Defining Fascism

Nathan Newman nathan at newman.org
Wed Jun 27 13:54:26 PDT 2001


----- Original Message ----- From: "Chip Berlet" <cberlet at igc.org>


>OK, what sectors of big business and finance captial supported the NSDAP
>during the social movement phase led ideologically by the Strasser
>brothers?

BTW this comment highlight's the key reason you are talking past myself and Charles - god help me that we are grouped together on this point :) You are worried about fascism as a social movement, while Charles and I are debating fascism as a historic GOVERNING system.

Fascism in the self-conception of its social movement proponents is interesting historically but not economically or politically, since it would never have gained power without the eventual alliance of the business sector. What is interesting to me about fascism, like many other rightwing movements allied to capital, is exactly the historic junctures and forms that capital takes when it is forced to ally with such ideologies in order to fend off socialist alternatives.

So to look only at the meaning of fascism as defined by those who believed in it is not to grapple with the whole phenomena, since it is fascist social belief combined with capitalist support bringing it into power that adds up to "real existing fascism" as a historical governing system.

-- Nathan Newman



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