In this first episode of a three-part series, we look at the origins of fascism.
At the turn of the century, socialists were becoming increasingly confident that expanding the right to vote to the working classes would inevitably bring socialism via the ballot box. But what happened instead was a new right-wing ideology came into being, one that competed with socialists for that new working-class vote: Fascism.
- Listen now:
Playlist:
Fanfare
Opening Theme
“Bullets and Bayonets”
Composed in 1917 by John Philip Sousa. Public domain.
Performed by the United States Marine Band. Public domain recording. Source.
Closing Theme
Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.
An interesting episode as usual.
«I submit to you that the solution is to look not at fascist ideology, not at the words, but at fascist acts, fascist deeds.» I could not agree more. The acts and deeds however were barely mentioned in the present episode — hopefully the next episode is going to address that. I think it is still possible to list a few features of fascism when in power, for example:
– Silencing/banning political opponents.
– Treating people first and foremost as a part of their ethnic group rather than individuals.
– Disregarding fiscal discipline resulting in massive government debts.
Also, for the benefit of the American audience I think it would be good to note that Hitler, whom we can definitely call a racist, defined races very differently from the modern American usage, where a race seems to be identified with the skin color.
I already mentioned in the podcast that in this era, people used the word “race” in contexts where we today would say “nationality” or “ethnic origin.” You are right that here might be a good place to remind everyone of that. They saw one’s nationality or ethnicity more as something inherited from one’s parents, whereas we today more often think of one’s ethnicity or culture as a choice, which to some degree reflects that in our world, there are many more people who have ancestry in more than one ethnic or national group. (Including me.) Today we often speak of a person who “identifies” as a member of this or that ethnic group, a usage that would have baffled people in 1930.