The Lie of Fascist Anti-Capitalism
The appropriation of revolutionary rhetoric
Recently I watched a video where an interviewer talked to people at Trump rallies. To no one’s surprise many of them came out contradicting themselves, pointing out how woke corporations are bad while defending the status quo. And of course there was some anti-Capitalist rhetoric in their statements. Some of them complained about corporations having too much power and how we need to stop taxing the poor so much. But as correct as they are, it all turns in a completely different direction when they use words like “cabal” and “globalists”.
You see, when the right talks about “the Financial Speculators”, it is much more insidious than you think. We have seen this before, and it should be no surprise that we are seeing it again; Antisemitism. With the resurgence of antisemitism going around mainstream media, I think it is necessary to discuss fascist anti-capitalism. Specifically why fascists adopt anti-capitalist rhetoric, the relationship between fascists and capitalism, antisemitism, and how to avoid sounding or coming off antisemitic when discussing the contradictions of capitalism.
Why do fascists claim to be anti-capitalist?
Why do fascists seem to appropriate and pervert anticapitalist talking points? Functionally it serves to undermine the left and bring those frustrated with the liberal status quo to the far right. Some fascists claim to dislike capitalism because they believe that it erodes traditional values. I’ll give them that, not that I care about "traditional values", but I do see how capitalism commodifies and perverts traditions and culture. This rhetoric is useful, especially in times of political turmoil and financial crisis, when the masses are most dissatisfied with the liberal status quo, and are looking for revolutionary alternatives. Fascist anti-capitalism adopts the revolutionary veneer of being against the liberal status quo, while usually tying in the “elites” with marginalized peoples
Fascist economics in practice
But while fascists claim to dislike capitalism, in practice, the fascists and capitalists always end up collaborating. Make no mistake, liberal "democracy" is always authoritarian. Liberalism was born in societies that enslaved black people and deported indigenous peoples and settled on their lands. Liberalism has been the dominating economic and political philosophy of almost all of the world’s empires. Liberals espouse and attempt to uphold democracy, free speech, and individual liberty. But unlike liberalism, fascists tend to drop the veneer of liberty and democracy. Fascists maintain order and hierarchy by unrelenting violent force. Any socialists, minorities, undesirables in their way are sent to camps or executed. Liberals will disavow fascism and authoritarianism, but when push comes to shove the liberal bourgeoisie will always choose to preserve their own power instead of relinquishing it to the working class. Fascists would not be able to spread their vile ideology and put it in practice if not for help from the rich to platform them when democracy begins to work against them. Or when socialists and leftists build up big enough movements to threaten the power of liberals.
In practice, fascist regimes have both used nationalization and privatization. When fascists did nationalize industry, it was largely for the benefit of the capitalist class and the fascist state. Many bad faith libertarian and conservative types will claim that fascism is socialist because of the government control of the economy. But this is dishonest.
The Mussolini regime only regulated the economy to the benefit of the capitalist class, and not the working class. In fact Mussolini appointed Alberto De Stefani as the Minister of Finance. “[Stefani] cut taxes, curbed spending, liberalized trade restrictions and abolished rent controls.”
Under the Nazis, unions were dismantled and Hitler had privatized many industries with the support of the industrial bourgeoisie.
Neoliberalism, the dominant economic and political philosophy of today, was first implemented in the fascist Pinochet regime in Chile after the coup of Salvador Allende. So while fascists and liberals claim to hate each other, they end up collaborating every time. For the fascists they need the money and support from desperate members of the liberal bourgeoisie.
Fascist anti-capitalism and antisemitism
So why Jews? There are a few ways to look at this problem. For one, capitalism is the definite problem, the reason behind much of the issues that we face in society today. It is to the point where it cannot be any more obvious for some people. When people lose faith in the establishment, many people will rightly blame those in power. The bourgeoisie need scapegoats. This usually ends up being the Jews and other minorities who have faced centuries of persecution and scapegoating for problems in western societies. Functionally speaking, to scapegoat the Jews (and other minorities) benefits the bourgeoisie so that they can shift the blame of a failing society onto an immaterial other.
