One of the more curious aspects of fascism is its ability to define itself through actions and ideology as gauged by the willingness of the individual to subsume itself and submit to the ideal that service of the state, and not the individual, is of a higher calling that once established, by itself mind you, leaves no room for derivation, much less dissension, in opposition to the one and only official party line.
If we continue to dig deeper into the origins and history of the rise of Mussolini and his brand of fascism Italiano, we find a very similar situation here in America developing along much of the same lines and importantly, with emphasis on several now classic touch points whereby the American Fascist Party seeks to “validate” itself by reviving the myth of “organic unity” between a charismatic leader of a cult of personality, and a movement without any platform or boundaries except those as mandated and hence created by a singular totalitarian figure, and “validated” not by the truth or veracity of the statements or by the purposes behind them, by the willingness of the average commoner to “buy into” the illusion, fiction and if necessary fantasy, that being one of the many is the way to achieve “greatness” and ultimately by rejecting the fallacies of democratic rule and in the case of America, overcoming the ongoing misplaced assertion that to honor and protect the natural rights of the individual in order to form a more perfect union be the paramount duty and obligation of legitimate governance.
And so, if you are still wondering what today’s modern GQP/MAGA/Insurrectionist/Fascist Party has in mind we need to take and carefully look and for a clear-headed evaluation of the similarities between the rise of Mussolini and his black shirts in the 1920s-30s and the emergence of its American counterpart in the 21st Century.
In the words of Il Duce (and a friend) himself,
“Fascism is for the only liberty which can be a serious thing, the liberty of the state and of the individual in the state. Therefore, for the fascist, everything is in the state, and no human or spiritual thing exists, or has any sort of value, outside the state. In this sense fascism is totalitarian, and the fascist state which is the synthesis and unity of every value, interprets, develops and strengthens the entire life of the people.”
— Benito Mussolini and Giovanni Gentile, The Doctrine of Fascism (1932)
Now, I am not one to say that having an interest in alternative forms of governing and social rule is in and of itself un-American, but the reality is here in America we are watching a distinct portion of our population following a path without, as can be expected, that is not without serious pitfalls, the likes of which have already brought down a proposed empire or two.
It is not terribly difficult to see in America rag-tag groups of dubious quantities and qualities but certainly none of them amounting to produce a level of pride, patriotism or dedication necessary to have bestowed upon them the status of a “well-regulated militia” yet somehow insures their right under the Second Amendment, one of the Ten Amendments in the Bill of Rights the fascists still like, to justify random acts of dissension, division, and discrimination that when tempered by the wholly mistaken belief that “feelings” related to superiority, you know “Us versus Them” as in if you ain’t us you are “them” justify the inclusion of any and all methods of furthering the “greater good” through the imposition of fascism, including violence.
What say you, Benito?
“The struggle between the two worlds [Fascism and Democracy] can permit no compromises. It's either Us or Them!” (emphasis added) –Benito Mussolini
“There is a violence that liberates, and a violence that enslaves; there is a violence that is moral and a violence that is immoral.” (emphasis added) –Benito Mussolini
“We do not argue with those who disagree with us, we destroy them.” (no emphasis needed) –Benito Mussolini.
This is all part and parcel of a movement that sought to validate itself by attacking the Capitol Building during which the call of the hanging of our Vice President took center stage as an act of retaliation and vengeance not for any legitimate reason, but for his “treasonous” acts of defying the commands of the Leader, who in Trump world, must remain above question for it is his will and his will alone that defines the movement that will, if we all believe in it hard enough, will become reality.
Mussolini ha sempre ragione ("Mussolini is always right"). – Benito Mussolini
As we watch the growing desperation and rising violence in rhetoric and deed by the American Fascist Party it is worth noting several additional parallels between both the Italian and American fascist model. Shall we ask Benito his opinions on fertility, contraception, birth and by extension abortion?
“The fate of nations is intimately bound up with their powers of reproduction. All nations and all empires first felt decadence gnawing at them when their birth rate fell off.” - Benito Mussolini
It is not an overstatement to suggest that in the Mussolini playbook, the role of breeding became a duty of Italian people to the State and get this, one of the best ways a woman could show her patriotism to the degree that Mussolini awarded gold medals to the mothers who produced the most children.
