More on Fascism

In regards to Ryan’s “Fascism” thread, I wanted to add this to my previous comments… especially as he seemed to think it was a “fun” thread anyway.

In addition to the several “facts” of fascism I listed in my posts, I need to add this one… that a fascist state focuses its efforts and policies to “right” the perceived wrongs perpetrated on a society or culture by another group or society. It strives to return the nation/state/culture to a lost “golden age” where the influence of that society was at a peak, and that influence was “taken away” by another sociopolitical body. The focus is on a gross and measurable decline in society, and the effort is to reverse this decline and return the society to greatness and power.

Franco’s “Falange” ideas harkened back to the Spanish Empire. Mussolini’s Syndicalism plan strove to return Italy to the glory that was Rome. Hitler dreamed of a “THIRD Reich” that would last a thousand years, but would return Germany to that which was lost when first Charlemagne’s, then the Keiser’s empires fell to ruin. Romania’s “Arrow Cross” longed for a return to the dominance of Central Europe and the Balkans by the Hunyadi dynasty of the 16th Century, when John Hunyadi was all that stopped the Ottoman’s from over-running Christian Europe (ironically, Dracula was part of this era!).

Fascism must have this facet of ideology to remain “fascist” in my book. The USSR did NOT long to return to a society that once was, but was lost. Far from, they KNEW that they were breaking new ground by striving for a society that had never existed at all. For this reason I do not include Imperial Japan in the list of fascist states of the last century. Japan was imperialistic in its determination to gain and maintain hegemony over all “Asian” peoples and the Pacific Rim, but it was simply expanding an existing empire that actually was surpassing any historical “greatness” (as measured in territory or political influence) that it had ever achieved in the past. They did not long for past glory, nor did the Russians. They longed for MORE power and influence than they currently had (or ever had, for that matter).

There is no question in my mind that communism and fascism are, in fact, ideologically and diametrically opposed.