Professor Forbes’ article represents a timely and important contribution. It should, if need be, serve as a means of raising the readers’ historical consciousnesses during a period in which dramatic changes in U.S. economic and social policies are under way, in a time when unabashed power politics seem to be imposed on half the globe by the ruling classes of both great imperial powers

Binder, Wolfgang

English

VCU Scholars Compass

Cri t ique  Professor  Forbes'  art ic le  represents a t i mely  and  i mporta nt contr i bu t ion .  I t  shou ld ,  i f  need be, serve as a means of ra i s i ng  the  readers'  h i stor i ca l  consciousnesses d ur i n g  a per iod i n  w h i c h  d ra mat ic cha nges i n  U .S .  economic  and  soc ia l  pol i c ies  are  u n de r  way,  in  a t i me when unabashed power po l i t i cs see m  to be i mposed on  ha l f  the  g lobe by the  ru l i n g  cl asses of both g reat i m per ia l  powers. T heor ies  on the natu re of fascis m  have been i n  ex i stence for over s i xty years and  vary accord i n g  to the respect ive au thor's  ideo logy a nd i nterest .  Th i s  is d ue i n  part to the  i nva r i ab ly  rat her  mushy ideology of the d ifferent brands  of  fasci s m  wi th  wh ich  the  h u ma n  race has  so far been aff l i cted . Eu ropea n de mocrat ic  soc ia l i sts were f i rst i n  p u b l i sh i ng cr i t ica l  works  on  fasci sm, and  among them I ta l i a ns such  as G i ova n n i  Z i bord i and Torquato N a n n i  made the m ost n oteworthy  contr i but ions . '  They def i ned i n  the ear ly  1 920s t h e  esse nt ia l s  of fascism as a u n i o n  of capita l i sts,  t h e  b i g  l a n d ho ld i n g  c lass and  forms o f  exalted patr iots i sm .  C o m m u n ist theoret ic ians  suffered i n  the i r  ana l yses fro m t h e i r  r i g id  d octr i n e  and  forced r ighteousness after  havi ng  h o ped to ca rry the  rest of E u rope o nce the  tr i u m p h  of  the  bolsheviki had been ach i eved in  R uss ia .  Ear l y  p ro-fascist t heoret ic i ans  were aga i n  I ta l i ans,  especia l l y  Lu ig i  Sa lvatore l l i ,  w i t h  G i ova n n i  Gent i le ,  a former l i bera l  and  a m a n  of remarkab le  i ntel lect ,  a n d  Alfredo Rocco, whose  " Po l i t i ca l  Doct r i n e  of Fasci sm," a speech g iven o n  August 30, 1 925,  beca m e  so met h i n g  l i ke the off ic ia l  dogma in fasc ist  c i rc les .  What h is  doct r i n e  amou nts to i s  noth i ng more than a po l i t ica l  theory of hyper-nat iona l i sm .2 The Germa n Socia l  Democrat H e r ma n H e l l e r  w rote one of the best ana lyses in Europa und der Faschismus, 1 925, fou r  years before the  p u b l icat i o n  of Adolf Hit ler' s  Mein Kampf (My Battle) a n d  the i nsta l la t ion of Naz i  power i n  h is cou ntry.  He sees fasc i sm as a system of d i ctators h i p  w i thout  a system of be l iefs, w i thout  a va l ue system except the  d r ive to power and  vio lence sanct ioned by the  state .  He l l e r  ana lyzes fascism as tota l l y  cyn ica l ,  propagati n g  a type of i rrat iona l  vol untar i sm that  i s  used to j ust ify the  i m mora l i ty of a caste of masters and  a mass of servants and s laves. The Marx i st p h i l osopher  Ernst B loch stresses in h is  t ranspol i t ica l  i n terpretat ion  of fasci s m  age-o ld ,  atavistic, sav ior- h u ngry yea rn i ngs  in  the  Eu rope of h i s  t i me. 3  28 Forbes tr ies to show the ex istence of fascis m  o n  the Amer ican con t inent  both i n  the past a n d  at  prese nt .  