The virtuous appeal of fascism

The enduring temptation of fascism and communism

This post is part of a series born out of my frustration over the sloppiness of our political discourse, a world where words mean not just what the speaker choses them to mean, but whatever meaning and implied intent is projected into them by the listener/reader.

Sidebar: you may have noticed that when I use the words ‘socialist’ and ‘communist’ as adjectives, describing ideas and policies, I tend to use them almost interchangeably.  

The official doctrine (vision) of communism in the Soviet world came from two sources, Marx on communism:
“From each according to his ability, to each according to his need”;
 and Saint-Simon on socialism:
“From each according to his ability, to each according to his contribution”
The difference was understood to be only a degree, a phase on the road to the ultimate goal set by Lenin:  
“The goal of socialism is communism.”
Most so-called communist countries, even the USSR, had ‘socialist’ in their official name. That did NOT make them any less communist.

The understanding of the difference in the West is different:
Communism is totalitarian and socialism is democratic – as if THAT made a difference.

According to Ayn Rand:
“There is no difference between communism and socialism, except in the means of achieving the same ultimate end: communism proposes to enslave men by force, socialism - by vote. It is merely the difference between murder and suicide.”

What does this all have to do with fascism? Quite a bit. Fascism is just another form of totalitarian socialism – the nationalist kind.
Jonah Goldberg wrote a whole book about it:
Liberal Fascism: The Secret History of the American Left, From Mussolini to the Politics of Change
A highly recommend reading.
Fascism is just a renegade branch of communism. The appendix of Liberal fascism is the platform of the National Socialist German Workers’ Party written by Adolf Hitler and Anton Drexler.

Mussolini started out as a communist. When he left the movement as a self-declared renegade, Lenin was bemoaning his loss to the international communist movement.
The birth of fascism was the repudiation of the international nature of communism which was based on the Marxist assumption that class-interest will trump national interest. WWI shattered the illusion and created a major crisis in the international communist movement.
WWII irreparably tarnished fascism.
The major difference between the two system was their handling of the economy. The communists wanted to run it; the fascists just wanted to control it. They did not want to micromanage the economy. Not a big difference. What made the big difference was the holocaust and losing the war. They turned the ideology toxic. Fascism was left with totalitarian nationalism and genocidal racism.
Tarnished fascism and whitewashed communism. Never mind the similarities.

Totalitarian dictatorship? ✅
Socialist policies? ✅
Hostility to democracy and democratic institutions? ✅
Aggressive hostility to individualism and organizations of civil society? ✅
Ruthless persecution and even mass murder of political opposition? ✅
Media control? ✅
Propaganda? ✅

Which finally brings me to the point of this post.
What makes it so appealing? I hinted to the answer in my last post, but it deserves a little more attention.

The word ‘fascism’ is rooted in the Italian word ‘fascio’ meaning bundle. It signifies the power of groups.
Individualism, personal responsibility, competition, the need to think without an authority to rely on are not easy. Especially in times of uncertainty. Especially in times of weakening cultural norms. Especially in times of severe cultural divisions.

Dissolving one’s individuality in a group is both comforting and reassuring.
Replacing difficult moral dilemmas with the simplicity of judgmental virtue signaling is empowering.
Acting in harmony with the ideology of the group offers a sense of meaning and purpose.
Acting as a member of a group creates a shield from individual responsibility – making the group as a whole a lot more dangerous. People do things in a mob that they would never do on their own. The relative anonymity loosens inhibitions creating a feedback loop.

A friend, referencing a recent post, asked me about the Vendée war and massacres that was going on and off during the French revolution, killing of about 200,000 people. The atrocities were truly horrific. She asked me whether I believe in the ‘original evil’ of man.

I do not. What I believe is that ideologically motivated mobs represent the gravest dangers to civilized existence. Ideology is enemy number one. Empowered group interest is close second.
Fascisms and communism used to be easy to understand. Not any more.
Not as our world is morphing into a grotesque parody of either and both.  
The scariest is the fact that they both appeal to our emotions, not our capacity to reason.

Let’s think abut that next.

Further reading

• Core belief #1 - on decision making

• The not-so-smart books of Yuval Noah Harari

• The allure of surrogate power

• Misunderstood communism

• The enduring insult of “Capitalism”

Worthwhile reading

• Liberal Fascism