What is Fascism?

[Apoi_Viitor]

I know this question has been proposed hundreds of times here - but, I've yet to find a satisfactory answer.... What is Fascism?

Here are a bunch of questions I hope Revleft can clarify.

If bourgeios democracy is a "dictatorship of the bourgeios", then what makes a Fascist State (which I see as another "dictatorship of the bourgeios") different from a Bourgeios Democracy?

If the Bourgeios run the Fascist State, what makes economic planning that is determined by the Fascist State, different from economic planning determined by the Bourgeios (which occurs in a Bourgeois Democracy)?

Why does Fascism contain similar characteristics to that of the "Asiatic Moder of Production"? Why does Fascism (an economic period not described by Marx) occur in the first place? What are the conditions that bring it forth?

What is the difference between Fascism and a "Degenerated Workers State"?

What is the difference between Fascism and a "State-Capitalist" society?

Was Napoleon the first Fascist leader?

Is Fascism a new historical entity, or is it a mis-mash of previous political tendencies?

*I probably have a lot more questions, but these are just off the top of my head...

[Tjis]

I know this question has been proposed hundreds of times here - but, I've yet to find a satisfactory answer.... What is Fascism?
Fascism was the name of the ideology of the National Fascist Party, the party of Mussolini. The rise of this party coincided and inspired the rise of various similar groups throughout Europe, the most famous of which was the NSDAP in Germany.

While there are differences between the ideologies of these parties, they all sought to unite workers and bosses under a single identity. For nazi Germany, this was the German race. For Italy, it was the state of Italy itself.

The reason that these groups were suddenly becoming so influential was because of the rising influence of socialist movements, which scared a lot of the petty bourgeoisie and bourgeoisie. The fascist promises of order and cross-class unity appealed to them.

Therefore, fascism should be seen as a reaction against socialism. without this 'threat', fascism simply does not have enough appeal to the bourgeoisie.



Here are a bunch of questions I hope Revleft can clarify.

If bourgeios democracy is a "dictatorship of the bourgeios", then what makes a Fascist State (which I see as another "dictatorship of the bourgeios") different from a Bourgeios Democracy?

A fascist state is not always a democracy.
Also, a bourgeois democracy is not necessarily unified around a single identity.



If the Bourgeios run the Fascist State, what makes economic planning that is determined by the Fascist State, different from economic planning determined by the Bourgeios (which occurs in a Bourgeois Democracy)?

What economic planning by the fascist state?
Any planning can never take on the characteristics of a planned economy in a worker's state, since in a fascist state there is still private property, as in, corporations are not owned by the state, but are privately owned.



Why does Fascism contain similar characteristics to that of the "Asiatic Moder of Production"? Why does Fascism (an economic period not described by Marx) occur in the first place? What are the conditions that bring it forth?

Fascism is not a separate economic mode of production. The mode of production is still capitalism.



What is the difference between Fascism and a "Degenerated Workers State"?

A degenerated worker's state is a former socialist state in which a bureaucracy soldified its power. Nevertheless property is still communal property of all workers, even though it is effectively controlled by this bureaucracy.

In a fascist state, there is no communal property at all. There is still private property.



What is the difference between Fascism and a "State-Capitalist" society?

A state-capitalist state is one where the bureaucracy extracts surplus value from the state-owned capital and labor of workers.

Again, in fascism there's private property, not state property.



Was Napoleon the first Fascist leader?

No...



Is Fascism a new historical entity, or is it a mis-mash of previous political tendencies?

It is a new historical entity when seen in its role as a reaction to socialism, but these ideas didn't arise in a void, and as such have been influenced a lot by previous ideologies too.

[Decolonize The Left]

Here are two quotes in which I responded to similar questions.


In short, fascism is based around several key tenets which relate to the organization of society and control thereof. They are, briefly, as follows:
- Authoritarian rule of government. Fascism is based on a top-down hierarchy whereby the government is controlled by a small group of individuals, usually centered around one key leader. This small group then employs a series of bureaucratic structures to regulate and control the society.
- Militarization of society. Fascism often seeks to militarize the society which it controls. Members of said society are required to enlist in the armed forces, and the army pervades most sectors of the society. The reason for this will be explained in the next point.
- Alienation of one group against the rest. Under all fascist regimes one target group is singled out as the 'cause' of the all the problems of the society pre-fascism. The fascist government then makes it the imperative of the government to root out this group and destroy them. It could be a group of people (the Jews under Nazi Germany) or a foreign nation and their 'spies.' Regardless, the disenfranchising and alienation of one group of people is imperative for the fascist government to succeed as it allows them reason to militarize the society as well as reason to imprison and destroy anyone they wish.
- Cult of personality. Coupled with the above point, the cult of personality is a vital facet of the fascist regime. One individual is elevated to a godlike image via spectacle and indoctrination. This further secures the fascist government legitimate purpose in the minds of the populace. Under the fascist regime, the individual means nothing - the state means everything. And the state is epitomized via the leader.
- Merger of state and economy. Perhaps the most important point from a materialist perspective, the fascist government takes full control of the economy thereby regulating all production and distribution.

That's a super-quick rundown but it should cover the main points. I hope it helps.



Both Marxism and Fascism aren't exactly philosophies. Marxism is an economic theory - and this is important because it is communism which is a political philosophy. Likewise, fascism is a political ideology which has philosophical elements to it: It has an ethical code, a theory of human nature, etc...

Marxism, as an economic theory, focuses on class as the driving force of history. That is, Marxism claims that the class antagonisms are what drive the material course of history.

To say that fascism 'focuses on will' is rather short-sighted. The individual will is certainly a large factor in a fascist ideology, but it is an individualized factor, not an overarching one.
The general tenets of a fascist ideology are: fear of the 'other' (in Nazi ideology this other was the Jews, in KKK ideology this other is the black/Latino population), nationalism and a 'return to the golden era' (all fascist ideologies claim that the present state is a deformed version of a better time when their race/culture prevailed), militant aggression in defense of the nation and against the other, and a cult of personality surrounding the leader (in all fascist ideologies, the leader embodies both physically and psychologically the values/ideals of the people).

So as a philosophy, fascism is inherent reactionary. Fascism reacts to a present situation and attempts to re-establish a previous situation by destroying that which has 'tainted' it.

The draw of fascism is its inherent simplicity. If something is wrong, it isn't oneself that is the problem, it's someone else. Hence it is up to oneself and ones like oneself to solve the problem through ridding the community/nation of these problematic others. This is where the individual will factors in. Fascism imbues individuals with a sense of purpose and community through its focus on individual will. It makes the individual the driving force of change - remember that the 'leader' is the ultimate individual towards which all strive to emulate - and hence one can identify with the leader and take action in his name. Yet this action is always defined as one's own.
The key to fascism and the individual will is that while one's action is always one's own, it is taken in the name of the state. Hence one is absolved of responsibility for one is only fulfilling then needs of the state. This allows for great atrocities to occur as individual responsibility is transferred to an external ambiguous entity.

- August