152 Chapter 7
important“similarities.Bothare authoritariansystems,bothare collectivist,socialistic.
Bothsystemsoppose[laissez-faire]liberalism.”^7 But fascism,unlikeMarxist-Leninism,
“recognizesreligionand family.”^8 And,particularlyrelevantto our discussion,the Italian
dictatorsummedup thatin contrastto Lockeanism,NationalSocialism“allowsno rights
to the individual...” Despitethe similaritiesbetweenhis fascistregimeandthe Nazis,
Mussolinisaidhe wishedthatpeoplewouldstopapplyingthe labelof his philosophyto
thatof the Nazis’.^9 Whenhe contributedan explanationof fascismto an anthologypub-
lishedin 1942,Il Duceespouseda doctrinethatcannotbe squaredwithfree-market
individualism.Fascism,he writes,goesbeyondthe superficialityof sensoryexperience,
“in whichmanis an individualseparatedfromall othersand standingby himself,and in
whichhe is governedby a naturallaw that makeshim instinctivelylive a life of selfish...
pleasure.” Fascism,by contrast,is about“bindingtogetherindividuals” to “restorewithin
dutya higherlife... in whichthe individual,throughthe denialof himself,throughthe
sacrificeof his ownprivateinterests... realizesthatcompletelyspiritualexistencein
whichhis valueas a manlies.” Themindsetmustbe considereda “reactionof modern
timesagainstthe flabbymaterialisticpositivismof the nineteenthcentury.... Against
individualism,the Fascistconceptionis for the State.... It is opposedto classical[laissez-
faire]Liberalism.. .” Fascismis betterthanlaissez-faireliberalism,for the nineteenth
century’s relativelaissez-faireliberalism“deniedthe Statein the interestsof the particular
individual.. .”^10
The definitionsof capitalismand free marketdo not suggestthat theyconstitutesyno-
nymsfor Nazism.Accordingto Dictionary.Com,“Capitalismencouragesprivateinvest-
mentand business,comparedto a government-controlledeconomy.”^11 Meanwhilea free
marketis an “economywherebuyersand sellersare allowedto transactfreely(i.e.,buy/
sell/trade)basedon a mutualagreementon pricewithoutstateinterventionin the formof
taxes,subsidiesor regulation.”^12 Concomitantly,Dictionary.Comcallsfree enterprisethe
“freedomof privatebusinessesto operatecompetitivelyfor profitwithminimalgovern-
mentregulation,”^13 andlaissezfairethe “theoryor systemof governmentthatupholds
the autonomouscharacterof the economicorder,believingthat governmentshouldinter-
veneas littleas possiblein the directionof economicaffairs.”^14 By contrastDiction-
ary.Comnotesthatfascismis characterizedby “stringentsocioeconomiccontrols,”^15 and
thatthe Nazisestablished“a dictatorshipoverall cultural,economic,and politicalactiv-
itiesof the people.. .”^16
It furtherstatesthatNaziisminvolves“statecontrolof the economy,”^17 as it is a “form
of socialismfeaturingracismandexpansionismandobedienceto a strongleader.”^18
Moreover,underMussolinithe Italiangovernmentdid not discriminateagainstJews
from 1919 to the 1930s,whenthe percentageof Jewishemployeesin the Italiangovern-
mentoutweighedthe percentageof JewscomprisingItaly’s generalpopulation.It was not
until1938,pursuantto Hitler’s invasionof Italy,thatItaly’s fascistsbeganto persecute
Jews.^19
Laudably,A. JamesGregorexplicatesthe fascistideology’s originsfor us. Mussolini
startedout in politicsas a committedsocialistand playeda managerialrolein an Italian
socialistpoliticalparty.Hisparticularbrandof socialismwasknownasrevolutionary
syndicalism. Moreover,Mussolini’s originationof the fascistideologyhadnothingto do
withMussolini“sellingout” his devotionto governismandeconomiccollectivism.He
maintainedhis oppositionto capitalismthroughouthis life; his departurefromtraditional
socialism,andadoptionof the fascistideology,cameaboutfromhimandsomeof his
compatriotsdissentingfromtheirfellowItaliansocialistpartymembersoverpolitical
tactics.