Progressive "I don't want any of this onward-and-upward stuff," said the aged Oliver Wendell Holmes to the young Lippmann. "You young men seem to think that if you sit on the world long enough you will hatch something out. But you're wrong." Holmes, who had been wounded at Antietam on Sept. 17, 1862, still the bloodiest day in American history, knew from experience that force can accomplish large things, such as the defeat of secession. But Holmes also knew there are limits. Hitler style labeling “White folk greed runs a world in need” A Reverend Wright sermon quote in Obama’s book, The Odacity of hope. Nazis and other anti-Semitic fascists, considered finance capitalism a "parasitic" "Jewish conspiracy".[ Paxton wrote that fascism is: a form of political behavior marked by obsessive preoccupation with community decline, humiliation or victimhood and by compensatory cults of unity, energy and purity, in which a mass-based party of committed nationalist militants, working in uneasy but effective collaboration with traditional elites, abandons democratic liberties and pursues with redemptive violence and without ethical or legal restraints goals of internal cleansing and external expansion.[24] a b Paxton, Robert. The Anatomy of Fascism. Vintage Books. All fascist movements advocate the creation of an authoritarian government that is an autocratic single-party state led by a charismatic leader with the powers of a dictator.[citation needed] Many fascist movements support the creation of a totalitarian state. The Italian Doctrine of Fascism states: "The Fascist conception of the State is all-embracing; outside of it no human or spiritual values can exist, much less have value. Thus understood, Fascism is totalitarian, and the Fascist State—a synthesis and a unit inclusive of all values—interprets, develops, and potentiates the whole life of a people."[77] Mussolini, Benito. 1935. Fascism: Doctrine and Institutions. Rome: Ardita Publishers. p 14. Social DarwinismFascist movements have commonly held social darwinist views of nations, races, and societies.[74] Italian Fascist Alfredo Rocco shortly after World War I claimed that conflict was inevitable in society: Conflict is in fact the basic law of life in all social organisms, as it is of all biological ones; societies are formed, gain strength, and move forwards through conflict; the healthiest and most vital of them assert themselves against the weakest and less well adapted through conflict; the natural evolution of nations and races takes place through conflict. Alfredo Rocco[85] Italian Fascist philosopher Giovanni Gentile in The Origins and Doctrine of Fascism promoted the concept of conflict being an act of progress by stating that "mankind only progresses through division, and progress is achieved through the clash and victory of one side over another".[85] Fascist movements commonly follow the social Darwinist view that in order for nations and races to survive in a world defined by perpetual national and racial conflict, nations and races must purge themselves of socially and biologically weak or degenerate people while simultaneously promoting the creation of strong people.[86] In Germany, the Nazis utilized social Darwinism to promote their racialist concept of the German nation as being part of the Aryan race and the need for the Aryan race to be strong in order to be victorious in what the Nazis believed was ongoing competition and conflict between different races.[87] The Nazis attempted to strengthen the Aryan race in Germany by murdering those they regarded as weaker. To this end, the T4 project was introduced in the late 1930s and organized the murders of around roughly 275,000 handicapped and elderly German civilians using carbon monoxide gas. [88] Social interventionismGenerally fascist movements endorse social interventionism dedicated to influencing society to promote the state's interests.[citation needed] Some scholars say that one cannot speak of “fascist social policy” as a single concept with logical and internally consistent ideas and common identifiable goals.[90] Different fascist movements have spoken of creating a "new man" and a "new civilization" as part of their intention to transform society.[91] Mussolini promised a “social revolution” for “remaking” the Italian people.[92] Hitler promised to purge Germany of non-Aryan influences on society and create a pure Aryan race through eugenics. IndoctrinationFascist states have pursued policies of indoctrination of society to their fascist movements such as through propaganda deliberately spread through education and media through regulation of the production of education and media material.[93][94] Education was designed to glorify the fascist movement, inform students of it being of major historical and political importance to the nation, attempted to purge education of ideas that were not consistent with the beliefs of the fascist movement, and taught students to be obedient to the fascist movement.[95] Thus fascism tends to be anti-intellectual.[96] The Nazis in particular despised intellectuals and university professors. Hitler declared them unreliable, useless and even dangerous.[97] Hitler said of them: "When I take a look at the intellectual classes we have - unfortunately, I suppose, they are necessary; otherwise one could one day, I don't know, exterminate them or something - but unfortunately they're necessary."[98] Economic planningFascists opposed laissez-faire economic policies dominant in the era prior to the Great Depression.