Various observers, analysts and political
figures have been labelling Donald Trump as a “fascist for quite some
time. In a column published in this space
last October I considered some of the aspects of that appellation, noting where
Trump qualified and where he did not. Right-wingers have called him
fascist, in this case one Dan Hodges from Great
Britain (which
may be Little England by the time you read this): “Donald Trump is an outright
fascist who should be banned from Britain today.” In The New
Republic one Ryu Spaeth referred to him as a
“scary fascist.” (By-the-by,
unless one is a fascist oneself, is there any other kind?) Mediaite.com noted that Trump
was being compared to Hitler. He has also been referred to as a
“proto-fascist,” whatever that is. It happens that most observers
using the term don’t stop/bother to define it. But if the term is to
have meaning historic/political meaning if and when it is applied to Trump, it
is in my view vital that that is done.
Recently, a Professor Emeritus of
Economics at Drake University published a very important consideration of
just what fascism is, and how it is distinguished from mere
authoritarianism/totalitarianism. The paper is very significantly
entitled: “Distorting Fascism to Sanitize Capitalism.” Prof.
Hossein-zadeh begins his paper thusly:
“The facile and
indiscriminate use of the term fascism has led to a widespread misunderstanding
and misuse of its meaning. Asked to define fascism, most people would respond
in terms such as dictatorship, anti-Semitism, mass hysteria, efficient
propaganda machine, mesmerizing oratory of a psychopathic leader, and the like.
… Such a pervasive misconception of the meaning of the term fascism is not
altogether fortuitous. It is largely because of a longstanding utilitarian
misrepresentation of the term. Fascism
is deliberately obfuscated in order to sanitize capitalism. Ideologues,
theorists and opinion-makers of capitalism have systematically shifted the
systemic sins of fascism from market/capitalist failures to individual or
personal failures.”
The fascist regimes that dominated major parts
of the globe from 1919 to 1945, for example in Hungary (from 1919), in Italy
from 1922 (and of course it was Mussolini who gave the name to the governmental
form), Japan from 1935, and of course Nazi Germany from 1933, all arose
to defend capitalism against one form of socialism or another (or even
liberal democracy, if the capitalist ruling class viewed it as a threat to
their economic dominance). As Prof. Hossein-zadeh points out, it is
of critical importance to understand that this is the central defining
characteristic of this special form of authoritarianism, if it is to be
effectively combatted.
Since I wrote my book on the future rise of fascism in
the United States The 15% Solution: How
the Republican Religious Right Took Control of the U.S., 1981-2022 (originally
published in 1996 under a slightly different title, The 15% Solution: A
Political History of American Fascism, 2002-2022), I have
always been careful to carefully define the term. In fact, in my
book, there is a 10-page Appendix (II) devoted to the
subject. Currently, I am using the following short definition:
“A politico-economic system in
which there is: total executive branch control of both the legislative and
administrative powers of government; no independent judiciary; no Constitution
that embodies the Rule of Law standing above the people who run the government;
no inherent personal rights or liberties; a single national ideology that first
demonizes and then criminalizes all political, religious, and ideological
opposition to it; the massive and regular use of hate, fear, racial and
religious prejudice, the Big Lie technique, mob psychology, mob actions and
ultimately individual and collective violence to achieve political and economic
ends; a capitalist/corporate economy; with the ruling economic class’
domination of economic, fiscal, and regulatory policy.”
Click here for the full
article.
Source: The Greanville Post
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