This week marks the 100th anniversary of fascist Benito Mussolini’s March on Rome.
Back in 1946, George Orwell wrote, “the word Fascism has now no meaning except in so far as signifies ‘something not desirable.’” Progressives use the word “fascist” to describe anything they don’t like, while Biden created the vague term “semi-fascist” to antagonize half the nation.
I reread Mussolini’s 1928 “My Autobiography,” and his 1932 essay “The Political and Social Doctrine of Fascism,” to see what the father of fascism had to say about what it meant.
Three primary themes emerge from Mussolini’s writings: totalitarianism, statism and violence. In a speech before the Chamber of Deputies in 1927, Mussolini said, “Everything in the State, nothing outside the State, nothing against the State.” That looks nothing like conservative politics.
Mussolini wrote that while the “19th century was the century of Socialism, of Liberalism, and of Democracy,” the 20th century “will be a century of authority, a century of the Left, a century of Fascism.” Oxford historian and translator Jane Soames’ 1933 “authorized” translation of “Doctrine of Fascism” renders Mussolini as saying fascist statism is a political movement of the left.
Mussolini argued for ushering out individualism and ushering in collectivism. “For if the nineteenth century was a century of individualism (Liberalism always signifying individualism) it may be expected that this will be the century of collectivism, and hence the century of the State.” That is not conservativism.
Furthermore, any competing authorities (the individual, the family, the church, etc.) must be eliminated or made subservient to the state. “The Fascist conception of the State is all-embracing; outside of it no human or spiritual values can exist, much less have value. Thus understood, Fascism is totalitarian, and the Fascist State — a synthesis and a unit inclusive of all values — interprets, develops, and potentiates the whole life of a people.” Conservatives are not the ones who argue for dismembering the family and emasculating the church.
Further, in fascism the needs of the one (the state) outweigh the needs of the many (individual liberty). “The foundation of Fascism is the conception of the State, its character, its duty, and its aim. Fascism conceives of the State as an absolute, in comparison with which all individuals or groups are relative, only to be conceived of in their relation to the State.” Again, no conservative could support that statement.
Fascism also runs afoul of the U.S. Constitution, which says that rights come from God and not from the state, and that government needs to be restrained, not the people. Under the U.S. Constitution, the state must be constrained. In fascism, the individual must be constrained.
Keep the above principles of fascism in mind (the goals of the state come before church, family, and individual liberties) as we consider liberal fascism over the last two years:
n Mandatory vaccination requirements and being fired if you were not vaccinated.
n Requiring vaccine passports to go to grocery stores, restaurants, movies, gyms, etc.
n Churches shut down as nonessential while pot and alcohol shops remained open as essential.
n Weddings and funerals canceled while George Floyd protests were encouraged. Protesting the lockdowns, however — like singing psalms in Friendship Square — was illegal.
n The FBI working with social media to suppress the Hunter Biden laptop story.
n The White House working with social media to suppress COVID-19 counter-narratives.
n Biden draining the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to pre-1984 levels.
n The Justice Department labeling parents speaking out at school boards as domestic terrorists.
n The Justice Department treating pro-life protestors as domestic terrorists while ignoring those who bomb churches and crisis pregnancy centers.
n The Department of Homeland Security’s Disinformation Governance Board (“Ministry of Truth”).
n Biden asking Saudi Arabia to wait until after midterm elections to cut back on oil production.
n Defunding the police leading to violence.
n Last month, President Biden said that the pandemic is over. This month, his emergency executive powers were extended because of COVID-19.
I agree with Daily News columnist Ryan Urie. Progressives: If you don’t want to be called “fascist,” stop saying the things fascists say, stop doing the things fascists do, and stop electing fascists.
Courtney served 20 years as a nuclear engineering officer aboard submarines and 15 years as a graduate school instructor. A political independent, he spends his time playing with his seven grandchildren in Moscow.
