158 Chapter 7
supporta dictatorship,and whysuppressionwasso necessaryin Italyif Fascismmeant,
as theNewRepublicclaimed,‘masteryand self-control,’ the journalrepliedthatthe tradi-
tional‘formulas’ of liberalismwereinadequateto appraisedevelopmenteitherin Italyor
in Russia.”
In Diggins’s words,anotherNewRepublicarticle—this one from 1926 by socialphiloso-
phyprofessorandWilliamJamespupilHoraceKallen—statedthatfascism’s absenceof
liberalized,republicanprocedures“shouldnot shroudthe substantialaccomplishments
in economic,educational,andadministrativereform.Livingin Italy,he advised,made
one realizetherecouldbe ‘intoleranceof liberalismalso.’... Liberalsshouldtherefore
suspendjudgmentuntilthe full-growntreeof the newtheoryborethe fruitof social
justiceor the seedsof oppressivereaction.”^45
In the wordsof HoraceKallen’s ownNewRepublicpiece,“... the Fascistrevolutionis
not unlikethe Communistrevolution.... Eachshouldhavethe freestopportunityonceit
has madea start,of demonstrating” its ownbenefits.^46
Digginselaboratesthat“Kallen’s pleafor patiencewonthe backingof theNewRepub-
lic. In an editorialthe liberaljournalprovideda supportingprefaceto Kallen’s arguments
by elaboratingfurtheron the needto giveFascisma sympathetichearing.In viewof the
bleakrecordof Italy’s parliamentarygovernmentfrom 1871 to 1921,advisedthe editorial,
it wasa ‘greatmistake’ to judgeharshlyand narrowlythe recentregime.... Fascismhad
giventhe Italiansa senseof unityand direction,a nationalself-consciousnessthatawak-
enedthe country’s potential.” To use theNewRepublic’s words,Americansmustbe open-
mindedabout“the promisingFascistventure...”^47 GeorgeBernardShawwasanother
left-wingapologistfor Mussolini.^48
The sharedsilenceamongtwenty-first-centuryleft-wingactivistsaboutthe earlyPro-
gressives’ supportfor Mussolini’s fascismis partof a largertrend.ThehardLefthas
buriedthe fact thatsocialismis the originatorof fascismandNaziism.Accordingto the
OnlineEtymologyDictionary, “In the USSR,the termsnationalsocialistandNaziweresaid
to havebeenforbiddenafter1932,presumablyto avoidanytaintto the goodword
socialist. Sovietliteraturereferstofascists.”^49
It wasin 1928whenthe Cominternannouncedthatanyonewhomthe Sovietgovern-
mentdislikedwouldbe labeledafascist. Thispolicy,writesJohnP. Diggins,declared“
war not onlyon Fascismor capitalismbut on Socialistand liberalpartieseverywhere.The
termwas takenup withgusto” by the CommunistPartyof the USA“and heapeduponall
‘enemies’ on the Right.. .”^50
As theOnlineEtymologyDictionarycontinues,it got to the pointwherethe Soviets
referredto just aboutany enemyas “fascist”; JosefStalinaccusedSovietstatecofounder
LeonTrotskyof beingan agentof the Nazisbeforehavinghimpurgedandsecretly
assassinated.^51
Followingthe Soviets’ proclamationsthatfascismwasthe labelfor everythingthat
communismopposed,othersin the Marxiantraditionpickedup on this.Whenneo-
Marxiansin more-liberalrepublicanareasechoedthe accusationthatfascismwasthe
namefor everythingthe far Lefthated,theygot thatfromthe Frankfurtschoolof neo-
Marxistthought^52 —the sameschoolof thoughtthat,as we learnedpreviously,blamed
the Enlightenmentandrationalityfor Naziism.^53 Basically,the Frankfurtschoolargued
that the Holocaustamountedbothto Enlightenmentrationalityand to its result,commer-
cial capitalism,beingtakento theirlogicalextreme.Oneof the mostprominentFrankfurt-
traditionproposersof this notionwasColumbiaUniversitysociologistC. WrightMills.
As we recollectfromBookTwo’s finalchapter,Millsdenigratedthe notionthatsomeone
in America’s relativelyfree enterprisecouldrise frompovertyor middleclassto wealth.
As JohnDigginsparaphrasesMills’s assessmenton right-wingtotalitarianism, “Ad-
vancedcapitalismis not,as Marxbelieved,an orgyof ruinousproduction;insteadit is