[147] After the Great Depression began, many people from across the political spectrum blamed laissez-faire capitalism for the Great Depression, and fascists promoted their ideology as a "third way" between capitalism and communism.[148] Fascists declared their opposition to finance capitalism, interest charging, and profiteering.[149] Nazis and other anti-Semitic fascists, considered finance capitalism a "parasitic" "Jewish conspiracy".[150] Fascist governments nationalized some key industries, managed their currencies and made some massive state investments.[citation needed] Fascist governments introduced price controls, wage controls and other types of economic interventionist measures.[151] Other than nationalization of certain industries, private property was allowed, but property rights and private initiative were contingent upon service to the state.[152] For example, "an owner of agricultural land may be compelled to raise wheat instead of sheep and employ more labour than he would find profitable."[153] According to historian Tibor Ivan Berend, dirigisme was an inherent aspect of fascist economies.[154] The Labour Charter of 1927, promulgated by the Grand Council of Fascism, stated in article 7: "The corporative State considers private initiative, in the field of production, as the most efficient and useful instrument of the Nation", then goes on to say in article 9: "State intervention in economic production may take place only where private initiative is lacking or is insufficient, or when are at stakes the political interest of the State. This intervention may take the form of control, encouragement or direct management."[155] Fascists thought that private property should be regulated to ensure that "benefit to the community precedes benefit to the individual."[156] They also introduced price controls and other types of economic planning measures.[151] Fascism had Social Darwinist views of human relations and promoted "superior" individuals and saw people who were weak as being inferior.[157] In terms of economic practice, this meant promoting the interests of successful businesses while banning trade unions and other workers' organizations.[158] Benito Mussolini in his English autobiography in one section focused on the economy of the United States where he stated that he agreed with the capitalist notion held by Americans that profit should not be taken away from those who produced it from their own labour for any purpose, saying "I do not respect—I even hate—those men that leech a tenth of the riches produced by others".[159] Social welfareBenito Mussolini promised a "social revolution" that would "remake" the Italian people, which was only achieved in part.[160] The people who primarily benefited from Italian fascist social policies were members of the middle and lower-middle classes, who filled jobs in the vastly expanding government workforce, which grew from about 500,000 to a million jobs in 1930.[160] Health and welfare spending grew dramatically under Italian fascism, with welfare rising from seven percent of the budget in 1930 to 20% in 1940.[161] A major success in social welfare policy in Fascist Italy was the creation of the Opera Nazionale Dopolavoro (OND) or "National After-work Program" in 1925. The OND was the state's largest recreational organizations for adults.[162] The Dopolavoro was responsible for establishing and maintaining 11,000 sports grounds, over 6,400 libraries, 800 movie houses, 1,200 theatres, and over 2,000 orchestras.[162] Membership in the Dopolavoro was voluntary but had high participation because of its nonpolitical nature.[162] It is estimated that by 1936 the OND had organized 80 percent of salaried workers.[163] Nearly 40 percent of the industrial workforce had been recruited into the Dopolavoro by 1939 and the sports activities proved popular with large numbers of workers. The OND had the largest membership of any of the mass Fascist organizations in Italy.[164] The enormous success of the Dopolavoro in Fascist Italy was the key factor in Nazi Germany creating its own version of the Dopolavoro, the Kraft durch Freude (KdF) or "Strength through Joy" program of the Nazi government's German Labour Front, which was even more successful than the Dopolavoro.[165] KdF provided government-subsidized holidays for German workers.[166] KdF was also responsible for the creation of the original Volkswagen ("People's Car") that was a state-made automobile that was meant to be cheap enough to allow all German citizens to be able to own one. While fascists promote social welfare for ameliorating negative economic conditions that are affecting their nation or race as whole, they do not support social welfare for egalitarian reasons. Fascists abhor egalitarianism for preserving the weak; they promote social Darwinist views and claim that nations and races must preserve and promote their strengths to ensure survival in a world that is in a perpetual state of national and/or racial conflict and competition.[167][168][169][170] Adolf Hitler was opposed to egalitarian and universal social welfare because, in his view, it encouraged the preservation of the degenerate and feeble.[171] While in power, the Nazis created social welfare programs to deal with the large numbers of unemployed. However, those programs were neither egalitarian nor universal, but instead residual, as they excluded multiple minority groups and certain other people whom they felt were incapable of helping themselves, and who would pose a threat to the future health of the German people.[172] Relation to religionThe attitude of fascism toward religion has run the gamut from persecution, to denunciation, to cooperation,[180] to embrace.