> Behalf Of Bob Henderson
> Fascism protects the existing social order by suppression
> of the working
> class through force and by re-directing discontent through
> propaganda by
> providing a scapegoat such as the Jew or any other suitable
> foreigner
> thereby creating the psychological readiness of the
> population for war.
>
> So Fascism is totalitarian and nationalistic.
A couple of notes on an otherwise excellent post. Fascism is _not_
necessarily totalitarian. Take, for example, the five major "fascist"
states during WWII - Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, Fascist Spain,
Militarist Japan, and the Communist USSR. Of those, Italy, Spain, and
Japan were clearly not totalitarian, and Germany is quite debatable.
Only Stalin's Russia was clearly and unquestionably a totalitarian
state. They are actually very rare in world history - maybe only the
Soviet Union (post-Lenin), Mao's China, Pol Pot's Cambodia, and North
Korea. This is quite important, I think - the distinction between
"totalitarian" states and simple dictatorships was rather important in
determining American foreign policy during the Cold War.
> Fascism is definitely compatible with capitalism, (the
> private ownership of
> the means of production), as in Italy it was the capitalist
> industrialists
> who promoted it.
> If you accept that Nazism was just the German brand of
> Fascism, then Fascism
> is compatible with democracy as Hitler was initially
> democratically voted
> into power.
This is perhaps a little bit exaggerated. Hitler was voted into
power, but he never received a majority of the popular vote. In fact,
the 1932 elections were something of a defeat for the Nazis, as they
actually lost seats in the Bundestag. Hitler gained power essentially
through parliamentary maneuvering. One should note that his
extra-constitutional actions were not, in fact, _ever_ ratified by a
vote of the German people, although I think there's little doubt that
he would have won such a vote at least up through 1943.
> And in a corrupt or imperfect democracy:
> "Those who cast the votes decide nothing.
> Those who count the votes decide everything." Josef Stalin.
He didn't actually say this, so far as I can tell. It's been floating
around the internet, but without any cites. I believe it may be based
on a similar quote from Boss Tweed of Tammany Hall. Stalin wasn't all
that concerned with votes. Slate Magazine ran an "Explainer" feature
on the quote.
> Bob.
********************Gautam "Ulysses" Mukunda**********************
* Harvard College Class of '01 *He either fears his fate too much*
* www.fas.harvard.edu/~mukunda * Or his deserts are small, *
* [EMAIL PROTECTED] *Who dares not put it to the touch*
* "Freedom is not Free" * To win or lose it all. *
******************************************************************
