Capitalism in Decay

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Fascism is capitalism in decay. As with anticommunism in general, the ruling class has oversimplified this phenomenon to the point of absurdity and teaches but a small fraction of its history. This is the spot for getting a serious understanding of it (from a more proletarian perspective) and collecting the facts that contemporary anticommunists are unlikely to discuss.

Posts should be relevant to either fascism or neofascism, otherwise they belong in !latestagecapitalism@lemmygrad.ml. If you are unsure if the subject matter is related to either, share it there instead. Off‐topic posts shall be removed.

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For our purposes, we consider early Shōwa Japan to be capitalism in decay.

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AnarchoBolshevik@lemmygrad.ml

From the perspective of someone in the early 1920s, what warning signs were there of Classical Fascism's horrors? (lemmy.ml)

submitted 3 months ago by comfy@lemmy.ml to c/capitalismindecay@lemmygrad.ml

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[Classical] Fascism was interesting for a few reasons, some of them being its relationship to the labour movement:

ᴉuᴉlossnW was a prominent socialist until their expulsion from the PSI for their nationalist views, and if we take them at their word in their last testament while captured by communists, they considered themself a socialist
Fascism managed to bring other former Marxist communists into their ranks, notably Nicola Bombacci, a founding member of the Communist Party of Italy in 1921 until their expulsion for fascist views in 1927
Fascism was economically a class-collaborationist ideology (specifically corporativism, from the Latin corpus, body)

Now, of course, we have the benefit of hindsight and can see what a disaster Italian fascism and its friends were and the name of 'fascism' is forever tainted. But theoretically a modern equivalent could similarly appeal to both nationalists and the socialist-leaning today in a similar way. Fascism doesn't logically imply racism, nor does it necessarily exclude certain types of progressivism: see BUF gaining large support from women by being pro-suffrage, see environmentalism of eco-fascists, and consider some modern neofash parties adopting social democrat policy points.

With all this in mind, what were the early warning signs that Fascism was not going to be pro-worker, despite its rhetoric? How well do you believe socialists will be able to spot them?

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[–] AnarchoBolshevik@lemmygrad.ml 6 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

If they won’t listen to reason, then it is probably for the best to shun or expel self‐identified socialists (e.g. Benito Mussolini) who persistently advocate adding another dictatorship of the bourgeoisie (e.g. the Kingdom of Italy) to a war, or who repeatedly defend (neo)imperialist aggressors such as the NATO or the so‐called ‘State of Israel’.

While the tendency seems to be somewhat commoner in those with a military background, it is, of course, by no means universal to them, and technically anybody can be prowar. As with a history under abusive parenters, a military background can be a cause for concern but certainly no guarantee that somebody is a potential neofascist.

So basically,

Is the take-away that we should be cautious of ex-military who remain pro-war?

We should be cautious of anybody who remains prowar, yes.