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Sunday 16 April 2006

Mosley

An admirer of Mussolini and Hitler in the inter-war years, Sir Oswald Mosley [Leader of the British Union of Fascists] somewhat modified his position in the post-war period [this did not stop him from being continually attacked by Communist and Jewish organisations until his dying days]. He centred his Neo-Fascism on a United Europe, and many of his arguments pre-figure today's European Union.

It must be understood that he was speaking here in the early 1960s, in the period of prosperity and optimism [unlike the days of unemployment and despair of the fascist heyday];
"I think the basic error of Fascism was that in its drive for action at all cost, it overrode liberty; and the great problem of this present-day age is to synthesise the drive for action, which is completely necessary, with the preservation of individual liberty. And if we can achieve that, we've made some contribution to the thought of our age, and that has been my whole effort since the end of the war".
[Interview, O.Mosley, 1972]

Mosley says of 1930s Fascism;
"The power of the State was exaggerated, the whole concept was too bureaucratic".
[ib.]
He also makes the surprising claim that Hitler and Mussolini were wrong to intern dissenters, and should have allowed their opponants equal media time and ANSWERED them.

"Fascism was a national creed which died in the 1930s, and the main reason for its non-revival is that any dynamic person who was drawn to that kind of thing would now be a 'European' ; I want to see the complete unity of Europe".
[ib.,]
This is another startling claim; it seems to suggest that the militaristic elements which make Fascism 'fascistic' are to be dropped, and the National Fascist idea is to be transvalued into the National European idea;
After World War II Mosley declared;
"A European Nation. By this term I meant Europe as much an integrated State as Britain, France, Germany, or indeed, America is today. America is rather the model in that respect, because are united states".
[ib.,]
The interview was obviously given to an American station. Here we see how 'fascism' has transmogrified itself into Europeanism;"In Europe there's no question of having a totalitarian party or a totalitarian figure. The other European countries would never tolerate for a moment one man from one country being put over the lot of them. You have to have, as I've always said, an 'equipe', equals, a Round Table, King Arthur, or the old archon-type round table concept, and then the man with the best ideas wins ...
Something so huge as Europe and so diverse can never be unified in a Fascist or totalitarian fashion".
[ib.,]

In this we see the continued progress toward Nietzsche's "Europe wants to become one" idea, an idea given impetus by Fascism, and continued by modern Europeanism.
Of course, today differs from the 60s, particulary with the problems of Globalised Terrorism and its related fall-out. If the situation worsens, then the fascist symbols may need to be brought out again ...

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