Fascism

In unity there is strength.

   The Latin word for a bundle of rods tied together is fasces, and it symbolizes strength, especially in the Roman era when an axe head was tied into one end of the bundle of rods and the entire tool was carried in ceremonial processions.
   The symbol was also used on the obverse of the U.S. dime until 1945, when the profile of President Franklin W. Roosevelt replaced the head of the god Mercury and the flip side showed a torch instead of an axe inserted into a bundle of rods.
   The word was adopted in Italy in the 1920s by the political movement led by Benito Mussolini to emphasize the power of unity, even as it focused on nationalism and social welfare. Similar political  objectives were set in Germany by its National Socialist Party led by Adolf Hitler. (The term "Nazi" is an abbreviation of the German word for "nationalist.")
      So what are the primary characteristics of the political movement known as fascism? In one sense, if capitalism is at one end of the economic-political spectrum and socialism is at the other extreme, fascism is neither fully anti-capitalist nor entirely anti-socialist, but lies somewhere in the middle.
   If socialism-communism be defined as complete government control of all means or production and distribution, and pure capitalism gives full control to private enterprise and investors with no voice or input by labor, then neither can be found in the real world, although many have tried.
   The reality, then, is that most socio-political-economic systems are elsewhere on the scale. At one time in America, labor had no significant voice in how workers were paid and how a company was run. The rise of organized labor and unions changed that as management adjusted.
   In Eastern Europe, the Soviet Union tried full control by a labor-government coalition, but that didn't work either. Nonetheless, these two histories don't stop some from trying, usually appealing to a sense of unity based on nationalism, ethnicity, race or some other theme, all of which emphasize a fear of "the others" who are out to destroy "our way of life."
   Scholar Kevin Passmore (Cardiff University) lists 15 characteristics of the system in his book titled "Fascism: A Very Short Introduction" (Oxford University Press, 2nd ed.  2014, pg 5). 
   These characteristics include Ultranationalism, Charismatic leadership, Dictatorship, Racism, Antisemitism, a Single Party, Paramilitarism, Violence (actual or threatened), Corporatism, a Totalitarian Ideology, and several others.
   Not all 20th Century movements known as fascist displayed all 15 of the characteristics listed. For example, antisemitism was strong in Germany version, but not in Italy.
   The same is true today, but nonetheless, there are fascist trends to be found in several countries around the world, including America. Bias against certain racial and ethnic groups is strong among some socio-political movements that are building strength in the mainstream of society. Antisemitism is virulent among some, but this time the religious bias is against Islam, not Judaism.
   Several times in recent years, this column has run several essays on the book "It Can't Happen Here," and two other books dealing with a radical takeover of the U.S. government. The first book was fiction, but the warning was that it can indeed happen here, and very nearly did -- twice.
   Comes now a book by Madeleine Albright, who came to America as a young woman to escape fascism in her native Czechoslovakia and rose to become a secretary of state.
   The book is titled "Fascism: A Warning," in which she argues that several world leaders are using the same tactics as those of Mussolini and Hitler. Moreover, she describes the current occupant of the Oval Office as "the most undemocratic president" in U.S. history.
   The headline over Albright's op-ed essay in the New York Times April 6 posed the question "Will We Stop Trump / Before It's Too Late?" 
   She lists many of the countries around the world where its leaders are encouraged by the "volatile presidency of Donald Trump." And by "what he has said, done, and failed to do," Trump has "diminished America's positive clout" in the world, and his actions have increased the possibility that "fascism will be accorded a fresh chance to strut around the world stage."
   It might even gain a chance to strut in America, led by someone who struts in his own self-importance much as other fascist leaders have in past years.