Fascism is on the march…From the left?
“Our First Amendment stands as a major block…in the ability to, you know hammer [“disinformation”] out of existence.” - John Kerry
Let’s tackle the big issue right from the outset. Isn’t fascism a “right wing ideology”?
In the American sense, where the American “right” has traditionally been associated individual liberties, small government, and private property, absolutely not.
Fascism, at its core is the government control over the means of production with nominally private owners of these means.
(From EconLib.org)
As an economic system, fascism is socialism with a capitalist veneer. The word derives from fasces, the Roman symbol of collectivism and power: a tied bundle of rods with a protruding ax. In its day (the 1920s and 1930s), fascism was seen as the happy medium between boom-and-bust-prone liberal capitalism, with its alleged class conflict, wasteful competition, and profit-oriented egoism, and revolutionary Marxism, with its violent and socially divisive persecution of the bourgeoisie. Fascism substituted the particularity of nationalism and racialism—“blood and soil”—for the internationalism of both classical liberalism and Marxism.
Where socialism sought totalitarian control of a society’s economic processes through direct state operation of the means of production, fascism sought that control indirectly, through domination of nominally private owners. Where socialism nationalized property explicitly, fascism did so implicitly, by requiring owners to use their property in the “national interest”—that is, as the autocratic authority conceived it. (Nevertheless, a few industries were operated by the state.)
This is different from “socialism” (what most people call socialism anyway) which asserts that the best system is one where the government controls the means of production and private interests are abolished.
But ubiquitous government control is at the core of both ideologies. Both are totalitarian fundamentally. Both ideologies are anti-liberal in the classical sense. Both ideologies are anti-individual, anti-human rights. Both ideologies tend to generate strongmen at the helm. Both are deeply at odds with the American experiment.
There are those who foolishly, I am sorry it is foolish, assert that socialism and fascism are opposites. If one is in the eighth grade and has only heard the ramblings one’s public school history teacher this is understandable. For anyone beyond political pupa stage it is not.
Fascism, can be accurately referred to as national socialism (that’s what the Nazi’s were by the way, they never called themselves “Nazis” they referred to themselves as National Socialists). “Socialists”, as in the absolute direct government control over the means of production socialists, can generally be referred to as “international socialists”.
In other words fascists and “socialists” are not opposites. Indeed from an American, classically liberal perspective they are on the same side. But national socialism and international socialism are (and were) at odds. They are two fundamentally totalitarian ideologies, both of which view(ed) their philosophies as “progressive”, both trying to seize the reins of human history. One can think of the two camps in a way similar to the dynamic we have seen play out over the centuries between Catholics and Protestants or between Sunnis and Shia Muslims. Both groups are foundationally similar but fight over dogma bitterly.
But fascism (national socialism( and socialism (international socialism) are not opposites.
For the record, I don’t care (and you shouldn’t either) about what the extremely biased editors at Wikipedia assert about the differences between fascism and international socialism. Below is what generally unsophisticated researchers (think high school students and arm chair political scientists) see first when they look up “fascism” on the site. Notice the effort to push the idea of a “right and left” “spectrum” which is asinine as political ideology is more accurately represented on an x/y axis not a line. The people who edit this important piece of propaganda understand that political ideology doesn’t sweep from right to left. They also understand that they are perpetuating an idea that is false.
I know it’s cynical to say this, but it sure seems to be the case.
But we will not condemn the entire Wikipedia entry on fascism as once one gets beyond the first few paragraphs, meant mostly for people to cut and paste in arguments on Facebook and X, there is valuable and nuanced information. Much of it is clearly still biased toward the idea that international socialism and national socialism are opposites and not merely opposed, but there is good information within the document. Just take much of it with a big grain of salt.
OK, with that out of the way let’s talk about the anti-liberal, and yes in many respects fascist rumblings coming from the American left.
Remember the fascists of old absolutely saw themselves as “progressive”. They, like much of the American left now (very sadly) abhor(ed) things like individuality, freedom of expression, and free enterprise. They championed, like much of the American left now, corporatism. (Don’t think that’s true? Check out BlackRock’s stand on ESG. Consider also that the propaganda network of propaganda networks, MSNBC is named after Microsoft and The National Broadcasting Company). Much of the American left, just think back to Covid, now asserts a cult of conformity and subservience to the state and by extension to corporate masters also. Very fascist.
I have said before that I did not understand how as rational and generally reasonable a people as the Germans could fall for National Socialism and Hitler. But after I saw people masking and jabbing themselves in pure fear during Covid, and then attacking those who questioned the official (and as we now know more wrong than right) official narrative, I grew deeply disappointed in my countrymen. When I saw people blindly follow “leaders” who were highly compromised by interests that varied from Pharma, to the intel establishment, to The Peoples Republic of China, I came to understand how the Germans lost their minds.
Many people in this country lost their minds a couple of years ago. Many of these people still haven’t recovered. They may never.
This country is built on the concept of individual liberty. We ARE actually exceptional. This country was born in the world’s only successful libertarian (classically liberal) revolution. We have historically feared the state. We understand that the state in the US is to serve the people, not the other way around. We understand that we are a free people, despite our birth or current lot. We have historically understood that this liberty means more responsibility on the shoulders of the typical American. If we are to hold “kings” in contempt we must expect more from ourselves.
This philosophy stands in direct contrast to the statism of the national socialists (the fascists) and the international socialists. We in the US recognize that these philosophies are dangerous and anathema to the Great American Experiment.
