This is a paper I wrote in 2017 for my Liberalism and its Critics class at Portland State University and is part of my Political Theory group.
Fascism and Communism were the two major “evils” of the 20th century. On the outside, the ideologies seem similar, both hailing from central Europe, both are authoritarian regimes, both have large body counts. Even with these similar roots, two very different trees sprung forth, with Fascism being a direct response to Communism, and both criticizing Liberalism. The structure of their world views, social theory, conception of human nature, and criticisms of Liberalism all make these similar ideologies quite disparate.
The Fascist world view differs from state to state, but the general nature of Fascism is counter to the Liberal world view. Fascism views people as inherently emotional and illogical, prone to making rash decisions. With this in mind, the Fascist state seeks to control and focus human flaws into the success of the state. Fascist theory seeks to erase the individual, making each person a part of the state, re-aligning the individual’s goals into the greatness of the state. Mussolini states the State expresses the true will of the individual. Based on this, Mussolini argues Fascism is the greatest expression of Democracy.
Italian Fascist social theory views society as a body, with the leader as the head. Sometimes called “corporate fascism” this view of society creates many advisory bodies which assist the leader in creating the best decision. This view brings all of society into one cohesive unit, all focused on the leader. Italian Fascism did not have the overtly racist element that German Fascism has, but a strong nationalistic bend in stating that all Italians, whoever they might be, were part of the greater machine that drove the fascist state.
The Fascist conception of human nature, as stated earlier, is the antithesis of the Liberal conception of human nature. Fascism draws on Conservatism’s view, stating humans are emotionally-driven creatures, needing guidance to greater glory. Fascism believes individuals have the duty to commit themselves to the greatness of the state, and the state’s duty to struggle against other states. So long as the people do as they must for the state, the state will provide for the people.
Fascism draws on Conservatism, and in the Italian form, on classical Roman philosophy. Fascism takes the order, natural hierarchy, and tradition from Conservatism and uses them for the greater glory of the state. To a Fascist, traditions are only to be used to further the leader’s agenda, and discarded if they become a problem. From Republican Roman philosophy, Italian Fascism took the idea of struggle, but made the struggle a state-on-state struggle, and removed the individual from the equation. From Imperial Roman philosophy, Mussolini took the idea of the Imperial Cult created by Emperor Augustus, which created absolute obedience through worship to the leader. Both German and Italian Fascist regimes used Catholic messages to legitimize their positions.
Fascism, as seen here, inverts many of Liberalism’s principles. Where Liberalism seeks a limited government, with protected individual rights, Fascism creates a totalitarian state, where the government controls every aspect of society, and has no concept of rights. Where Liberalism holds liberty as the primary value, Fascism holds service to the state as the primary value. Liberalism seeks pluralism and tolerance, Fascism seeks uniformity.
Communism drives down a similar, but fundamentally opposite course from Fascism. Communism seeks to ultimately undo the state altogether by eliminating the bourgeois class which perpetuates it. Communist ideology states when the proletariat around the world realize they have more in common than different, they will rise up against the bourgeois class and set up a Socialist state to transition to the ultimately borderless Communist utopia. The Communist world view sees people only as classes, mostly on economic grounds though the modern Communist sees racial classes as well. Marx saw the class struggle of the Industrial Era to only be between two classes, the bourgeois and the proletariat, and it was incumbent on the proletariat to unite and overthrow the bourgeois class.
As alluded to, Communism only sees society as divided along class lines, there are no individuals to a Communist, only oppressor and oppressed. Marx sees social interaction only by the production workers create, stating the bourgeois reap the benefits of the proletariat production, making the worker poorer the more he produces. This inherent disjunction of society creates conflict, and without moral guardrails, it allows for the bloody destruction of the bourgeois class.
Marx’s conception of human nature is one of production, stating who and what a person is, comes from what he or she produces. The individual conception of self and ideas are only phantoms to Marx, created to give the illusion of individuality and difference between individuals. To a Communist, individuals are only members of their greater classes, being completely replaceable, one for another.
Communism criticizes Liberalism on several fronts. Communism, as state, removes the idea of individuality that Liberalism so highly prizes, stating the ideas of individuality are just phantoms created by our brains. Communism also requires the State go through a transitory state called Socialism which is a totalitarian system which controls every aspect of commerce and society, ruled by a dictator. This transitional phase runs completely against the concept of a Liberal Democracy, with a limited government which only exists to deal with the inconveniences of living in a pluralist society.
While Communism and Fascism have some similarities, specifically in the regards of human nature, the end goals are far different. While Communism has a utopian goal of an anarchic global society, Fascism demands total submission to the state. Fascism and Socialism have far more in common, both being totalitarian systems, ruled by a single person, and erasing the individual in favor of the nation (Fascism) or the class (Socialism).
Sources:
Mussolini, Benito. The Doctrine of Fascism.
Marx, Karl. The Communist Manifesto, Estranged Labor, The German Ideology
[…] can be used in Chapter 21 and those in the guard like in Chapter […]
[…] The counter to the previous two chapters is the same as any low thrust, to pass back with the…
how much cbd drops for depression
how many mg of cbd ointment for pain
where can i buy cbd oil in the us
0 Comments