He is  certa i n l y  correct in  what he be l i eves a re fascist e leme nts i n  i m per ia l  Western h istory. T h e  bruta l i z i n g  i n f l ue nce o f  a fro nt ier  or  col o n i a l i st menta l i ty by the d o m i n a nt grou ps is  a l so defi n i te ly  worth ment i o n i n g .  The scope of his  work-it reaches back to pre-Ch rist ia n  t i m es-i s  a d m i rable  and his a l l us ipn to the Mess i a n i c  strand one of his  m ost i nterest i n g  f i n d s .  But  i n  us i n g  "fascism" he i s  us i n g  a t e r m  t h a t  i s  h i storica l l y  a n d  ideologica l l y  more than " l oaded," and even aft e r  h i s  e x ce l l e n t  l i st of I I k ey" a nd I I s e co n d a ry characterist ics" o n e  hesitates to agree i n  a l l  the i nsta nces he i s  g iv i n g  us .  The term tends to become too vague, too general  to be p recise and appl icab le .  Cha racter iz i n g  the New E n g l a n d  of the 1 600s or  t h e  S pa i n  of P h i l i p  I I  as per iods of  fascis m  may be, d espite the i r  repress ive, genoci d a l ' o r  i m peria l ist ic as pects, t o o  d rastic a red uct ion and m a y  a m o u n t  t o  a n  ah i stor ic s i m p l i ficati o n  of h i g h l y  com plex matters.  T h e  reader ru ns t h e  r i s k  of bei n g  confused b y  a h ost o f  q u a l if iers such as " n ear ly  fascist," I I  proto-fascist," a n d  "tru ly  fascist ."  I n  many exam p les the term i n o logy t ra d i t i o n a l l y  fou nd l i ke " i m per ia l i sm" or "co lon ia l i sm" would  proba b l y  be at least as usef u l  a nd easier to d efi ne.  Forbes, who is  not giv i n g  us  h is b i b l iogra p h i ca l  sou rces, sees evident ly  fasc ism as d i d  the Amer ican Robert  A. Brady a n d  the German M a x  Horkheimer  as a n  essent ia l ,  consci o u s  for m  of ca pita l i s m.4 One might, for so l i d  reaso ns,  a rg u e  the same for Sta l i n i s m .  M ost of N orth A mer ica n  h istory i s ,  a las, n ot part o f  God's  g ift to h u ma n ity a n d  appears to  be based less o n  the benign aspects of C h rista n i ty but  rather  o n  i t s  least savory trad it ions,  on a n  extens ion  of E u ropean i m per ia l i sm,  o n  greed . Most fou n d i n g  fat hers were, sad ly  e n o u g h ,  s lave holders .  f o r  T h o m as J efferso n ,  w h o  i s  a g o o d  case i n  poi nt s i n ce he re presents the typica l  ch i l d  of his  age as  we l l  as a member of the power e l ite of his cou ntry, eco n o m i c  adva ntages ( L e . ,  chatte l s lavery) possessed abso l ute pr iority over  idea ls  and mora l s  q u a l ms.s  H istory has, as  a r u l e, been written by the v ictors.  Forbes' essay tou ches on that very i mporta nt as pect of perspect i ve a n d  pa rt ia l ity i n  h istoriog raphy.  We s h o u l d  bear i n  m i n d  t h at n o  such t h i n g  as a n  o bject ive o r  n e utra l  writ i n g  of h i story ex ists .  The mere select ion of facts,  let a l o n e  t h e i r  p resentat ion,  a l ready mea ns i nterpret at i o n .  Referr i n g  to the 29 d o m i n a nt layers of soci ety i n  the respective con t i n e nts, J a mes Ba ldwin  sa i d : H i story i n  E u rope i s  now meant as a n  enormous c loak to cover past cr i mes a nd errors a n d  present a nger a n d  d e s pa i r  . . .  A n d  . . .  A me r i ca n s  a re eve n m o re a bj e ct t h a n  E u ro pea n s .  r A m e ri ca n  h i story  J was poisoned from the begi n n i n g, a n d  n o  one has been a b l e  to a d m i t  i t.6  The rea l rub l ies in economic  d o m i n a nce,  in self- i nte rest a n d  t h e  d e n i a l  of power shar i n g .  