Orwell and (Ron Paul) on "Fascism"

by Liberty and Power

Tom Bevan accuses Ron Paul of"malpractice" for challenging the validity of the term"islamic fascism," a buzzword rarely applied to such repressive (but U.S. supported) regimes as Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Uzbekistan.

The overuse of the word fascist is not new as George Orwell pointed out in 1944:

“...the word ‘Fascism’ is almost entirely meaningless. In conversation, of course, it is used even more wildly than in print. I have heard it applied to farmers, shopkeepers, Social Credit, corporal punishment, fox-hunting, bull-fighting, the 1922 Committee, the 1941 Committee, Kipling, Gandhi, Chiang Kai-Shek, homosexuality, Priestley’s broadcasts, Youth Hostels, astrology, women, dogs and I do not know what else... almost any English person would accept ‘bully’ as a synonym for ‘Fascist’.”

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Gus diZerega - 10/14/2007

My technical skills frequently leave a lot to be desired. I apologize for thinking I was deleted - but when I hit "submit" the little window indicated I was under the proper post, or so it seemed at the time. Later it seemed to disappear.

I will re-write... First the personal, then the more general

Hitchens is not a very reliable reporter. He was at Whitman College, where I was teaching at the time, when 9-11 happened. He spent extra days in Walla Walla as a result because air traffic was disrupted.

From what I saw and heard, he spent them drinking.

Later he said our department - a very liberal one - was against any American response because we believed the US deserved it, or some such. He actively contributed to the demonization of liberals as disloyal.

He was wrong. Two faculty members sharing a common position could possibly be so accused, but to my knowledge no one else could.

I bring this up because Hitchens is a major advocate of the term "Islamofascism," based in part on his experience in the Middle East. His experience in Walla Walla does not lend much credence to his on-the-site powers of observation and comprehension.

But there is such a thing as fascism, Orwell to the contrary. That some rightwingers over-used the term "communist" to accuse Earl Warren and Dwight Eisenhower of being communists did not mean the term lacked all coherence. Nor did the fact that some communists killed many others mean the term was meaningless.

I recommend Robert Paxton's Anatomy of Fascism, Vintage, 2005. After a wide ranging study, he summarizes the essence of fascism as focused on action rather than ideology, the key ideas often being more implicit than explicit. Fascism was defined by mobilizing passions." They were

1. a sense of overwhelming crisis beyond traditional solutions

2. primacy of the group and subordination of the individual to it

3. belief one's group is a victim justifying any action against its enemies.

4. Dread of the group's decline under individualistic liberalism, class conflict,m and alien influences

5. Need for a closer, purer community

6. need for a national chieftan

7. superiority of leader's instincts over abstract and universal reason.

8. the beauty of violence and efficacy of the will in the group's interests.

9. The right of the group to dominate everyone else. (219-220)

Regarding "Islamofascism" Paxton writes:
"The principal objection to succumbing to the temptation to call Islamic Fundamentalist movements like al-Qaeda and the Taliban fascist is that they are not reactions against a malfunctioning democracy. Arising in traditional hierarchical societies, their unity is, in terms of Emile Durkheim's famous distinction, more organic than mechanical. Above all, they have not "given up free institutions," since they never had any." (204)

Powerful elements of the contemporary right-wing alliance in Washington come far closer to genuine fascism as it existed in Europe during the 30s. I think any reader of this list could find strong parallels with the contemporary Republican party - despite it's having been compiled from very different and earlier sources.

Anthony Gregory - 10/14/2007

No one deleted your comment, Gus. You accidently posted it under the thread "This Morning: Halderman Radio Interview on the War on Drugs and Foreign Policy."

Mark Brady - 10/13/2007

Indeed, if you type "Christopher Hitchens" + drunk into Google search engine, you find 54,000 links!

Gus diZerega - 10/13/2007

why did you delete my post? Because I mentioned Hitchens' drunkeness which I saw with my own eyes and has been frequently referred to publicly?

Anthony Gregory - 10/12/2007

That's a great, classic essay, but I think Orwell would use some words much more narrowly than could be appropriate.