Fascism
Fascism is a form of counter-revolutionary politics that first arose in
the early part of the twentieth-century in Europe. It was a response
to the rapid social upheaval, the devastation of World War I, and the
Bolshevik Revolution. Fascism is a philosophy or a system of
government the advocates or exercises a dictatorship of the extreme
right, typically through the merging of state and business leadership,
together with an ideology of aggressive nationalism. Celebrating the
nation or the race as an organic community surpassing all other
loyalties. This right-wing philosophy will even advocate violent
action to maintain this loyalty which is held in such high regards.
Fascism approaches politics in two central areas, populist and
elitist. Populist in that it seeks to activate "the people" as a whole
against perceived oppressors or enemies and to create a nation of
unity. The elitist approach treats as putting the people's will on one
select group, or most often one supreme leader called El Duce, from whom
all power proceeds downward. The two most recognized names that go
along with Fascism is Italy's Benito Mussolini and Germany's Adolf
Hitler.
The philosophy of Fascism can be traced to the philosophers who argue
that the will is prior to and superior to the intellect or reason.
George Sorel, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Georg Hegal are main
philosophers who's beliefs and ideologies greatly influenced the shaping
of Fascist theory. Sorel (1847-1922) was a French social philosopher
who had a major influence on Mussolini. Sorel believed that societies
naturally became decadent and disorganized. This decay could only be
slowed by the leadership of idealists who were willing to use violence
to obtain power. Nietzsche (1844-1900) theorized that there were two
moral codes: the ruling class ( master morality) and the oppressed
class (slave morality). Nietzsche believed the ancient empires were
developed from the master...
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