America n  h isto r ians  l i ke C h a r les  Aust in  Beard rea l i zed th is  as ear ly  as 191 3.7  Most of the rhetoric rests in the h istory of cu l ture c lash i n  t h e  A m e ricas.  I n  d ea l i n g  with Span ish  expans ion ism,  Forbes fol l ows the ce ntur ies o ld  h i storiographic  tradi t ion of the " Ieye nda negra ."  However, the Cathol ic  C h u rch gra nted a sou l  to Afr ica n  s laves- i n  part  as a resu l t  of the efforts of Barto lome d e  Las Casas-a fact which  was  h a rd for  the Protesta nts to  concede i n  t h e  Br i t i sh  coloni es a n d  the later U n ited States of  Amer ica .8 The "pec u l i a r  i nst itut ion" with i t s  esta b l i s h m e n t  of  chattel  s lavery on t h e  soi l  of  t h e  U .S .  re mains  un ique in  wor ld  h istory.  O n e  s h o u l d  a lso ment ion that  the  Aztecs, l ike  m a n y  o t h e r  powerf u l  I n d i a n  t r i bes,  were t h e m se l ve s  a n  i m per ia l i st ic  nat i o n ,  whose tr i butary o r  ens laved tr i bes e nabled,  a l o n g  with many other factors, He rna n Cortez to co n q u e r  w h at beca me New Spai n .  F orbes refers t o  a h i g h l y  releva nt  issue ( a n d  i n  s u ffi cie nt l y  f lex i b l e  t e r m s  to a v o i d  the danger of over-si m p l i f icat i o n )  w h e n  h e  states t hat fascist e lements ca n merge i nto a repressive " c u l t u ra l  system" which d oes n ot n ecessar i ly  have to snow menaci ng aspects as long as t h e  gro u p  i n power d oes not feel cha l lenged . The ex istence of " d a i l y  fascism" (which i mp l i es i n  more or less  overt forms socio-eco n o m i c  and p s y c h o l o g i c a l  o p p r e ss i o n ,  i n s t i t u t io n a l i z e d  r a c i s m ,  stereotypi n g, d e l i berate fa ls if icat ion of h i story, a n d  a n egati o n  of " u nsa nct ioned" cul tura l  va l u es)  i n  v i rt u a l l y  every Western society has to be ack nowledged a n d  deserves c lose observat ion .  Wo lfga n g  B i n d e r  U n i ve rs i tat Er la n gen-Nlirn berg 30 NOTES l Giova n n i  Z i bord i ,  " Crit ica soci a l i sta de l  fascis m o," i n  R .  Mondolfo, e d . ,  II fascismo e i partiti politici (1922) . Torguato N a n n i ,  Bolscevismo e fascismo al lune della critica marxista, Benito Mussolini ( 1925 ) .  2 l u i g i  Sa l vatore l l i ,  Nacionalfascismo (1 923 ) .  Alfredo Rosso, " la d ottr ina  po l i t i ca des fasci smo" ( A u g ust 30, 1925 ) .  G i ova n n i  Gent i le ,  Origini e dottrina del fascismo ( 1929 ) .  3Ernst B loch,  Erbschaft dieser Zeit ( 1935, 1 962) . F o r  a theory of Germa n i c  racis m  see Alfred Rosen berg, Das Wesenhafte des Nationa lsozia lismus (1 932) a n d  the Br i t i sh fascist Oswa l d  Mosley, Fascism:  100 Questions Asked and Answered ( 1936) . F ro m  the enormous ly  large l i terat u re o n  Span ish  fascis m  the fol lowi n g  have become class ics : Genera l iss i mo F ra nco, pa/abras del Caudillo, 19 de abril 1 937- 1 9  abril 1 938 (1938 ) ;  B ravo M a rt inez,  Historia de la Flange Espanola y de las JONS (1943 ) ;  Gera l d  B re n a n ,  The Spanish Labyrinth:  An Account of the Socia l and Political Background of the Spanish Civil War (1943, 1 962 ) ;  Sta n ley G .  Payne, A History of Spanish Fascism (1 961 ) ;  a n d  Gabr ie l  Jackson,  The Spanish Republic and the Civil War ( 1965 ) .  4Robert A. Brady, The Spirit and Structure of German Fascism (1 937) ,  a n d  Max H orkhei mer,  Die Juden und Europa (1939 ) .  