The word ‘fascist’ is thrown around so often that it is now just an insult with no real meaning, except that you are a bit like Hitler – which is strange as it is an Italian term. If we are going to use a word, it is wise to know what it really means. I include myself in this, hence this article to explore the topic.
The word comes from the Italian term fascismo, which is derived from fascio, meaning 'bundle of sticks'. It highlighted strength through unity: a single rod is easily broken, while a bundle is difficult to break.
The term fasci was given to political organisations in Italy, similar to guilds or syndicates. A guild is an association that oversees the practice of a craft/trade in a particular area. They formed professional associations, trade unions, cartels, and secret societies. The word syndicate is French and is interchangeable with 'trade union'.
Benito Mussolini was the co-founder of fascism and the dictator of Italy until 1943. He founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was a socialist politician and a journalist at the Avanti! newspaper - the official daily newspaper of Italy's Socialist Party. He was a member of the National Directorate of the Italian Socialist Party. He was expelled for advocating military intervention in World War I, in opposition to the party's stance on neutrality. He thought the war would bring about the overthrow of capitalism.
Fascism promoted a corporatist economic system that involved both employer and employee syndicates. They were linked together in corporative associations to collectively represent the nation's economic producers and work alongside the state to set national economic policy. It criminalised strikes by employees but also lockouts by employers, as these acts were harmful to the national community as a whole - the state came first.
A corporation is an organisation, usually a group of people or a company, authorised by the state to act as a single entity. The word derives from 'corpus', the Latin word for body, or a "body of people".
Mussolini was not an internationalist, but a nationalist like Hitler. He was a socialist, but not a Marxist. Socialism is not just one thing, it has many interpretations and off-shoots. Cuba and North Korea are different but both socialist.
The Fascist Manifesto was published in 1919 (aka The Manifesto of the Italian Fasces of Combat). It is divided into four sections to highlight objectives in political, social, military and financial fields.
Politically:
- Universal suffrage with a lowered voting age to 18 years
- Proportional representation on a regional basis
- Votes for women
- Representation of newly created national councils
- The abolition of the Italian Senate (upper house of parliament)
- The formation of a national council of experts for labour
Labour:
- Eight-hour workday & minimum wage
- Participation of workers' representatives
- Confidence in labour unions
- Reorganisation of the railways and the transport sector
- Revision of law on disability insurance
- Reduction of retirement age to 55
Military:
- Creation of a short-service national militia
- Armaments factories to be nationalised
- A peaceful but competitive foreign policy
Finance:
- A strong progressive tax on capital
- Seizure of all possessions of religious congregations
- Revision of military contracts and seizure of 85% of profits
It is becoming clear from the above that fascists were socialists, you would struggle to argue otherwise. These aims may have changed once in power but we know that power corrupts – look at Stalin and Mao.
Unsurprisingly, they are not seen as socialists by today's socialists for this would undermine their version of socialism. To be fair, this was also the case last century - arise Antifa!
Many people were against fascism and fought against it – my grandad for example. This does not make him automatically an anti-fascist for this is a specific movement started in the 1920s in Italy - a socialist internal struggle for the soul of a political identity. It can be likened to group conflicts, such as Catholics/Protestants, Sunni/Shite, Mods/Rockers, Goths/Emos. ‘There can be only one!’
Antifa (anti-fascist) was the reaction to a new strand of socialism. It was rejected by communists and anarchists – they saw their version of socialism co-opted and taken in a direction they did not approve of. Hence, why the Antifa flag depicts a black flag to represent anarchy and a red flag for communism. These flags are still used today, especially in America.
My original point for writing this article was to find out what a fascist is? I now have my answer - a fascist is a different type of socialist.
So, when someone shouts 'fascist', what they mean is the other person is the wrong type of socialist. A little like a Manchester United football fan shouting at a Liverpool fan – tribalism.
Yet again, it seems that socialism has a lot to answer for. When we handover power to the state we risk totalitarianism and atrocity - for man is easily corrupted. It does not matter that initial intentions are benevolent because the outcomes are always a disaster.
The word ‘fascist’ is an insult – but ironically, it is not used correctly by the people who use the word so freely.
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