of 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. And if the economic conception of history be denied, according to which theory men are no more than puppets, carried to and fro by the waves of chance, while the real directing forces are quite out of their control, it follows that the existence of an unchangeable and unchanging class-war is also denied - the natural progeny of the economic conception of history. And above all Fascism denies that class-war can be the preponderant force in the transformation of society....

After Socialism, Fascism combats the whole complex system of democratic ideology, and repudiates it, whether in its theoretical premises or in its practical application. Fascism denies that the majority, by the simple fact that it is a majority, can direct human society; it denies that numbers alone can govern by means of a periodical consultation, and it affirms the immutable, beneficial, and fruitful inequality of mankind, which can never be permanently leveled through the mere operation of a mechanical process such as universal suffrage....

...Fascism denies, in democracy, the absur[d] conventional untruth of political equality dressed out in the garb of collective irresponsibility, and the myth of "happiness" and indefinite progress....

...iven that the nineteenth century was the century of Socialism, of Liberalism, and of Democracy, it does not necessarily follow that the twentieth century must also be a century of Socialism, Liberalism and Democracy: political doctrines pass, but humanity remains, and it may rather be expected that this will be a century of authority...a century of Fascism. For if the nineteenth century was a century of individualism it may be expected that this will be the century of collectivism and hence the century of the State....

The foundation of Fascism is the conception of the State, its character, its duty, and its aim. Fascism conceives of the State as an absolute, in comparison with which all individuals or groups are relative, only to be conceived of in their relation to the State. The conception of the Liberal State is not that of a directing force, guiding the play and development, both material and spiritual, of a collective body, but merely a force limited to the function of recording results: on the other hand, the Fascist State is itself conscious and has itself a will and a personality -- thus it may be called the "ethic" State....

...The Fascist State organizes the nation, but leaves a sufficient margin of liberty to the individual; the latter is deprived of all useless and possibly harmful freedom, but retains what is essential; the deciding power in this question cannot be the individual, but the State alone....

...For Fascism, the growth of empire, that is to say the expansion of the nation, is an essential manifestation of vitality, and its opposite a sign of decadence. Peoples which are rising, or rising again after a period of decadence, are always imperialist; and renunciation is a sign of decay and of death. Fascism is the doctrine best adapted to represent the tendencies and the aspirations of a people, like the people of Italy, who are rising again after many centuries of abasement and foreign servitude. But empire demands discipline, the coordination of all forces and a deeply felt sense of duty and sacrifice: this fact explains many aspects of the practical working of the regime, the character of many forces in the State, and the necessarily severe measures which must be taken against those who would oppose this spontaneous and inevitable movement of Italy in the twentieth century, and would oppose it by recalling the outworn ideology of the nineteenth century - repudiated wheresoever there has been the courage to undertake great experiments of social and political transformation; for never before has the nation stood more in need of authority, of direction and order. If every age has its own characteristic doctrine, there are a thousand signs which point to Fascism as the characteristic doctrine of our time. For if a doctrine must be a living thing, this is proved by the fact that Fascism has created a living faith; and that this faith is very powerful in the minds of men is demonstrated by those who have suffered and died for it.

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[JoeA]

Don't ignore that Harry Hopkins, FDR's majordomo for many years, was at the very least a socialist and quite possibly a Sovet agent.

[JoeA]

... and Islamofascism

You have two cows, you don't know what to do with them since they're not sheep, they wander off and your family starves. You stick your butt in the air, pray to the moongod, and blame the Americans and the Jews. Then you blow yourself up.

[Dr. Frank fan]

I was always under the impression that fascism was a worker movement against the CEO/business class.

It's fair to say that "fascism", historically (true Fascism under Mussolini, as well as Nazism) had some support from "workers". This category doesn't quite apply (or, isn't quite as useful) today, in America, though. Other than retired folks, invalids, trust-fund kids, and perhaps the military (a separate category), just who's not a "worker"?

Again, categorizing human beings by these broad-brush, stereotypical groupings may have made some sense in the stratified societies of 19th century Europe. It just doesn't compute today, however.