Fascism has become a buzzword these days. Most people throw the word around without even knowing what it actually means. Most commonly, people on the Left side of the spectrum like to use the word to describe people on the Right. Firstly, let’s look at the philosophers and founders of Fascism… Mussolini and Giovanni Gentile, the actual author of the Fascist manifesto, “La Dottrina del Fascismo” in which he ghost wrote. Then, I will outline the party’s clear Left wing ideologies and its relationship with today’s American Left wing.
Gentile
GENTILE, Giovanni
Starting with Gentile, the official philosopher of Fascism, he was a self-proclaimed socialist who was responsible for the revival of Hegelian idealism in Italy, which was yet another Leftist-Collectivist ideology of the late 1800s in Germany. He is also credited with bringing Marxism into mainstream Italian politics. He wrote a popular essay, “La Filosofia de Marx” where he outlines a new interpretation of Marxism that differed from Lenin’s. After ghost writing the Fascist manifesto, Mussolini appointed Gentile as the Minister of Public Instruction where he continued to push his new age Hegelian and Marxist based ideologies known as Fascism. Gentile maintained his disdain for capitalism and individualism and instead advocated for State control of the means of production and State collectivism which are the epitome of Leftism. Some of his Left wing policies include, free healthcare, free university, increased minimum wages, social workers rights and the control of the means of production by the State. Gentile never espoused, supported or passed any Right wing policies throughout any of his writings or his political career. He openly criticized America for having too many personal liberties and a free market and labeled us as “selfish”. Instead, he advocated that in order to have a true democracy, “individuals must willingly subordinate themselves to the State.”
Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Now let’s look at Benito Mussolini himself as he was the actual leader of the Fascist party. Before becoming the Prime Minister of Italy, he was a leading member of the Italian Socialist Party from 1910 to 1914 but was kicked out for supporting intervention in WWI and later created his new flavor of socialism mixed with a militarized nationalism. I think its important to look at his motivations, campaign promises and his implementation of Fascism in Italy. His economic motivations were clear as he was staunchly anti-capitalist and aimed to redistribute wealth with totalitarian control of the means of production. He was quoted saying, “Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power.” Much like Hitler’s economic approach he left owners and managers in place while exerting totalitarian control by sending in his own Gestapo known as the OVRA. Mussolini considered Fascism to be on the Right of communism as they were desperate to separate themselves from Stalin but still bragged on being far Left of the American center. As for his social policies they were also very Leftist as they were collectivist over individualist. He considered this to be the core of the philosophy and wrote, ” The keystone of the Fascist doctrine is its conception of the State, of its essence, its functions, and its aims. For Fascism the State is absolute, individuals and groups relative. Individuals and groups are admissible in so far as they come within the State.” His ideologies at their core are the polar opposite of the American Right wing which stands for free market capitalism, individualism and a small central government.
Nationalism & Racism
One of the most common arguments I get on this topic is that the Fascist were Racist and/or Nationalist and that is what makes them all the sudden Right wingers despite the mountain of Left wing policies. I want to demonstrate that neither racism nor nationalism are exclusively Left or Right wing. It’s easy to prove this by pointing out the racism and/or nationalism of Mao, Che, Castro, Stalin, Pol Pot the Democrat party of slavery and Jim Crow and many other Left wing leaders and dictators. No one has ever tried to argue that any of these were Right wing because of their Nationalism and/or Racism.
Mao was very nationalist and racist against the Uighur Muslims and many other ethnic minorities in China, just as they are to this day.
Che, the champion of the modern day American Left, openly hated blacks, Jews and homosexuals while saying white Hispanics from European backgrounds are far superior. Here’s a few fun quotes from Che himself…
“The negro, those magnificent examples of the African race who have maintained their racial purity thanks to their lack of an affinity with bathing, have seen their territory invaded by a new kind of slave: the Portuguese.”
Che Guevara
“The negro is indolent and a dreamer; spending his meager wage on frivolity or drink; the European has a tradition of work and saving, which has pursued him as far as this corner of America and drives him to advance himself, even independently of his own individual aspirations.”
Che Guevara
“The episode upset us a little because the poor man, apart from being homosexual and a first-rate bore, had been very nice to us, giving us 10 soles each, bringing our total to 479 for me and 163 1/2 to Alberto.”
Antifa
Who are the real fascist?
“The Fascist of the future will call themselves anti-fascist.” -Unknown Author but quoted by Winston Churchill and later Ronald Reagan and other freedom lovers. When we look at the parallels between the American Left and actual Fascism, we see one group in particular who espouse many of the same ideologies and tactics of Mussolini and Hitler. Anti-capitalism, taking out the 1%, Neo-socialism, Redistribution of wealth, Free healthcare, Free university, State sanctioned workers rights, wages and benefits and State control over the means of production are all the cornerstones of the Fascist doctrine. These are the exact arguments that Gentile and Mussolini campaigned on and they are the exact same issues that Antifa complain about in the streets today. In the same sense, Mussolini had the “black shirts” while Hitler had his “brown shirts” who used the exact same tactics in the streets demonstrating, rioting and terrorizing in the same way. Are Antifa truly the “useful idiots” that Lenin described? I’ll end this paragraph with this Webster definition of terrorism…
Terrorism
ter·ror·ism /ˈterəˌrizəm/ noun: the unlawful use of violence and intimidation, especially against civilians, in the pursuit of political aims.
Conclusion
The Fascist leaders were inspired by former Leftist philosophers and leaders, used Leftist ideologies as the foundation of their Manifestos and later campaigned on and passed mostly Left wing policies. I used the word “mostly” because I don’t like to speak in absolute terms and I want to leave the possibility open that only 90% instead of 100% of their policies were Left wing. If you can find ANY Right wing policies, by all means please list them in the comments below. I wrote this post on the fly but would love to expand on it in the near future. I’ll leave the comments section open for criticism and debate but please keep it civil so we can enjoy hearing opposing opinions.
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