Fascism: An “Alternative” with Guaranteed Returns

El artículo en español puede leerse aquí.

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It remains striking that there are groups identified, either by themselves or by “public” opinion, as reactionary. Reaction is fundamentally a legitimate response against revolutionary imposition.

Thus, equating reaction with fascism is a contradiction in terms. Fascism is a socialist movement with an evident nationalist imprint. Its roots are inseparable from Marxism, against which it “reacts” with a Hegelian dialectical impulse. This identification with reaction is a tragic misunderstanding. First, because it redirects those who might reject modernity – whether in its logical liberal application or its consequent socialist drift – back into the modern fold. This fold is founded on principles such as the State, sovereignty, the political nation, the social mass, and national self-determination. As we can see, a true reactionary would experience an internal collapse if identified with such ruinous principles. In a context where the immorality and decadence of state logic are evident, fascism tightens the screws of the fading tyrant through radical abstractions like “the people,” “the nation,” or “the race,” which reinforce the detestable principles underlying the tyranny we endure.

When I refer to fascism, some argue – naively or malevolently, in pursuit of an “original” position – that fascism is not applicable outside of Italy. There is some truth to this, but in the Spanish sense, for instance, it is far more debatable. Falangism, or Spanish fascism, incorporated the “Catholic” element into its discourse, apparently. I say “apparently” because, beyond being theoretically inapplicable, the truth is that in some cases this was not even realized in practice. Returning to the topic, any incorporation of Christianity into such a reprehensible ideology only generates further problems. This is because Falangism is a fascist ideology and therefore totalitarian, nationalist, socialist, and revolutionary. Reconciling this with Catholicism is a chimera, manifesting only in superficial gestures like crossing oneself before a rally or decorating a specific venue with a crucifix. Beyond these external displays, its ideological core remains modern, Protestant, European, and leftist.

This is evident not only in figures like Ramiro Ledesma, whose agnosticism cannot be separated from his political conception, despite the tiresome repetition by many of his followers that he converted before his death. As if, for instance, the alleged confession of La Pasionaria would make Bolshevism a doctrine fit to be taught alongside the Catechism.

Political Catholicism draws from sources external to the Revolution, as the Revolution itself is the object of its struggle. Traditionalism, being non-ideological, offers a perennial doctrine that remains unbound by the circumstances that gave birth to ideologies – which are the products of minds short-circuited by an overindulgence in modern readings.

The danger of fascist doctrine lies in its redirection to modern principles precisely when they are faltering. It reinforces the State at a time of logical crisis, supports the Nation as a mask to legitimize arbitrary decisions by the politicians of the moment under the guise of “popular will,” and strengthens collective sovereignty – an entity that legitimizes the social, political, and legal abuses that engulf us..

Miguel Quesada, Círculo Hispalense