But there are many people in this country who loathe that liberty, and not social welfare - or really compliance to the state - is the foundational principal of the USA. They hold to an old world view of politics. They are still mired in the same historical muck that spurred people like Mussolini and Lenin. They do not believe in the political transcendence (ideally) of the individual citizen. They think in terms of a very euro-centric (and it must be said now terribly dated) Marxist view of society. They think that progress equals “equity”. And how will this “equity”, that is the equality of outcomes, be enforced? With a massive, and a frankly totalitarian state, a state that looks very fascist to us.
And lets take a moment to talk about equity.
Only a deeply unhealthy society and economy is “equitable”, as in everyone ends up in the same place despite their work ethic, intelligence, or talent. A truly “equitable” society can be likened to monoculture farming, boring, over time deeply destructive, and ultimately suicidal.
An “inequitable” society, though we are not dismissing injustice in a society that hampers deserving people, particularly at the the hands of the most discriminatory entity there is, the state, is generally a much healthier society.
An “equitable” society, where everyone is forced to the lowest common denominator (and don’t kid yourself this is the ONLY way to achieve an “equitable” society) is unnatural and destroys many of the things that make life worth living. Whereas in free society (which must be to a large degree inequitable) people can flourish. At least they have the possibility of flourishing, of finding a niche and bearing fruit. To the degree that the state enforces barriers to this flourishing, like Jim Crow or slavery, they should be tossed into the dustbin of society. But a society where people are equal under the law, and this is key, provides the most opportunity for the most people.
There is a quote that apparently has been erroneously associated with Sinclair Lewis which asserts that “Fascism will come to America wrapped in the flag and holding a Bible.” It’s a pithy quote and expresses an idea well, but that has not been the case in this country.
What does appear to be the case is what one genuinely modern liberal writer at Medium asserted. She argued that fascism had come to this country wrapped in a rainbow flag and wearing a pu—y hat.
Some of our readers will immediately balk at this. But we assert that indeed it’s true. Take away a lot of the esthetic of what most people think is fascism and examine where the push is coming from (hardest) for corporatism (which is the key element of fascism), for conformity, for government control, for the restriction of free speech, for groupthink and it at this moment in history, in this country, coming very much from the American left. While “progressives” (oddly) like to associate themselves with Marxism as they see their philosophy as one interested in the dynamic between oppressed and oppressor (a common misunderstanding of Marxism) what they don’t realize is that they appear to be becoming that which they say (or at least used to say) they most oppose, goose-stepping fascists.
Witness this video from this weekend’s Maher show where Fran Libowitz goes full on fascist. I mean forget the rule of law, the balance of powers, dissolve the supreme court!
Look at the anger in Libowitz’s eyes. She is beside herself that the third world-like lawfare employed by the Democratic Party recently has failed. So she goes the next step and suggests that Biden should go all Idi Amin and just seek to end the Judicial Branch, which under our Constitution is equal in power to the President and the Executive Branch. But we’ll bet Libowitz probably doesn’t like the Constitution either.
Or what about the below from John Kerry, everyone’s favorite freelance diplomat (I mean what is that guy doing?) where he was on a panel at a World Economic Forum event (I know shocker, does he do anything else?) and asserted that, “Our First Amendment stands as a major block…in the ability to, you know hammer [“disinformation”] out of existence.”
Nien nein! Vou vill not have free speech!!! Vou must accept zee propaganda vee force down jer throats!
What arrogance. What illiberalism. What disconnect. What contempt for everyday people who probably are more connected on major events than he is these days (even with all the inside information he supposedly possesses). Kerry literally says that “democracy” is the problem.
What fascism.
But we shouldn’t be surprised as thanks again to the AgainstCronyCapitalism.org wayback machine we can see that in 2013 a slightly sharper John Kerry said something similar.
“This Little Thing Called the Internet … Makes It Much Harder to Govern” - John Kerry
Back then we responded with this;
In many respects we have been right. The Internet freed up information and just as the powers that be during Martin Luther’s time did not want the everyday person able to read, or worse PUBLISH anything contrary to dictates from the Pope or king so too now has the old order sought to crush the spread of information. And though you know it, I know it, most people know it, it still needs to be said. Kerry, Libowitz, many within the establishment power structure are not at all actually concerned with “disinformation” properly defined. What they fear is INFORMATION that runs contrary to their world view and their long established power hierarchy. They fear an empowered middle class which thanks to the Internet can be as informed as they are and much of the time MORE informed than they are. Kerry sits on the stage at the World Economic Forum because he is the product of a world that for most of us died in the last decade. He just doesn’t realize yet that it died.
This is why the the illiberal left has been so ready to embrace anti-liberal, anti-freedom, anti-human, views of late. Their world is crumbling. The world that they thought was about to be ushered in with Obama and fellow travelers does not appear like its going to happen. They could pull it out yet they hope. But the old lefties who have gone increasingly authoritarian, and with the embrace of widespread corporatism, are increasingly fascist (to varying degrees), who still cling to power are mad.
They are mad at “the people”. They are mad at the Internet. They are mad that they won’t achieve the world they thought they were born to usher in. They are mad because they will likely pass from this Earth just as a new world, a very alien world to them, is born. Maybe Justin Trudeau will save their philosophy, but probably not.
Let us be clear. When we say that fascism at this moment is (mostly) coming from the left we are not saying that everyone on the left is a fascist. Hardly, for our society to remain free, or at least not some authoritarian dystopia, we believe that the sane left, and this is a large group of reasonable and thoughtful people, must come to terms with the Libowitzs and the Kerrys within their midst.
If however the sane left can’t make a turn, if they can’t break from their leaders who seek an authoritarian future, we are all in for trouble in the short term.