Fascism: A Political Philosophy of the Left

Members of differing political parties love to refer to their opponents as "fascists." For years the popular myth has been that the further to the right one moves in the political spectrum, the closer he gets to fascism. Jonah Goldberg wrote a well argued, fact-enriched book called "Liberal Fascism." In the book Goldberg describes how fascism is not a right wing phenomenon, but another variant of socialism. Fascism, clearly, is a faith born of the left.

Whenever fascism is mentioned, one cannot help but think of Nazis and Hitlerism. The Nazis were fascists, but not all fascists were Nazis. Fascist Italy under Mussolini predated Nazism; neither it nor fascist Spain under Franco were anti-semitic, racist or genocidal. The Nazis were the worst variant of fascism.

Consequently, it would be ridiculous to compare modern Democrats to Nazis. However, this is not so when comparing them to the more benign fascists of Mussolini's pre-war Italy or Bismarck's Germany.

Fascism in its less savage forms was paternalistic, a nanny-state that wished to control every aspect of citizen's lives for their own good. Its similarities to modern liberalism are striking.

Indeed, in the prewar America of FDR, many Democrats admired fascism and thought it a grand experiment. And, the fascists of both Italy and Germany admired them back.

Okay, that's nice, but what is Fascism exactly? There is still a lot of argument about what is and isn't fascism; however, Goldberg shows that it usually has the following characteristics:

1. It is totalitarian; everything in society is viewed as political.
2. It is built on a philosophy of creating "a new man," where private interests are subordinate to the public interest, where all private citizens actively support the missions of the state.
3. It is anti-capitalism. However, it practices "corporatism," where corporations who support the government agenda are guaranteed markets, prices and an absence of competition. Corporations therefore become active partners of the government.
4. It is pro-socialism, often openly so. Mussolini claimed to be a socialist until the day he died. Fascism in Italy and Germany was pro-working class, supporting a minimum wage, generous medical insurance and state-funded pensions and other benefits.
5. Fascism sought to end class designations within society and to erase class warfare between rich and poor.
6. Fascism was opposed to religion, particularly Christianity. Both Mussolini and Hitler hated Christianity and wished to return to pre-Christian paganism. The Jacobins of France, the first fascists, hated Catholicism and wished to diminish the influence of the church on society.
7. Fascism sought to substitute the state in the place of God, to create a new "religion of the state."
8. Fascism sought to break the sanctity of the family, especially its hold over the beliefs and attitudes of children. It sought to ingrain fascistic principles from an early age, and to obtain control over children by moving them from the home into government boarding schools (e.g. the Jacobins).
10. Fascism sought to mobilize society through the generation of crises, such as war. Wars make society more malleable and willing to submit to collectivist goals for the common good. Modern day Dems seek to substitute "the moral equivalent of war," i.e. to generate other crises to encourage mobilization. The current crisis-mongering over global warming is undoubtedly a false crisis developed for this end.

Note that not all items in the fascist agenda are horrible -- some are undoubtedly worthy (e.g., the elimination of class distinctions).

Goldberg describes several phases of fascism, including:
1. The Jacobins of the French Revolution of the late 18th century
2. Bismarck's Germany of the 19th century
3. Woodrow Wilson's administration, the most fascistic period in American history
4. Benito Mussolini's Fascist Italy
5. Adolf Hitler's Nazi Germany
6. FDR's New Deal
7. The New Left's antics in the 1960's

Jonah Goldberg describes fascism this way:

Fascism is a religion of the state. It assumes the organic unity of the body
politic and longs for a national leader attuned to the will of the people. It is
totalitarian in that it views everything as political and holds that any action
of the state is justified to achieve the common good. It takes responsibility
for all aspects of life, including our health and well-being, and seeks to
impose uniformity of thought and action, whether by force or through regulation
and social pressure. Everything, including the economy and religion, must be
aligned with its objectives. Any rival identity is part of the "problem" and
therefore defined as the enemy. I will argue that contemporary American
liberalism embodies all of these aspects of fascism.

Fascism, like Communism, is socialism. However, fascism differs from Communism in one way: fascism is nationalistic in orientation, Communism is international. Fascists were loyal to their country and their culture, whereas Communists identified only with their ideology -- they did not identify with a particular nation or culture. Fascists and Communists hated each other, not because they wanted different systems, but because they were in competition for the same constituency. They were competing versions of socialism.

Goldberg also discussed various American personalities who are often wrongly described as "right wing" or "conservative," when they were in fact, FDR socialists. Senator Huey Long and Father Coughlin, the "radio priest" are two of these.

There are some surprising aspects of Nazi Germany that are more or less analogous to liberalism today. Germany's practice of eugenics, e.g. the sterilization of undesirable elements, is reflected in liberal support for abortion, which falls most heavily on racial minorities (half of all black pregnancies end in abortion). Less troublesome similarities include vegetarianism, organic foods and animal rights.

How did the fascists get shifted from political left to right in the minds of many? It happened when Stalin began labeling all anti-communists as "fascists." Even Trotskyites were "fascists." Over time this erroneous appellation became ingrained in the public consciousness. But it isn't true. As Goldberg proves with overwhelming argument, facts and examples, fascism was and is a component of the progressive left.