So you are arguing that contemporary groups such as the British National Front or the US National Alliance are not fascist??? How about calling them neofascist?
-Chip
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-lbo-talk at lists.panix.com
> [mailto:owner-lbo-talk at lists.panix.com]On Behalf Of
> Christopher Rhoades
> Dÿkema
> Sent: Sunday, July 01, 2001 4:27 PM
> To: lbo-talk at lists.panix.com
> Subject: Re: Defining Fascism
>
>
> Brad comments that his definition doesn't fit well with the
> current Russian
> and Chinese régimes. This makes sense. Does it also make
> sense to say that
> fascism as described, was a kind of phenomenon that arose in
> capitalist
> states that were more or less advanced, but still had large population
> components that were, or recently had been peasants with roots in pre
> modernity, but which had been touched just enough by market
> relations that
> they were susceptible to the kind of blandishments that Brad
> describes and
> which would have fed into their anomie? That would account
> for a number of
> things that seem to be unclear in this discussion, in
> particular, the fact
> that "fascism" seem inapt to any current circumstances.
>
> Christopher Rhoades Dÿkema
>
> "John K. Taber" wrote:
>
> > OK, I stand corrected. I like Brad DeLong's definition
> > of fascism. I'll run with it pending further comments from
> > lbo-sters.
> >
> > I also like Michael Perelman's comment.
> >
> > <<
> > Brad DeLong:
> >
> > I always thought that fascism had five important elements:
> >
> > - --A strong belief that--through social darwinism--morality is
> > ultimately tied to blood and race, understood as descent and genetic
> > relationship.
> >
> > - --A strong rejection of the classical "liberal" belief that
> > individuals have rights that any legitimate state is bound
> to respect.
> >
> > - - -In its place, an assertion that individuals have duties to the
> > state, seen as the decision-making organ of the collectivity.
> >
> > - --A strong belief that parliamentary democracy is not the way to
> > choose the leaders of the state: a combination of charismatic
> > expression and bureaucratic oligarchism is.
> >
> > - - -A strong fear of Marxist communism, and an eagerness to use any
> > and all weapons--suspension of parliamentary democracy, mass
> > propaganda, rallies, street violence, and so forth--to combat it.
> >
> > So I don't think calling the current Russian or the current Chinese
> > governmetn "fascist" is terribly useful. They have some of these
> > elements, but not all of them.
> >
> > Michael Perelman:
> >
> > Brad's definition of fascism was excellent, except the part
> below might
> > use some modification. I think that he should add that the
> state has
> > the
> > responsibility of serving the people (Volk) as a whole. Of
> course, no
> > fascist regimes did that any more than liberal regimes respect the
> > rights
> > of individuals when they are inconvenient.
> >
> > >>
> >
> > --
> > John K. Taber
>