Can fascism do better today?
To be able to fulfil its goals in shaping and defining the nation, the state requires total obedience and absolute power. As Mussolini argues, without order and hierarchy, there can be neither discipline nor effort from the people, which must receive guidance from the state, which has only one priority: the general interest.[1] This is why the concept of the totalitarian state is so closely linked to fascism. The fascist state can be looked at as a top-to-bottom organisation, in which a single person (e.g. Mussolini in Italy) takes all decisions, for the good of the whole, and then every single unit within the whole is obliged to comply with these decisions. There is no discussion; there is no taking different viewpoints into account. If you submit to the state, then you can be part of the nation. You can only be part of the nation and claim all the glory and greatness as part of yourself if you submit to the authority of the state. You cannot be part of the nation if you reject the authority of the state, since the state is the bearer if everything good and moral. This would mean that you are acting against the general interest and therefore against the nation. This approach can be seen as a tool of fascists to eliminate all their political rivals. There is no room for discussion and suggestions of a better political organisation of society, because as soon as someone tries to put their point across or questions the allocation of such great power to the state, they are branded enemy of the nation.
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[1] Benito Mussolini, ‘The Doctrine of Fascism’ (1932), in Adrian Lyttelton (ed.) Italian Fascisms (London: Cape, 1973)
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