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Fascist ideology
An authoritarian and nationalistic right-wing system of government and social organization.
Components of fascism
• Elitism
• Racialism/social Darwinism
• Myths/irrationalism
• Groupthink
• Hypernationalism-imperialism
• Exaltation of violence
Elitism as a component of fascism
• Based on Aristotle's belief that the best should rule society.
• Elites exist within democracies, too.
• Aspirations for liberalism are "insane."
• Iron law of oligarchy: There is always a leader within a room. Leaders have more in common with each other than they do with those they claim to represent.
Racialism/social Darwinism as a component of fascism
• The belief that some people, who are successful, are superior to others.
• Race theory.
• Under German Fascist thought, anti-Semitism goes from a religious to a racial problem.
• Eradication of a racial group to maintain a "master race."
• Darwinism holds a contempt for science.
Myths/irrationalism as a component of fascism
• Fascism's key myth is racial supremacy.
• Anecdotes are important.
• Irrationalism: Fascists make absolute truth out of their experiences and anecdotes.
Groupthink as a component of fascism
• "Thinking for oneself is lonely."
• Liberalism frees us to be ourselves (individualism), but it can be lonely.
• The Left believes class relation comes before individual identity.
• The Right thinks notions of morality are determined
Hypernationalism-imperialism as a component of fascism
• Different than patriotism: nationalism is hatred, while patriotism is pride.
• Expansionism for the sake of national pride.
Exaltation of violence as a component of fascism
• When it makes you holy or great to kill someone, that is the exaltation of violence.
• Not self-defense; killing becomes a means of excitement.
• The desire to conquer a people or a person (Roman-esque ideology).
• Murder is the "ultimate high."
The 25 Points (1920), an early Nazi program
• Social programs: Outlaw of child labor, encouragement of physical fitness, expansion of old-age welfare.
• Only ethnic Germans are citizens of the German state; no Jew, then, can be a citizen.
• Freedom of religion, but only as it pertains to Christian denominations.
• Immigration must be prevented.
• Criminals are to be put to death.
What is Fascism (1932), by Benito Mussolini
Perpetual peace is not possible to achieve or unite.
• One must love and accept life; life is a duty, struggle and conquest. Suicide is despised for this reason.
• The opposite of Marxian socialism: Class-war will not drive a transformation of society.
• The majority cannot direct human society; thus democratic ideology is rejected.
• The state is an absolute.
• The expansion of the empire is essential.
Madeleine Albright
• Born in 1937 in Czechoslovakia
• In 1939, Nazis invaded the country, so the Albright family fled to London.
• Six years later, the Nazis surrendered, and the family returned to their home.
• In 1948, however, communists came to power, democracy fell, and the Albright family fled to the Unites States.
• Numerous of her family members were killed in the Holocaust--an event she calls the "ultimate act of Fascism" (2).
What does Madeleine Albright write about Fascism?
• Following WW1, the number of democratic nations increased. Despite this, democracy is presently falling. Albright asks, why does democracy seem to be fading? Why is it threatened?
• Donald Trump is one reason, she writes. His statements and actions contradict democratic ideals (5).
• Trump has spoken harshly of open government, degraded political discourse, disregarded facts, libeled his predecessors, threatened to jail his political rivals, referred to journalists as enemies, pushed for nationalist economic and trade policies, vilified immigrants and Muslims.
• If we fault dictators for doing certain things, why do we not call out Trump for doing the same?
• Fascism is imposed from below. Where monarchies and military dictatorships are imposed from above, Fascism pulls from people upset over lost wars, lost jobs, memories of humiliation or feelings that their country is in "steep decline." Albright writes that the "more painful the grounds for resentment, theT easier it is for a Fascist leader to gain followers by danglin the prospect of renewal or by vowing to take back what has been stolen" (9).
Surplus population
When a nation sees itself as having too many people and feels that this must be dealt with.
