The F-Word

"Fascism" has become a malediction to evoke fear and loathing of the US Republican Party under Trump, Alternative für Germany (AfD), the British Reform Party, and other right-wing movements. It's a strongly charged term, but in this context but it is false and harmful. Strategically, it is better to understand what these movements actually are rather than simply using "fascism" a pejorative. We are not witnessing the rise of fascism, but rather a fall of globalist liberal and social democracy. It has exhausted its possibilities and is losing supporters, who are turning to the populist and national-conservative right in the vain hope of improvement.

Social democracy arose in the 19th Century as a defence against the growing socialist movement. It modified capitalism, softened it to ease mass poverty and improve the living conditions of the working class, not out of benevolence but to forestall uprisings. It was effective for over a century. It is fair to say that it has included radical and socialist leanings (e.g., "Red Vienna" under the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria), but always modelled as reforms to capitalism and with parliamentary activity. Over time, it was inevitable that liberal and social democracy would become closer, a political centre for capitalism.

Now globalisation (mondialisation) has taken hold, with the integration of markets, trade, and the movement of capital. The social welfare benefits provided on a national basis through social and liberal democracy are faced with labour competition from countries like China and India, and there is a movement to drive wages towards a median level. Capitalists in the developed world argue that they can't afford to be generous anymore, so they are cracking down and cutting back on wages, benefits and social programs. The purpose of the current swing to the right is to restore an unmodified and brutish capitalism of the 19th century.

That doesn’t mean fascism is rising. Systemically seen, Trump and AfD and their ilk are disruptors necessary to break the encrusted, self-serving rule of the social and liberal democrats, who have shown themselves to be incapable of solving the problems confronting us or, worse still, disinterested in the plight of the "precariat", a social class born of the neoliberal movement that reflects situation of workers in the 19th century; a life without predictable employment, with insecure workplace conditions, and constant stress as renters. These problems are created by capitalism and can’t be solved by any form of it. The social and liberal democracy of capitalism can't evolve into socialism; it is designed to prevent it. The duty of socialists is to provide a socialist alternative, not to engage in pejorative slurs that have no effect.

Instead of fascism, I think we are finally entering the stage of what Marx, Lenin and Trotsky described as dialectical swings between right and left, each increasing in momentum until they culminate in revolution. These swings are a necessary phase. The current worldwide rightward direction is going to make life harder for the working class, but with that hardening comes the opportunity and necessity to build the revolutionary organisations that can overthrow the massive system that has caused such harm.

Trump and AfD are populist nationalist conservatives who want to reduce taxes, keep poor immigrants out of the country, restore traditional values, and limit the role of democratic oversight of the economy. That's reason enough to oppose them. But they're not fascists. Rather than limiting government, fascists impose an overwhelming government that controls every aspect of life through state violence. Merriam-Webster defines it as “a populist political philosophy, movement, or regime that exalts nation and often race above the individual, that is associated with a centralised autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, and that is characterised by severe economic and social regimentation and by forcible suppression of opposition.”

This is not the USA, which is individualistic, decentralised, with elected executive and legislative leaders, only moderate economic and social regimentation, and hindrance of opposition, but not forcible suppression. The checks and balances built into the US Constitution prevent that kind of drastic change and protect us from Trump's dictatorial ambitions. To achieve fascism, the Constitution would have to be annulled and the right to vote abolished. If either of these occurs, the American people would arise en masse. Even if the government shifts farther to the right and becomes more oppressive, that's still not fascism.

This is not to say that such groups don't have fascist leanings or that they haven't taken their ideas for fascism, or that they wouldn't implement fascist rule if the opportunity arose. Constitutional might be overthrown in the future by a military coup as a last-ditch effort to crush the working class and preserve capitalism, but we’re a long way from that. Using that term now will blur its meaning when we really need it. Fear-driven politics aren’t effective – they’re exhausting and paralysing.

Former US Marine Corps general and Chief of Staff for President Trump, John Francis Kelly, has also described Trump as a fascist following Trump's advocacy of using the military against the "enemy within" and that Trump had no understanding of the rule of law and would govern like a dictator if given the opportunity. This was the first time a US president has been called a fascist by a former hand-picked top adviser; another thirteen former Trump officials signed an open letter agreeing with Kelly's statements.

In Europe, parties like Alternative für Deutschland, AfD, have been described as fascist, with Germany's domestic intelligence agency, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), defining the party as a "confirmed right-wing extremist endeavour". In February two of their members were allowed to return to the AfD parliamentary caucus after being sidelined; one had described himself as "the friendly face of Nazis" whilst the other said that not all members of the SS were "automatically criminals".

We have to respect the definition of words. Communication depends on that. "Hard right" would be a more accurate term for Trump and AfD and their ilk. This is not just a quibble over terminology. We have to recognise where we are now: the crumbling of social and liberal democracy and the reinstating of conservative capitalism. Labelling this fascism or claiming it might become fascism sometime in the future just creates fear and confusion when we need clear thinking instead of misleading exaggerations.