[csaa-forum] logic of facism

[langley timmy]

here are two perspectives from famous fascists:

this passage is taken from Weapons of Mass Deception
by Rampton & Stauber. It's an interview with Hermann
Goering. it's a relevant insight into the influence of
fear and patriotism in popular/political discourses.  
i quote in full:
During the war crimes trials at Nuremberg,
psychologist Gustave Gilbert visited Nazi
Reichmarshall Hermann Goering in his prison cell. "We
got around to the subject of war again and I said
that, contrary to his attitude, I did not think that
the common people are very thankful for leaders who
bring them war and destruction," Gilbert wrote in his
journal, Nuremberg Diary.
"Why, of course, the people don't want war," Goering
shrugged. "Why would some poor slob on a farm want to
risk his life in a war when the best that he can get
out of it is to come back to his farm in one piece?
Naturally, the common people don't want war; neither
in Russia nor in England nor in America, nor for that
matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after all,
it is the leaders of the country who determine the
policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the
people along, whether it is a democracy or a fascist
dictatorship or a Parliament or a communist
dictatorship."
"There is one difference," Gilbert pointed out. "In a
democracy the people have some say in the matter
through their elected representative, and in the
United States only Congress can declare wars."
"Oh, that is all well and good, Goering responded,
"but voice or no voice, the people can always be
brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy.
All you have to do is tell them they are being
attacked and denounce the pacifists for the lack of
patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It
works the same way in any country." 

This second quote comes from Postmodern Literary
Theory by Niall Lucy. It's a quote about relativism
from the great Italian Fascist Benito Mussolini, who
said in 1921:
"Everything I have said and done in these last years
is relativism by intuition. If relativism signifies
contempt for fixed categories and men who claim to be
the bearers of an objective, immortal truth then there
is nothing more relativistic than Fascist attitudes
and activities. From the fact that all ideologies are
of equal value, that all ideologies are mere fictions,
the modern relativist infers that everybody has the
right to create for himself his own ideology and to
attempt to enforce it with all the energy of which he
is capable"


	
	
		
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