fascism:
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Benito Mussolini coined the term “fascism” in 1919 to describe his political movement. He adopted the ancient Roman fasces as his symbol. This was a bundle of rods tied around an ax, which represented the power of Rome...
Mussolini chose
Giovanni Gentile, a noted Italian philosopher, as his minister of education. Gentile reorganized Italy’s school system. He also
wrote many articles and books, clarifying the basic ideas of fascism.
Gentile argued that
the private desires and interests of the individual came second to the “common will” of the people. The fascist state, he said, put this will of the people into action.
Gentile explained that
self-sacrifice and obedience to the state enable the individual to achieve unity with the “common will.” Gentile argued that
rights do not belong to the individual but to the people as a whole.
Gentile taught that
the “common will” of the people is the law of the state. Therefore, individuals must submit to the fascist state in order to be truly free. Later, Mussolini put it this way: “Far from crushing the individual, the fascist state multiplies his energies, just as in a regiment a soldier is . . . multiplied by the number of his fellow soldiers.”
Building on the ideas of earlier European philosophers like
Friedrich Nietzsche, Gentile claimed that the peoples of the world are engaged in a survival of the fittest. He declared
it is the natural right of the stronger to conquer and rule the weaker. Gentile stated that
war has another function in the fascist state:
It unites the people and proves their superiority as a nation.
Gentile, sometimes called
the philosopher of Italian fascism, believed he could combine philosophy with raw power. He once praised Mussolini as being dedicated to Italy in “its honor, its glory, its security and prosperity, and, therefore, in its power and its value in the history of the world.” ...
During the 1930s,
Mussolini organized industry, agriculture, and economic services into state-controlled labor unions and employer associations called “corporations.” Government officials appointed the heads of each union and employer corporation. They negotiated wages and working conditions with each other.
This “third way” corporatism attempted
to unify workers and employers by requiring them to set aside their private interests in favor of the best interests of the fascist state. In practice, however, the employers usually benefited more than the workers did. ...
Because of their connection to Hitler and the horrors of World War II,
the terms “fascist” and “fascism” are often hurled as insults at political opponents. The terms have lost much meaning, other than as insults. Even scholars have difficulty in agreeing on a definition of fascism.
http://www.crf-usa.org/bill-of-right...f-fascism.html
So, from the original fascists, we learn that fascism has as it's core concepts the following ideas:
The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, ie 'it takes a village'.
War is a necessary extension of superior culture to weaker cultures, ie 'spreading democracy'.
Business and industry and agriculture are managed via government controlled 'consensus' which requires private interests of both bosses and workers to be subsumed to the greater public good which of course is determined by government. And, the 'employers' tend to benefit more than the actual workers and wage-earners. Fancy that.
'Fascist' is a term that means little nowadays except as an insult for people you don't like.
Any of this sound familiar?
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