S e e  a lso Ta lcott Parsons, " S o m e  Sociologica l  Aspects of t h e  Fascist M ovement," Socia l Forces, 21  (1942) 1 38-147, a n d  H a n n a h  Arendt,  Elemente und Ursprunge totaler Herrscha ft (1 955) American edit ion as Imperialism ( 1 968) ,  especi a l l y  pa rts O n e  a n d  Two. sTh o mas J effe rson,  Notes on the Sta te of Virginia (1 787) re pri nted i n  M . D. Peterson,  ed., The Portable Jefferson (1 975 ) .  Lester  J .  C a p p o n ,  e d . ,  Th e A da ms-Jefferson L etters . . .  (1959) . Da nie l  Boorsti n,  The L ost World of Thomas Jefferson (1 948). Winthrop D. Jordon, White O ver Black:  Attitudes Toward the Negro 1550-1812 ( 1969 ) .  David Br ion Davis,  The Problem of Slavery in the Age of Revolution 1 770-1823 ( 1975) .  One of the best books on i d eo logy,  economics,  and race iss u es in the ear ly  h istory of t h e  key state Virg i n i a  i s  Ed m u n d  S.  M orga n ,  American Sla very, American Freedom :  The Ordeal of Colonial Virginia (1 975 ) .  6"J a m es Ba ldwi n :  , A n  I nterview b y  Wolfgang Bi nder," i n Press, R evista/Revi'eW Interamertcana ( 1 981 -82) . . ;  . 7Charles Austi n B�ard, A n  Economic Interpretation of the American Constitution (191 3 ) .  3 1  8Barto lo me d e  Las Casas, B revis ima re/aci6n de las destrucci6n de las Indias occidenta/es (1 552) .  Lewis Ha n k e, Bartolome de las Casas : An Interpretation of His Life a nd Writings (1 951 ) .  O n e  of t he most i m porta nt Spanish h istor ians  of our  centu ry,  Ramon Menendez Pida l ,  pu bl i shed at the ri pe age of n i n ety-th ree a v ic ious  attack on Las  Casas a n d  o n  w h a t  he sees a s  a trad i t ion  o f  consci ous sla nderi n g  of Sp a n i s h  h o n o r  i n  the " l eyenda negra" w i t h  Bartolome de Las  Casas : Su Doble Personalidad (1963) .  Criti q u e  To q u ote the cartoon character Pog o :  " W e  h a v e  m e t  the enemy and he is  us ."  Th e key stre ngth i n  Forbes' a n a lys is  of  fasc ism is  h i s  wide-ra n g i n g  h istorical  sweep and the way he s hows that  many e lements i n  American character, such as p rej u d i ce agai nst i m mi gra nts and eagerness for the spread of American ideas overseas, are re l ated to fascist ic te ndenci es t h r o u g h o u t  A merican h i story. F orbes reinterprets some of the i m portant events a n d  soci a l  move ments i n  western h istory a n d  shows h ow t h e  te n d e ncies bur ied i n  m a n y  c u l t u ra l  systems l e a d  to fascist states when the con d it ions are right. He argues that we ca n n ot d is miss fascism as a momentary aberrat ion of a few fa nat ic  states but must consider  how we a n d  o u r  cu rrent pol it i co-economic systems are al l  i nvolved in fascist behaviors .  The h i g h  poi nts of Forbes' d i scussion i nc l u d e  h is co m ments on "J efferson i a n  democracy," the Confed erate States of A merica,  and the B u reau of I nd i a n  Affa i rs .  I n  each case, he s h ows how the h i g h -b lown rhetori c of t h e i r  prop o ne nts, w h o ,  fol l owing the m o d e l  of J efferson i a n  democracy, p rom ised l i berty a n d  eq ual ity for everyone b u t  masked the repress ion a n d  terror v isited o n  su bord i nate grou ps, s uch as s laves. Eve n though h i s  discuss ion i s  excit i ng, the broad coverage a n d  la rge n u mber of s i tuat ions forbes exa m i n es and f inds  to be fascist or to have "fascist tendencies" lead to two related wea knesses. O ne i s  the lack of precis ion that resu lts from the 32 

Critique [of Fascism: A Review of Its History and Its Present Cultural Reality in the Americas]

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Critique [of Fascism: A Review of Its History and Its Present Cultural Reality in the Americas]

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