The problems are exacerbated in America where there are now many theories ground in unabashed racism that promote the banning of abortion as the best way to reverse the “browning” of America and keep white folks from becoming a minority in their own land. Soil and blood, you will not replace us come to mind?
The flames of maintaining white privilege of a systematic nature or otherwise, becomes further entangled in reproduction rights when religion is thrown into the mix. What? Are you saying that fascism and religion go hand in hand? Why yes, I am.
“Religion is man-made to assist in controlling the weak-minded individuals because during times of atrocity and despair they feel strength in numbers.” –Benito Mussolini
Does “life” begin at inception? Can a legitimate argument be made that at the detection of a “heartbeat” or at least an electrical anomaly detected during an ultrasound and not a heartbeat, you have to have a formed heart for that, at say two weeks the time to ban all abortions? Is abortion at any stage murder even though the unborn cannot exist in the outside world without its host?
In service to what was called the “battle of births” Mussolini started an organization specifically designed to offer aid and assistance to mothers and their newly minted but someday to be Italian soldiers fighting for the cause, that of course being the State.
“The function of a citizen and a soldier are inseparable.” ― Benito Mussolini
Further, contraception was discouraged and in many instances aided by the spread of false information related to birth control leading to “medical problems”.
True, not true, no problem for the American Fascist Party as any allusions to the truth being the final arbiter of intrinsic, sustainable value to all but the very few in an ever-shrinking minority must be discarded, if their fearless leader says so. And get this, what a wedge issue abortion has been and continues to be!
Talk about us and them? Division and discord based on the unchallengeable “God’s will”, a “natural” way to control women and stop the “them” the non-American usurpers of a legacy, often aided by the vilest of revisionist history, “they” had virtually no part of, even though we all know “they” did.
Why, all we need now is a useless wall to keep out any other “foreign” intervention into our already “full” of it country and the digression into a scared, battered and bruised, continually isolated group of religious zealots looking to bring on the end of times is starting to look doable isn’t it?
Are you getting it? Power through not truth, justice, equality or the American way, but through perception. Pretty words and those who are gullible enough to trade their independence for the safety of an authoritarian and dystopian future that fortunately, will never manifest itself in a land where freedom to speak and to act in line of one’s own conscience is still the most cherished of all gifts.
Not surprisingly Benito didn’t think much of the freedoms or liberty associated with Democracy.
“Democracy is beautiful in theory; in practice, it is a fallacy.” -Benito Mussolini
And so, he waged war against what he considered to be a fallacy by promoting an even bigger fallacy often riddled with moldy conspiracy theories, lies, half-truths and deception, all of which were acceptable as propaganda, for in Mussolini’s Italy, propaganda was not propaganda if rendered in service of the State. Danger Will Robinson? You bet.
For when push came to shove Mussolini was very clear about the way to proceed forward.
“Let us have a dagger between our teeth, a bomb in our hand, and an infinite scorn in our hearts.” –Benito Mussolini
He may as well have put up a help wanted sign for recruiting the next generation of domestic terrorists. I have to say, if nothing else the American Fascist Party has gotten the infinite scorn in what little heart they appear to have left down pat.
Am I starting to make sense out of all the nonsense? Well, perhaps that is something better left to the experts.
“To survive it is often necessary to fight and to fight you have to dirty yourself.” - George Orwell
Fortunately, we can “dirty” ourselves by refusing to abandon the truth. And how do we do that? Again, we can turn to Mr. Orwell for guidance.
“Sometimes the first duty of intelligent men is the restatement of the obvious.” -George Orwell
Let’s all keep speaking if not shouting out the truth. I’m down for that. How about you?
Like My Blog? Buy Me a Bellini? druckerreport.com/donate
Good article.
This is Umberto Eco's 14 features of Fascism. The similarity to MAGA is undeniable.
https://kottke.org/16/11/the-14-features-of-eternal-fascism