Fascism Viewed from the Right

To ask other readers questions about Fascism Viewed from the Right , please sign up. Be the first to ask a question about Fascism Viewed from the Right. Lists with This Book. Oct 31, Colm Gillis rated it it was amazing. A must-read for anyone who opposes either fanatical right-wingism or a vacuous leftism.

Evola's conception of a true right is well articulated. Stuff on corporatism is particularly useful. Aug 31, Helen rated it it was ok Recommends it for: Since Evola was referenced by alt-right former Trump aide Bannon https: I had to see for myself what Evola is all about.

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Why not find out from where the ultra RW draws its inspiration? Evola is the exact antithesis of Americanism. He's against democracy, and explicitly references the USA as "the enemy. His vision of a new state would be one founded on the feudal system in effect in th Since Evola was referenced by alt-right former Trump aide Bannon https: His vision of a new state would be one founded on the feudal system in effect in the Middle Ages, with the return of monarchy, aristocracy, and hierarchy.

He rejects anti-colonialism, the principles of the French Revolution, and although the book under discussion doesn't deal with it, no doubt would reject Enlightenment advances too. In the present book, Evola explains why he's different from the Italian Fascists Mussolini etc..

This is an interesting book to read and gasp at - especially since someone as influential as Bannon praised the author. Evola is the antithesis of Americanism, democracy, the rule of law, and views America as "the enemy. Here are the quotes. From Kopff's Introduction " Italian peole who were led by great republican radicals like Garibaldi and Mazzini.

This is what happens in 'mass states,' in collectivizing ans demagogic movements with an excitable and sub-rational foundation, which can also give to the individual the illusory, momentary sensation of an exalted intense life, likewise conditioned by sensation, by a regression, and by a reduction of personality and true liberty. Fascism saw the 'dangers of the bourgeois spirit,' and despised the stagnation of a vapid existence.

It was strongly socialist and pro-labor in orientation. To complete these considerations, it is possible to specify this ultimate end in regard to its content, and say that, from our point of view, the essential thing would be to reach an equilibrium, a stability, and put a stop to unlimited change. It will put an end to the stupid infatuation, cowardice and hypocrisy of those who today chatter of 'democracy,' who proclaim democracy, who exalt democracy. Democracy is only a regressive, crepuscular phenomenon.

Fascism Viewed from the Right by Julius Evola

The true state will then be oriented against both capitalism and Communism. At its center will stand a principle of authority and a transcendent symbol of sovereignty. The most natural incarnation of such as symbol is the monarchy. The dictator was invested with absolute political and military power, including over the Senate itself. The position only continued until the crisis had passed. The trade union movement must be rejected. The true state will.. At most, we can point out to it the illusions and suggestions of which it has been or is the victim, which are due to a general action which has often been systematically organized, and to regressive processes.

If not even this leads to a sensible result, this people will suffer the fate that it has created, by making use of its 'liberty. A very good explanation of perhaps the most abused political term of contemporary politics. Fascism was more than authoritarianism, and Evola makes a relatively good explanation of what it was and could have been, had it not been for "external events".

Excellent critique of mass-minded totalitarian movements, in defense of the organic Traditionalist ethic. Aug 08, Daniel rated it it was amazing.

Evola's works are a definite redpill. Once exposed to this, there is no turning back. Matias Andrade rated it liked it Oct 01, Darrel Williams rated it it was amazing May 14, Thomas rated it really liked it Apr 30, Ari rated it it was amazing Jul 25, Sighthor rated it really liked it Dec 24, Neil Hiscocks rated it liked it Mar 30, Donald rated it liked it Aug 16, How 13 Notorious Leaders Died ]. Robert Paxton, a professor emeritus of social science at Columbia University in New York who is widely considered the father of fascism studies, defined fascism as "a form of political practice distinctive to the 20th century that arouses popular enthusiasm by sophisticated propaganda techniques for an anti-liberal, anti-socialist, violently exclusionary, expansionist nationalist agenda.

Other definitions, Paxton said, rely too heavily on documents that Mussolini, Hitler and others produced before they came to power. Once in power, fascists did not always keep their early promises. As the American Historical Association put it, speaking of fascism in Italy, "The proclaimed aims and principles of the fascist movement are perhaps of little consequence now.

It promised almost everything, from extreme radicalism in to extreme conservatism in Lachlan Montague, a Melbourne, Australia-based writer and researcher of fascism, economic history and the interwar years, told Live Science, "Fascism is definitely revolutionary and dynamic. Though fascism can be difficult to define, all fascist movements share some core beliefs and actions.

Fascism requires some basic allegiances, such as to the nation, to national grandeur, and to a master race or group. The core principle — what Paxton defined as fascism's only definition of morality — is to make the nation stronger, more powerful, larger and more successful. Since fascists see national strength as the only thing that makes a nation "good," fascists will use any means necessary to achieve that goal.

