Fascism is a term that is heard and used very frequently throughout the world. Perhaps the people who use this term are not aware of what fascism means. Fascism is a form of far-right authoritarian ultranationalism. Its main characteristic is the dictatorial power, the suppression of the opposition and the regulation of the society and the economy. Philosophy became important in Europe at the beginning of the 20th century. Italy was the vanguard of the spread of fascism before spreading to other European countries. Philosophy is opposed to liberalism, democracy, Marxism, and anarchism. If we measure it on a scale, fascism is at the far right end of the spectrum from left to right. An important difference from communism is the integration of this philosophy with corporate houses and industry.
The word fascism originated in Italy in the early twenties of the last century and was derived from the ancient Roman word fasces. This word represented ancient Roman symbols denoting the power of the state. Fascism is a representative of authoritarianism.
Fascism is a radical concept that gained credibility in the early 20th century. It was a political ideology that was adopted by Benito Mussolini in the 1920s. However, the father of fascism is Giovanni Gentile (1875-1944). He was an Italian philosopher who shaped fascism. He wrote A doctrine of fascism (1932) for Benito Mussolini. He was also in his youth influenced by Karl Marx and later by Friedrich Nietzsche and Hegel, who represented the materialist doctrine.
Philosophy of fascism
Fascism is a different philosophy that believes in the supremacy of the state and the nation. He advocates a one-party form of government and the bringing together of all the forces of the state and the people to achieve a strong nation. Fascism believes in violence and war as a means to an end. However, as a philosophy, it departs from communist and Marxist dogma, as well as from capitalism represented by free enterprise.
It is fashionable to represent it as a right-wing ideology. Marxism is the enemy of fascism and the great Marxist thinker Leon Trotsky commented that “Fascism is nothing more than a capitalist reaction.“Perhaps Trotsky was right because the concept of white supremacy so prevalent in the United States with organizations like the Ka Klux Klan represented fascist thinking, although Americans dislike agreeing with this observation.
Hitler and Mussolini adopted the basic principles of fascism. It will not be a mistake to attribute the development of fascist thought to Mussolini. His concept of fascism was anti-communist and anti-capitalist, as well as anti-democratic. Fascism believes in denying the basic rights of citizens. He also believes in mass regulation of society through military exercises and physical culture. Thus, the Nazi rallies in Nuremberg and Mussolini’s Black Shirts marching in Rome give us a vivid picture of the concept of mass mobilization as envisioned by Mussolini and Giovanni. These rallies created a military atmosphere and also excited the masses. One of the pillars of fascism is racism. Thus, in the United States, the concept of white supremacy was exemplified by the KKK (Ka Klux Klan) which in the name of the purity of the white race executed blacks.
Hitler’s final solution to the Jews was the result of adapting fascism as a concept of the state. Here he made it state policy to execute Jews whom he considered subhuman and this led to more than 6 million executions. If one has to summarize the 3 pillars of fascism they are racism, militarism and dictatorship
Fascism and society
Another aspect of fascism is keeping society in perpetual ferment with upheavals and movements that attract the masses. Thus, the cultural revolution of the Red Brigade and the Peoples unleashed by Mao Tse Tung is another facet of fascism. The period of the cultural revolution caused at least 20 million deaths in China. Hitler’s planned deaths are rendered insignificant by the scale of deaths and executions in China.
Fascism certainly has a certain appeal. It brings order out of Chaos and with greater state control it brings benefits that increased for the people. Thus, when Mussolini took over Italy for the first time, the trains began to run on time and the anarchy of the previous years was replaced by order and discipline. But the defect or limitation in fascist thought is the complete denial of human values where the dictator becomes omnipotent as George Orwell points out in his books.
As for the founder of fascism in Italy, Giovanni Gentile is concerned that he was shot dead in 1944 by anti-fascist protesters led by one Bruno Fanciullacci in Florence.
Bruno Fanciullacci (November 13, 1919 – July 17, 1944) was an Italian partisan.
He is one of the best known and most discussed figures in the Italian Resistance for his complicity in the murder of Giovanni Gentile. This was an episode that divided the same anti-fascist front and in the end he paid with his life when he was shot and his bones were broken.
Until the last Giovanni Gentile remained loyal to Mussolini.
As far as fascism is concerned, it is a political ideology characterized by a mass movement that dominated many parts of central, southern and eastern Europe between 1919 and 1945. It also had adherents in Western Europe, the United States, South Africa, Japan, Latin America. and the Middle East.
A significant spillover from fascism and a big difference from communism is the patronage of big business and the corporate world. This is an important table of fascism. It is worth mentioning and a point of contention is that with the United States protecting big business and corporations (Trump even lowered taxes for the ultra-rich) with emotional discrimination against blacks, there are seeds of fascism already sown. Can they sprout?
Last word
Where are we now when it comes to fascism? Denying its existence is a sham and fascist regimes still rule North Korea and some Islamic states like Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia has all the trappings of a fascist state under the cover of Islam. and it will appear in one form or another whenever instability and chaos prevail and there is fear of instability. In India too, with rampant corruption the order of the day, fascism may somehow reap its head. A disgruntled people is the breeding ground for fascism.
One can think and apply what I have written to his own country. Fascism can return; it brings benefits but one has to pay the cost. Perhaps India, with its rampant castes and corruption regardless of meritocracy, is a ripe country for this transition. Finally, the subject has interested me so much that I have thought about expanding it into a book. We’ll see.