great thinkers, great ideas

Marx and Mussolini 187

cooperative, where workers will not only produce the goods, but

administer the factories and farms. There will be no distinctions

between those who work with their hands and those who work

in occupations which require mental acumen. The educational

process will redirect people from a competitive, to a cooperative

view of the nature of man— and since Marx’s position is that

human nature is not unchanging but rather created, the re­

education of the population is not only desirable but attainable.

This process will be in the hands of the Communist Party until

the transition from political state to classless society is complete.

Benito Mussolini (1883-1945)

Benito Mussolini was born in Forli, Italy in 1883. He was
educated at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland, but was
expelled from Switzerland for socialist agitation and returned to
Italy. He was a member of the Italian Communist party, but had
a policy dispute with the leadership and was expelled in 1914. He
worked for several newspapers until he founded the the Fascist
party in 1922. From that time until his death in 1945, Mussolini
was the main exponent of Fascism and the foremost opponent of
communism and capitalism.
In a very real sense, Mussolini is not the philosopher of
fascism. Rather, he is the synthesizer of several philosophies
which combine to create the doctrine. His major work, The
Doctrine o f Fascism, is the compilation of several ideas pre­
sented by forerunners of the philosophy. Also, there is a real
problem with approaching fascist political philosophy, in that
there is a frequent lack of or contempt for, ideology. Fascists
emphasize action and deeds rather than thought and principle.
The very nature of fascism makes it difficult to study in the
search of a definitive political philosophy, but there are several
concepts which are consistent and necessary to understanding
the theory— absolutism, irrationalism, imperialism, the organis-
mic theory of the state, and the corporate state.
Absolutism requires that the government be in the hands of an
all-powerful leader who can effectively direct the state towards
the desired ends. This theory is not new— Machiavelli, Hobbes,
and Bodin were early advocates of this position. However, it was