Wrapped In a Flag and Carrying a Cross

Here’s a really interesting website to poke around in … give it a peek. It’s called Rational Revolution so keep an open mind. What I found most interesting was the almost spot on discussion of Twentieth Century Fascism and the right-wing (Conservative/Republican) factions in the United States today. How can we not refer to the right-wing conservative Republicans as Fascists?

Here’s a few words from the website.

Fascism Part I: Understanding Fascism and anti-Semitism

by image – October 23, 2003

Fascism is recognized to have first been officially developed by Benito Mussolini, who came to power in Italy in 1922. To sum up fascism in one word would be to say “anti-liberalism”.

Fascism is much more than that however, but understanding fascism is in fact one of the most important elements in understanding the 20th century and our modern world.

In 1932 Mussolini declared that the 20th century would be the “Fascist century” by stating:

“If it is admitted that the nineteenth century has been the century of Socialism, Liberalism and Democracy, it does not follow that the twentieth must also be the century of Liberalism, Socialism and Democracy. Political doctrines pass; peoples remain. It is to be expected that this century may be that of authority, a century of the “Right,” a Fascist century.”

Mussolini and his followers believed that this ideology was the best hope for “saving Western Civilization”.

What, then, is fascism exactly?

In order to understand fascism it is first important to understand the climate of the early 20th century in which fascism took shape.

Fascism was born out of the ruins of World War I, in which Mussolini served. Fascism was immediately reactionary to its surroundings in Europe, which was dominated by the two established powers of Britain and France. Britain and France were seen as economically dominant but decaying imperial civilizations who were imposing their hegemony on the rest of Europe. At the same time, Russia had recently undergone its Bolshevik Revolution and was supporting Marxist revolutionary activity and ideology throughout Europe. All of the countries in which fascism took root were countries that had significant socialist movements. Fascism was the opposition to those socialist movements. Fascism further recognized the finance capitalism of the United States and Britain as a destructive and corrupting force on “Western Culture” and as a threat to the still developing European countries, such as Italy, Germany and Ireland.

So, this was the environment in which fascism formed; in an environment where the “lesser” countries of Europe felt trapped between the established powers of international capital and the powers of revolutionary Marxism.

Fascism was ultimately born out of, and supported by, conservatism and the belief that Western Civilization had become decadent and self-ruinous.

Let’s see: Fascism is in opposition to Liberalism and also to Socialism. That sounds like the Republican Party (Social Security and Medicare, evil socialism that must be destroyed). Fascism was born out of conservatism in the belief that Western Civilization was becoming decadent (all those abortions and women being allowed to enjoy sex) and self-ruinous (but aren’t all those immigrants from South America also a part of Western Civilization?).

I might suggest that the American form of Fascism (right-wing, conservative Republicans) is too inept and actually is the prime reason for the ruin of this country. Furthermore, their time was the Twentieth Century—the century of the Right—how can they still be a thing? (But if the Nineteenth Century was the century of the Left and the Twentieth Century was the century of the Right, what is the Twenty-first Century?)

The one statement above that doesn’t seem to fit:

“Fascism further recognized the finance capitalism of the United States and Britain as a destructive and corrupting force on “Western Culture” and as a threat to the still developing European countries…”

Fascism got it right but the American Fascists (right-wing conservative Republicans) once again are too stupid to realize that they are blindly supporting the one thing that is perverting our culture and destroying our democracy: Capitalism.

The only thing that stopped Dick Cheney [1] from attacking Ethiopia was that Halliburton told him there was no oil there.