‘The story is a sad one, told many times’, the lyrics of the REM-song ‘How the West was won and where it got us’ comes across as an appropriate line to start this contribution. How did we get into this mess? Clearly, songs are artistic expressions which may be used as a template for opposing thoughts, so I won’t claim to be the person with the best explanation, since I may be way off the mark. It is just that this inspired line triggered some inspired thoughts on ‘where it got us’.
Born not too long after the Second World War ended, with fresh memories in the adult population all around me, I was told that such a nightmare should be avoided at all cost to ever happen again. But what did actually happen? There were plenty of stories, about individual and collective heroism, victims and traitors. But what caused this massive failure of decency in humans? The short answer was that ‘fascism’ happened. And we, a new, untainted generation, should fight ‘fascism’ to safeguard future generations from such a horror ever to happen again. I understood, and concurred. But what exactly was ‘fascism’?
The ‘Baby Boomers’ learned quickly that if you were opposed to something, whatever it was, you had to label it ‘fascist’. End of discussion. To my shame I can’t deny having done that myself on occasions, but my curiosity ran deep, and I overcame this rather simplistic, and at times even openly ‘fascist’ way of branding people who disagreed with you as your sworn enemy, without the need to hear them out. Through the available literature I searched for the roots of fascist ideology, learned that the common theme was ‘corporatism’, with a strict hierarchy from the bottom to the top, and everybody at his or her ‘station’ within a larger representative body, which could petition the bodies above it, all for the sake of the ‘Nation’, and in the service of its infallible ‘Leader’, himself working tirelessly to arrive at the top of the food-chain of the ‘Leaders’ of competing ‘Nations’, while not being shy to use military power and sneaky ‘Regime Change’ schemes to push the competition aside, and using repression of hostile elements within the ‘Nation’ itself.
Racism was not a necessary ingredient, but anyone considered a threat to the ‘Nation’, or ‘unsuitable’ to serve, was an outcast, a ‘drag’, and in Germany this led to idolization of the ‘Germanic Race’, while dispatching the Jews, Roma and Slavic people in particular to the realm of the ‘Untermenschen’, not fit to serve, and not to be trusted. In other fascist countries this was not necessarily the case, and if you accept this frame of the importance of a ‘Nation’ for one selected group of people seen as superior to others, in whatever way, actively shielding society from outside influences of easily identifiable people, because they are a threat, or ‘unsuitable’, you can understand why ‘Apartheid’-regimes were earmarked as being ‘fascist’. But if they lack the ‘corporatist’ structure, and a clear-cut ‘Nation’ looking for regional expansion and relegating the ‘Rest’ to do their bidding, it could be argued that something is amiss. That something is lacking. Where did the ‘Top Dog’ go?
This contribution doesn’t offer me enough room to work towards an exact description of what fascism is, and when it is correct to say that someone is a fascist, and when this label is a shortcut to nowhere, merely resulting in mud-slinging, brawls, and then war. But if someone self-identifies as a fascist by bringing a well-known salute, showing insignia on their clothing, in their homes, and engraved on their bodies as tattoos, you may safely assume that this person doesn’t mind to be listed as a fascist. Multiple journalists came to Ukraine in 2014, and saw with their own eyes that the violent core at ‘Maidan’ consisted of people who openly advertised their undying love for Stephan Bandera and ultra-right-wing Nationalists like him, who played a pivotal role in the region we call Ukraine today, seeking an independent ‘Nation’, for which purpose they sided with Hitler Germany. Violent anti-semitism has been documented as prominent within that particular group of people, who set up several separate militias to ‘fight Russia’, and Russophone people in their own country seen as traitors.
Now, allow me to step back, and point you in the direction of people like Elias Canetti, and Hannah Arendt, who removed themselves from diving in at the deep end, trying to avoid this matter of what exactly should be considered fascist, but instead asking themselves how so many decent people eventually followed this blatantly anti-humanistic ideology, with its overblown importance of the ‘Nation’, and love for brutal power to come out on top? You need to read their books to understand the answers they came up with, and I can recommend the work of C.J. Hopkins to boost, as he traces certain developments in our western world today as remarkably similar to a pattern we all said we would never, ever embrace again. Though Hopkins’ approach differs from that of Canetti and Arendt, he is struggling with the same phenomenon as they were. Is it fascism? Like I said, I’m not going there since a multiple volume book would not convince you either way. But no lack of possibilities to ‘identify’ with some group ‘fighting fascism’, whether you support the Russian effort to ‘de-nazify’ Ukraine, or feel that Putin is a ‘fascist dictator’.
At the conclusion of World War II, the allies agreed to bundle their forces to fight fascism. Russia has called on western partners repeatedly, which included a motion in the UN-security council, rejected by the west, to honor that promise to humanity, but the western nations are using their own approach to identify ‘extreme right wing’ people who are a threat, some of which would be identified as clearly ‘left wing’ not too long ago, ironically, and are no longer interested in working with Russia, or China, since our superior ‘One World’-design requires the lower representative organizations to fall in line, with frequent obedience tests, and to serve the ‘Bigger Purpose’ of opening up to our ‘Corporations’, or face the consequences. To obscure what fascism is, and how it grows organically, is not in our best interest as human beings today, I’m sure. And that is an understatement. On the other hand, there is no exact definition which would deliver the verdict. Some sort of active dialogue and soul searching would be required to avoid locking up some harmless prankster, or turning a blind eye towards ‘Corporatism’ entering through the back-door, no longer in need of a ‘Top Dog’, since it has a team of ‘Dogs’ doing its bidding, assuring access to a replacement ‘Dog’ at every turn.
This smart move has many advantages, as it is not as rigid as the initial concept, which needed a ‘Leader’ as the focal point. It is far more flexible, and robust, but of paramount importance is a ‘distracted’ people who will go along, even grateful to suffer badly in order to advance the program of ‘Enlargement’, and fighting self-aware Nations which refuse to sign on the dotted line. The west was won over this way, as REM highlighted in their song, and that is what got us here. But now what? It looks like we arrived at a Harry Callahan (‘Dirty Harry’) moment in time, with Russia taking aim, and telling us: ‘Do you feel lucky today, punk?’
All I’m saying is, that whether you would describe ‘Dirty Harry’ as a true fascist, or an anti-fascist, and the sleaze-bag als a truly liberated individual totally in sync with his preferred identity, is no longer important, from where I’m standing. Through our loud displays of ‘Unity’, and chest-thumping, a child can see the cracks where one side of our brain is feeling lucky, while the other side understands that we can’t win. This is one of those days where we should have stayed at home, minding our own business. What on earth made us decide to look for some adventure?