The other problem is that there are members of the bourgeoisie who are genuinely bigoted against Jews. And these people have disproportionate power to spread this vile hatred and make it mainstream. This is the ultimate function of fascists claiming to be “anti capitalist”. Fascists associate capitalism with Jews, but only as far as Jewish capitalists. Fascists are more than happy to maintain private property, as long as it's being operated by those of the master race or in the interests of the fascist movement. The truth is fascists do not have a coherent or consistent answer to the capitalist mode of production they claim to despise.
The importance of proper critical analysis
As communists, we must always maintain a material analysis on the problems of capitalism. We must avoid any anti-Semitic rhetoric as it can be easily appropriated by fascists to advance their cause. To visualize, let's go over some fascist talking points:
One thing that fascists think is that there is a “cabal (antisemitic dog whistle)” controlling EVERYTHING behind the shadows. Sometimes communists also describe the bourgeois class as a shadowy group. But the truth is that there are contradictions and rivalries within the bourgeoisie class. After all, they are all competing for profit. However, they can become united as a class whenever the proletariat begins to threaten their power. Different members of the bourgeoisie will have different reasons to unite. For conservative liberals, some of them are just genuine bigots who will use their money to shift the blame of a degenerating society onto a made up enemy (Henry Ford). And for the “socially progressive” bourgeois liberal, fascism is a preferred alternative to communism, where they would be stripped of their private property, their source of hegemonic power.
Anti-semites will point to the fact that George Soros was one of the biggest spenders in favor of the Democratic Party during the 2022 elections. They’ll claim he is trying to advance his Jewish agenda. But in reality his religion has nothing to do with the fact that he is, like all members of the bourgeoisie, using his money and power to advance his class interests. Also, why would George Soros give money to a party whos base is known for spreading anti-Semitic conspiracy theories? George Soros is not some all powerful member of the bourgeoisie, he is just a member of the bourgeoisie who is doing what is in his class interest, and also, does not want to be executed by fascists. Understandably so.
One last fascist talking point is that the Israeli lobby controls the American government. This is antisemitic because it suggests that the Jewish state of Israel has disproportionate control of much of the American government. But in reality it is that AIPAC lobbies the American government to support Israeli militarism and its occupation of Palestine. America has the power in this interaction because it's using the Israeli state as a base of power in the Middle East. To propose that Jews control the American government has no basis in material reality.
What do all of these talking points have in common? It’s that they have some variable of truth to them. But without proper analysis, many have taken these truths and twisted them into anti-Semitic lies. To suggest that Jews hold disproportionate power over other members of the bourgeoisie is undeniably anti-Semitic. The majority of the bourgeoisie is still white, male, and Christian. Conspiratorial answers to real material problems lead to the scapegoating of innocent peoples, while the bourgeoisie gets to skirt responsibility and maintain their power.
Conclusion
To circle back to the video I watched, while the Trumpers were spouting anticapitalist talking points, in reality, they’re anti-communists. They’re in the same line as fascists, and will probably go along with them if they come into power. The anti-capitalism espoused by the right will always be bigoted, shortsighted, and incomplete. While they might not openly identify as fascists, they are dangerously close to uncritically accepting an authoritarian crackdown on dissidents to the status quo. Their enemies are not capitalists, just the capitalists they see as “degenerate”.
This is why it is paramount that when we explain to people why capitalism is bad, that we must be concise and specific. To suggest a shadowy and wholly unified force is manipulating society from above can easily be interpreted as a marginalized group controlling things from the shadows. To simplify the bourgeoisie as evil with no nuance is undialectical. Sure, individual members of the bourgeoisie may be evil, but many of them are just following their class interests (which happens to be evil). And yes, there are pedophiles in leadership positions, the government lies to you, and they spy on all of us. But these are the facts, facts which have been verified. We shouldn’t have to insert flimsy narratives that the Jews or some other marginalized group is secretly behind the heinous shit the people in power do. Capitalism is bad. Not because a “cabal” of “elites” is manipulating society in secret. But because they’re all doing it right before our very eyes, in plain sight.
Sources
(Anti-Semitism by Philosophy Tube)
The Past Didn’t Go Anywhere by April Rosenblum
(Rick Steves' The Story of Fascism in Europe
https://assets.aarp.org/rgcenter/econ/ib23_chile.pdf
(What "Fascism is capitalism in decay" means by Viki1999)
(Did Q actually win in the end? by Chill Goblin)