>>Has fascism ever arose in a country with low unemployment?<<
Also a good question. All I know is that Italy went Fascist during the 1920's, but I don't know what the economic situation was.
The article I refer to, "The Five Stages of Fascism," by Robert O. Paxton, in Journal of Modern History 70 (March 1998):1-23, sets forth five major difficulties which impede the definition of fascism. The first is one he calls "timing." When fascism first appeared, it was unexpected by political theorists, who expected universal enfranchisement would lead to greater democracy.
Also, for two generations, fascism was poorly understood by Leftist scholars because it was not predicted by Marxist ideology. They thought fascism was an inauthentic movement of the lower classes created by the power elite as a reaction to socialism, not an ideology of its own.
And then you get the conservatives who insist it is indistinguishable from socialism because both are totalitarian and anti-individual, and that's all you need to know.
One reason I am reading about fascism lately is that I see parallels among the Islamists in the Middle East. If, say, Saudia Arabia tried democracy, who would be elected? For that matter, who would be elected if there were genuine democracy in most countries in Latin America? Is it a coincidence that some countries, given democracy, vote it out?
I think fascism is more apt to take hold in countries with a strong man tradition. Most Americans don't get excited about wearing nifty colored shirts and marching in lock-step.
BTW - during the 1920's, there was a strong anti-immigration backlash in the US, and there were very stringent quotas put on immigration. It was to protect "American values." Shades of Pat Buchanan! It led to the revival of the KKK, and similar organizations hostile to immigrants. Watch "Black Legion" starring Humphrey Bogart. He plays a machinist who joins a proto-fascist mob that attacks immigrants by torchlight in the middle of the night. Based on the real Black Legion. Scary stuff.
Also "Fury", directed by Fritz Lang, starring Spencer Tracey - it's just about a lynch mob, but Fritz Lang had just immigrated to America to get away from the Nazis (who loved him) and the crowd scenes are truly horrifying. A lynch mob sets fire to the jail that Spencer Tracey is in and the looks on the faces as they watch the jail burn!
Even scarier were the movies promoting home grown proto-fascism as a positive thing, but they are very hard to find: "Gabriel Over the White House", "The President Vanishes" and "This Day and Age." Especially "Gabriel." What's scary about these movies is that they presented fascism as a viable alternative to democracy, in a positive light, and were well received.
As an antidote, read Sinclair Lewis's It Can't Happen Here. |
