[SFPOM] Principles of Fascism and The People's Response III

Day 4,475, 15:42 • Published in USA USA • by Max Tse Tung


MUSIC

Principles of Fascism and The People's Response III





Before I begin I would like to say that Corporatism is not exclusively a Fascist theory and that there are many different forms of Corporatism. However, there is a form of Corporatism that is exclusively Fascist and that is what I will be discussing today. I’ll include multiple examples and quotes from leading figures of the movements to help flesh out some of the ideas within Corporate Fascism. So without further ado let us begin.




Remember Oswald Mosley from the previous article? He had some things to say on the topic, stating: "it means a nation organized as the human body, with each organ performing its individual function but working in harmony with the whole"



There was also another analogy used to describe the ideology more generally that also applies to the ideas behind corporate fascism -though I would suggest it is a sort of political paradox along with the latter analogy- That being the iconic Fasces or the bundle of rods with an axe tied to them. Strength through unity.



The claimed foundations for Corporate Fascism are the unification of trade unionism and corporatism with the state in an attempt to give workers, unions, and corporations formal mechanisms of control through the state. In practice, this process would be corrupted by the interests of the head of the state who would be a dictator and by the ruling fascist party. This process also entailed the destruction of many unions and their ability to negotiate with employers and their ability to use direct action, protests, and strikes. It also took power out of the hands of the bourgeoisie and capitalist class as their interests and business plans could be suppressed by the state.






Fascist Corporatism is a “top down” model which means that the economy is controlled by the state to an authoritarian extent and it involved nationalization of industry especially in arms manufacturing, automobile manufacturing, utilities, and infrastructure development. A common slogan amongst Italian Fascists before and during the Second World War was: "Tutto nello Stato, niente al di fuori dello Stato, nulla contro lo Stato" ("everything for the state, nothing outside the state, nothing against the state")



Fascists during the Second World War were itching for endorsements from the Roman Catholic Church for their policies toward Corporatism, even when the church supported a “bottom up” model whereby families and professionals would work together under a voluntary system. The Fascist Corporate model of Roman Catholic Italy influenced heavily the economies of Roman Catholic countries and Non-Roman Catholic countries alike and was supported by Austria, Estonia, Latvia, and Portugal. It was also supported by fascist parties in Non-Roman Catholic countries such as the British Union Of Fascists.



In Portugal, a neutral country during the Second World War, The prime minister of Portugal, (Salazar) in 1933 who was responsible for the Estado Novo -an authoritarian corporatist government that ruled until 1974- said : "Our Dictatorship clearly resembles a fascist dictatorship in the reinforcement of authority, in the war declared against certain principles of democracy, in its accentuated nationalist character, in its preoccupation of social order. However, it differs from it in its process of renovation. The fascist dictatorship tends towards a pagan Caesarism, towards a state that knows no limits of a legal or moral order, which marches towards its goal without meeting complications or obstacles. The Portuguese New State, on the contrary, cannot avoid, not think of avoiding, certain limits of a moral order which it may consider indispensable to maintain in its favour of its reforming action” Portugal’s Corporatism was considered a form of Catholic Corporatism and though influenced by Mussolini and the Italian fascists it was not associated with them.




We will now discuss the influence of Fascist Corporatism in South America and the ways in which foreign corporations have undue influence and power over regions they can exploit with the consent of their host nation. We will also discuss the ways in which Fascism and Corporate Power have been entangled on the continent over the decades. But before we begin we will need some background as to how Fascism came about and functioned in South America.



In the 1920s, in Argentina, Leopoldo Lugones (initially a socialist) became sympathetic to and then later became a Fascist. This caused a variety of Fascist intellectuals to begin writing in the journal La Nueva Republica. These writers espoused ideas similar to that of Charles Maurras who was a Monarchist, Anti-Semitic, Anti-Parlimentarian, and Counter-Revolutionary. Charles Maurras was a major influencer of National Catholicism and supporter of Corporatism. He stated : "a true nationalist places his country above everything.”



These writers formed the group called ADUNA (Afirmación de Una Nueva Argentina) this group worked with the regime of José Félix Uriburu to introduce Fascist Corporatism inspired by Benito Mussolini but ultimately failed, deciding instead to begin the Infamous Decade.



The Infamous Decade was a period between 1930 and 1942. It began with the overthrow of President Hipólito Yrigoyen in a coup d'etat by José Félix Uriburu and resulted in Juan Perón’s rise to power after the military coup of 1943 where he became the minister of labor and then later president of Argentina in 1946. The decade was froth with Repression of political opposition, electoral fraud, and the effects of the Great Depression and was the beginning of the populist political movement called Peronism.



Peronism was a vague blend of Nationalism, Unionism, and Populism. It was notorious for silencing the opposition by claiming they were unpatriotic and was derided by many socialists as continuing class exploitation and class division through its corporatist policy. It was also opposed by conservative and liberal figures alike.




To be continued…





I want to hear from my readers on this, what aspects of Fascism do you think should be covered in this series? Let me know!


~Chairman Max Planck~