Modern Fascism

Fascism did not die with Adolph Hitler.  The philosophy is alive and well, but it no longer calls itself Fascist. It prefers the words "liberal" and "progressive."  I am currently reading an interesting book with the somewhat shocking title: "Liberal Fascism" by Jonah Goldberg.   

I would venture to suggest that what various Fascist movements hold in common is a faith, almost religious in character, in the power of the state to solve all problems in the world.  For modern fascist types, Politics replaces Religion as the Ultimate Ideology.  There also seems to be a faith in the ability of the Intelligentsia to solve problems and a distrust of democracy and ordinary people who are regarded as rather dumb, uneducated and not fit for making important decisions.   Hence all the warnings printed all over every product you buy, such as warnings not to use a hair dryer in the shower. 

 The exact plan for World Salvation is not clear, but it is the power of the state that is the means.  To solve the problems of the world, we need a world state, and the U.N. is idolized as the beginning of that solution.    As for the Plan, if we find our Savior, such as Obama, he will come up with something, that's certain.  Fascists tend to idealize Big Men such as Mussolini, Hitler, Stalin,  and currently, Obama. 

    Fascists are pragmatic, and various things will be tried and discarded.  Examples are Hillary's Clinton's health care plans and her philosophy that children should not be subject to their parents, but be under the protection of the state from the parents (she wrote a book about this).   Other examples are all the various New Deal plans passed in an effort to get out of the Great Depression.  

Since the Key Idea is the necessity of action by the State, fascists always work to increase the power of the state, to bring within the jurisdiction of government more and more areas of life.  The exact means of salvation is always a little vague. We will try something and if that doesn't work, we'll try something else, until we succeed in eradicating poverty, supplying medical care for everyone at an affordable price, and solving world peace.  Studying science or economics is not necessary, those are mere details that can be delegated to government employees.   Look at the content of Obama "plan" to stimulate the economy and you will see an example of fascist logic in action.  The goal is always always clear and noble. The means is cobbled together rather randomly because Obama  has no clear economic theory.   Not to pick on Obama, especially, but recall how he responded to specific questions about what he was going to change, and by what means.   Don't worry. The best minds will be chosen to come up with a Plan. 

The basic critique of Fascism from my point of view is libertarian in nature.  Libertarians distrust giving unlimited power to fallible humans who do not have a clear plan as to what they are going to do with it.  It seems to me that the Founders of this country shared this point of view.  We don't believe that human beings become any more intelligent or reliable just because they work for the government.    The problem with modern politics, from the Libertarian perspective, is that both the Democrat and Republican parties are beset by fascist ideas, the Democrats wholeheartedly and the Republicans grudgingly by unconscious absorption of the Fascist spirit of the Age via popular culture and religious beliefs.  (Bush and "compassionate conservatism").   

Libertarians are left to stand on the sidelines playing the role of Cassandra,  predicting that  catastrophe is coming.