[181] Stanley Payne notes that fundamental to fascism was the foundation of a purely materialistic "civic religion" that would "displace preceding structures of belief and relegate supernatural religion to a secondary role, or to none at all", and that "though there were specific examples of religious or would-be 'Christian fascists,' fascism presupposed a post-Christian, post-religious, secular, and immanent frame of reference."[182] According to Payne, such "would be" religious fascists only gain hold where traditional belief is weakened or absent, as fascism seeks to create new non-rationalist myth structures for those who no longer hold a traditional view.[183] The rise of modern secularism in Europe and Latin America, and the incursion and large-scale adoption of western secular culture in the mid-east leave a void where this modern secular ideology, sometimes under a religious veneer, can take hold.[183] Many fascists were anti-clerical in both private and public life.[184] Although both Hitler and Mussolini were anti-clerical, they both understood that it would be rash to begin their Kulturkampfs prematurely, such a clash, possibly inevitable in the future, being put off while they dealt with other enemies.[185] Hitler had a general plan, even before the Nazis' rise to power, to destroy Christianity within the Reich.[186][187][188] The leader of the Hitler Youth stated "the destruction of Christianity was explicitly recognized as a purpose of the National Socialist movement" from the start, but "considerations of expedience made it impossible" publicly to express this extreme position.[186] In Mexico, the Red Shirts were vehemently atheist, renounced religion, killed priests, and on one occasion gunned down Catholics as they left Mass.[189][190][191][192][193] According to a biographer of Mussolini, "Initially, fascism was fiercely anti-Catholic" — the Church being a competitor for dominion of the people's hearts.[194] Mussolini, originally an atheist, published anti-Catholic writings and planned for the confiscation of Church property, but eventually moved to accommodation.[180] Mussolini endorsed the Roman Catholic Church for political legitimacy, as during the Lateran Treaty talks, Fascist Party officials engaged in bitter arguments with Vatican officials and put pressure on them to accept the terms that the regime deemed acceptable.[195] Protestantism in Italy was not as significant as Catholicism, and the Protestant minority was persecuted.[196] Mussolini's sub-secretary of Interior, Bufferini-Guidi issued a memo closing all houses of worship of the Italian Pentecostals and Jehovah's Witnesses, and imprisoned their leaders.[197] In some instances, people were killed because of their faith.[198] The Ustaše in Croatia had strong Catholic overtones, with some clerics in positions of power.[199] The fascist movement in Romania, known as the Iron Guard or the Legion of Archangel Michael, preceded its meetings with a church service, and their demonstrations were usually led by priests carrying icons and religious flags.[citation needed] The Romanian fascist movement promoted a cult of "suffering, sacrifice and martyrdom."[200][201] In Latin America, the most notable fascist movement was Plinio Salgado's Brazilian Integralism. Built on a network of lay religious associations, its vision was of an integral state that "comes from Christ, is inspired in Christ, acts for Christ, and goes toward Christ."[202][203][204] Salgado criticised the "dangerous pagan tendencies of Hitlerism".[205] Hitler and the Nazi regime attempted to found their own version of Christianity called Positive Christianity which made major changes in its interpretation of the Bible which said that Jesus Christ was the son of God, but was not a Jew; they further claimed that Christ despised Jews, and that the Jews were the ones solely responsible for his death.[citation needed] By 1940, however, it was public knowledge that Hitler had abandoned even the syncretist idea of a positive Christianty.[206] The Catholic Church was particularly suppressed by Nazis in Poland. In addition to the deaths of some 3 million Polish Jews, 2 million Polish Catholics were killed.[207] Between 1939 and 1945, an estimated 3,000 polish clergy (18 percent) were murdered; of these, 1,992 died in concentration camps.[207] In the annexed territory of Reichsgau Wartheland it was even harsher than elsewhere. Churches were systematically closed, and most priests were either killed, imprisoned, or deported to the General Government. The Germans also closed seminaries and convents persecuting monks and nuns throughout Poland. Eighty percent of the Catholic clergy and five of the bishops of Warthegau were sent to concentration camps in 1939; in Chełmno, 48 percent.[207] Of those murdered by the Nazi regime, 108 are regarded as blessed martyrs.[207] Among them, Maximilian Kolbe was canonized as a saint. Not only in Poland were Christians persecuted by the Nazis. In the Dachau concentration camp alone, 2,600 Catholic priests from 24 different countries were killed.[207] One theory is that religion and fascism could never have a lasting connection because both are a "holistic weltanschauung" claiming the whole of the person. [180] Along these lines, Yale political scientist, Juan Linz and others have noted that secularization had created a void which could be filled by a total ideology, making totalitarianism possible[208][209], and Roger Griffin has characterized fascism as a type of anti-religious political religion.[210] Such political religions vie with existing religions, and try, if possible, to replace or eradicate them. [209] | 
