What is Fascism?

[eric922]

A lot of times I people equate Fascism with Nazism and assume all Fascists hold Nazi ideology. I'll be the first to say that Nazism is likely the worst and most dangerous form of Fascism, however is it the only form?
Personally I always think of Facism as the growth of corporate power at the expese of the state. As Mussoni said "Fascism should be called corporatism because it is the merger of the state with corporate power. FDR said the following about Fascism: “The liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it comes stronger than their democratic state itself. That, in its essence, is fascism - ownership of government by an individual, by a group."

I guess my question is are these definitions of Fascism accurate or am I mistaken?

[Tim Finnegan]

Personally I always think of Facism as the growth of corporate power at the expese of the state. As Mussoni said "Fascism should be called corporatism because it is the merger of the state with corporate power.
You're misunderstanding the term "corporatism". It doesn't refer to corporations, but to the integration of state and industry into a single entity, i.e. the formal incorporation the industrial bourgeoisie into the apparatus of the state. It's not unique to fascism, and in fact is found in most social democratic models.


FDR said the following about Fascism: “The liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it comes stronger than their democratic state itself. That, in its essence, is fascism - ownership of government by an individual, by a group."What FDR is doing there is making the (for him, ideologically necessary) mistake of assuming that the bourgeoisie has ever been weaker than the bourgeois state, which is by definition absurd. At best, the bourgeoisie have been individually weaker, allowing their disorganisation to offer the potential for manipulation by the state (although generally in defence of the fact of the bourgeoisie, if not always any given member of it), while in fascism the bourgeoisie, both in producing fascism and as a product of fascism, are organised far more effectively as a class, thus making the bourgeois nature of the state more explicit.

[Agent Ducky]

Nazism is definitely not the only form of fascism. Although fascism implies at least some level of ethnocentrism and possible xenophobia, it does not dictate genocide and anti-Semitism. (Fascist Italy didn't have anti-Semitic policies until later after Mussolini was influenced by Hitler)

And above poster is right that corporatism in fascism has to do with incorporating corporations/private enterprises with the state. If Corporation X gains a bunch of power so much that it seriously threatens the power of the state, that's not fascism. (notwithstanding the fact that corporations have infiltrated democratic systems through lobbying)
As I've been educated... fascism is a system that is characterized by:
Highly centralized state/government (usually implies dictatorship)
Strong nationalism (this relates to ethnocentrism, and this is how we got Nazism/racial purity doctrines under fascism)
Strong devotion to the state
Militarism (a general belief that war is good, and also a societal idealization of the military)
Anti-communist/socialist sentiments.

These are just generalities, but I hope this helps. I too struggled to find a viable definition of fascism, because, honestly, in today's society, I think Jon Stewart puts it best:
"Fascism. It's that thing that other person is doing that I don't agree with. Not communism. The other one."

It's de-volved into a derogatory term that's thrown around by people who don't understand the meaning of the word. "Obama is a communist socialist fascist terrorist muslim!"

[Philosopher Jay]

In The Anatomy of Fascism, (2005) by Robert Paxton, on pg 218, he defines Fascism this way:

"Fascism may be defined as a form of political behavior marked by obsessive preoccupation with community decline, humiliation, or victimhood and by compensatory cults of unity, energy, and purity, in which a mass-based party of committed nationalist militants, working in uneasy but effective collaboration with traditional elites, abandons democratic liberties and pursues with redemptive violence and without ethical or legal restraint goals of internal cleansing and external expansion."

While this lacks a clear economic explanation, it does have the advantage of allowing us to understand the fascist nature of certain movements like the Tea Party in the United States and propaganda machine like Fox News.

[Dimmu]

The 14 points of Fascism



Powerful and Continuing Nationalism
Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.
Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights
Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of "need." The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc.
Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause
The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial, ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, etc.
Supremacy of the Military
Even when there are widespread domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized.
Rampant Sexism
The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Opposition to abortion is high, as is homophobia and anti-gay legislation and national policy.
Controlled Mass Media
Sometimes the media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation, or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in war time, is very common.
Obsession with National Security
Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.
Religion and Government are Intertwined
Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the government's policies or actions.
Corporate Power is Protected
The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.
Labor Power is Suppressed
Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are either eliminated entirely, or are severely suppressed.
Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts
Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education, and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts is openly attacked, and governments often refuse to fund the arts.
Obsession with Crime and Punishment
Under fascist regimes, the police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses and even forego civil liberties in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations.
Rampant Cronyism and Corruption
Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders.
Fraudulent Elections
Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections.


http://www.favreau.info/misc/14-points-fascism.php

[MattShizzle]

Scary how most - if not all - of those 14 points are a done deal here in the US.

[Johnny Kerosene]

Scary how most - if not all - of those 14 points are a done deal here in the US.

I would say everything but the disdain for the arts. The only reason I say it isn't is because, the people who don't like artistic expression aren't the majority.

[#FF0000]

the 14 points of fascism sort of really fucking suck though. Literally every one of those points can be applied to any country on the planet because of how they're worded.

[Manic Impressive]

Fascism holds the benefit of the state is the benefit of all it's citizens so the best thing for everyone is for the state to be as strong as possible. The state is protectionist and isolationist and tries to be as self sufficient as possible. They advocate social classes while also being in a way anti class as they dislike any class which puts their interests above the interests of the state whether it be the aristocracy, bourgeoisie or workers. They do believe classes to be the natural order of things and the basis of a strong state. They strongly reject class war due to it weakening the state, because of this they think that people of all classes should accept their position in society and don't moan about it. Early Italian fascists and some Falangists advocated a single state controlled trade union in which workers would negotiate wages with employers but strikes were illegal. While there was some protection for workers from being fired there were no unemployment subsidies. They also advocate the creation of a new class the "warrior class" in order to expand militarily. This is the reason they all had party militias like the brown shirts, black shirts, blue shirts etc. This warrior class would be trained from a very early age to have all the traits needed to protect and expand the state. This is where their love for discipline comes from and when fused with eugenics it created the basis for Hitler's Aryan race thingy which was embodied by the waffen SS. They also have a fetish for crime and punishment as crime obviously hurts the state and that's the greatest crime of all.

so the shortened version would be

State > everything else

[RedRaptor]

Fascism doesnt equal statism. Its close though, real close. The military has the power and the head of the state pretty much has final say but if the head is removed there are other military agents who can take its place. Pros: Growing middle class Resource based economy Low crime and utterly great working class High education Cons: Racism Sexism Xenophobia Homophobia low civilian rights

[alphshuffel]

Great points and expose the truth about fascism, there are some problematic points which can be changed and Fascism can be an acceptable theory. Most of the points are according to the natural behavior.

[Delenda Carthago]

I only knew about this in a encyclopedia way, but after the last days in Athens I know it well from first hand: fascism is the reaction of the petit bourgeois class against its proletariatation which finds the enemy on the proletariat, not the bourgeoises. Its always about smashing he who is underneath me, not the Power in society. Its a twisted class war.

[IndependentCitizen]

http://www.favreau.info/misc/14-points-fascism.php

You should add that it believes in alpha males, as the ideals..

Fascism is basically an extreme form of conservatism.