As a result, fascists aim to use the country's assets to increase the country's strength. This leads to a nationalization of assets, Montague said, and in this, fascism resembles Marxism. Guided by the principle of extreme nationalism, fascist regimes tend to perform similar actions, though the particulars differ, author George Orwell wrote in his essay "What Is Fascism? Fascists scapegoat and demonize other groups, though those groups differ by country and time. Mussolini worked regularly with Jews, and his mistress and biographer was Jewish.

Because of his alliance with Hitler, he did eventually incorporate anti-Semitic components into his regime, but overall he differed from Hitler on the subject of biological racism. Paxton, author of several books, including " The Anatomy of Fascism " Vintage, , said fascism is based more on feelings than philosophical ideas. In his essay " The Five Stages of Fascism ," published in in the Journal of Modern History, he defined seven feelings that act as "mobilizing passions" for fascist regimes.

Once in power, "fascist dictatorships suppressed individual liberties, imprisoned opponents, forbade strikes, authorized unlimited police power in the name of national unity and revival, and committed military aggression," Paxton wrote. The economics of fascism are complicated, Montague said. Fascist governments' purported goal was autarky, or national self-sufficiency. In the s and s, fascist leaders pitched this as an effective middle ground between bourgeois, profit-oriented capitalism and revolutionary Marxism that would dismantle many social institutions and persecute the bourgeoisie.

Fascism Viewed from the Right

The Library of Economics and Liberty defined fascism's economic practices as "socialism with a capitalist veneer. To better understand fascism's economic structure, Montague suggested looking at who benefited from it. Big business BMW, Bayer, etc. Things were more complicated in Italy, where the poor benefitted marginally at the beginning of Mussolini's regime but suffered as his positions changed. In Germany and Italy, fascist government cartels determined many aspects of commerce, finance, agriculture and manufacturing, and made decisions according to what would further the state's power; however, they also allowed the conservative business elite to maintain property and increase their wealth.

The cartels forcibly lowered wages and paid the workers with national pride. One element of fascism is collaboration with capitalists and the conservative elite. Fascists, even when they start out with radical ideas, always collaborate to move in the direction of protecting private property, Paxton told Live Science.

Fascism Viewed from the Right

This is, however, an awkward alliance, he said. But then they discovered that they had a great deal in common. They made an alliance, but they often stepped on each other's toes … and on July 20, , the conservatives tried to assassinate Hitler. There is always tension between the two movements. In , while much of the world was still influenced by fascist regimes, Orwell said that fascism is extremely difficult to define. In his "What Is Fascism? Fascism always takes on the individual characteristics of the country it is in, leading to very different regimes.

For instance, Paxton wrote in "The Five Stages of Fascism" that "religion … would play a much greater role in authentic fascism in the United States" than it would in the more secular Europe. National variants of fascism differ more broadly than national variants of, for instance, communism or capitalism, Paxton said.

Further complicating matters, nonfascist governments have often mimicked elements of fascist regimes to give the appearance of force and national vitality, Paxton said. For example, mass mobilizations of citizens in colored shirts do not automatically equate to a fascist political practice, he said.

The word's prevalence in common vernacular also causes definition problems. Unlike most other political, social or ethical philosophies — such as communism, capitalism, conservatism, liberalism or socialism — fascism does not have a set philosophy. As Paxton wrote, "There was no 'Fascist Manifesto,' no founding fascist thinker. Throughout 20th-century history, fascist regimes have required certain sociocultural and political situations to rise.

It is also worth noting that many countries, such as Britain in the s and s, have seen fascist ideas increase in popularity without regimes coming to power or fascist parties becoming star political players. First and foremost, fascist regimes in the 20th century have required extreme national crises to gain popularity and power. After defeat in World War I, many in Germany and Italy were anxious about the culture of their countries. They had been promised national glory and expansion, and felt shame and frustration with the defeat, Montague said.

Fascism requires a general belief that the standard government parties and institutions are incapable of improving the national situation, he said. In early 20th-century Europe, World War I increased popular distrust of government. Veterans "had been awfully betrayed by their own politicians, who had recklessly sent them to die," Montague said. This cynicism about government combines with what Montague calls a "fervent but vulnerable national identity.

Many Germans felt the Treaty of Versailles was suppressing them. In Australia, many felt that the country should wield more power than it did.

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The United Kingdom was beginning to see itself as a fading power. For a fascist party to become powerful, the combination of a strong national identity and disenchantment with government still needs a catalyst to make regular people side with vocal fascists, Montague said. In Germany, and to an extent Italy, this catalyst was the Great Depression, he said. People felt desperate, ashamed and lost, he said.

In his "Five Stages" essay, Paxton said that fascism could appear only when a society has known political liberty and when democracy is established enough that the people can be disillusioned with it.