Thanks comrade Obvious, we know about the Nazi battalions and the rascism of the Ukrainian state. What more’s there to discuss?

Well, we’re scientific socialists and thus our understanding of fascism and our analysis of the state of capitalism in any one moment should be based on materialism. We can’t reduce our use of the word “fascism” to that of liberals using it as a generic swear-word hauled at people they don’t agree with, even reactionaries. It isn’t simply “when rascism”, it isn’t simply “when nationalism” and it also isn’t “when authoritarianism”. If we decide to use this word it should be based on a clear assessment of the material conditions and whether they fit the criteria of fascism.

Fascism, to keep this short, is a state of capitalism in crisis advanced by the forces of finance capital which is characterized by a total destruction of organized labour brought about by a merging of private and public property. On the ideological side it is naturally and necessarily accompanied by and gives rise to violent anti-communism, racism, sexism and ultra-nationalism.

Enter Ukraine. It is ostensibly a capitalist state in deep crisis. Its pretense of seperation between private and public interest, already a sham before the war, has been destroyed in its entirety. Zelensky is a billionaire’s puppet, one by the broader bourgeoisie and at this point a comprador for US finance capital. All forms of organized labour have been destroyed and outlawed. Collective bargaining is abolished. Any form of proletarian participation in its fake democracy has been ruled out. The press is gleichgeschaltet. It has opened its gates for the plunder by international finance capital, because the interest of the state and that of finance capital in Ukraine have become synonymous. Symbolically Zelensky himself opened the NY stock exchange a couple weeks ago, inviting the robber barons on wall street to “invest” in the limitless opportunities of exploitation of the wealth of his country with the guarantee of a docile and defenceless working class. He also wrote an ad-ed in the Wall Street Journal, emphasizing this invitation. That’s what fascism means. Fascism isn’t some metaphysical quality seperate from all this, it is per definition this state of capitalism.

The ideological components should be obvious by now.

Zelensky is a fascist, but more importantly Ukraine is a fascist state. Crucially this is an assessment we can now confidently make independent from Russia’s narrative, however justified that may be. It is also undoubtedly a victim of US imperialism.

Ukraine is also clear evidence that imperialism with its manufacturing of crisis and its exploitation of them via shock therapy measures neccessarily demands and brings about those forces and those conditions we call fascism. This is important, because it increasingly looks like the natural next target of US imperialism, the next crisis it needs to exploit is currently arising and being manufactured in all of Europe. This means the conditions for European fascism are developing as we speak. Being cold is the acute threat we’re facing within the next months. But we’re at risk of being so literally frozen in shock we’ll be missing the neoliberal therapy that’s coming for us. Finance capital will not leave this crisis unexploited. This will lead to conditions ever closer to fascism if we don’t fight back.

I highly recommend Ben Norton’s interview with Michael Hudson on the topic and Multipolarista’s reporting on it in general.

  • @KommandoGZDOP
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    152 years ago

    Oh for sure it isn’t. I had to look up multiple definitions and articles even just for this post and I do so every other month it feels like, because it’s just such an enigmatic thing and its definition has been so muddied by liberals. Even while following the news about privatization, union busting, etc in Ukraine my brain didn’t immediately go to “yeah that’s fascism”. Only when Michael Hudson in that interview said “This is literally what fascism is” I was like - damn, yes it literally is. If it’s not this, what the hell is it?

    • @knfrmity
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      142 years ago

      That’s precisely why so much effort is spent on redefining fascism primarily as ethno-nationalism, particularly of the genocidal anti-semitic Nazi variety. If this material definition of fascism were commonly cited people would realize pretty quickly that neoliberalism is a fascist ideology.

      • @Edith_Puthie
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        32 years ago

        It might also stop the center-left from shooting themselves in the foot politically when the loss of material standards results in further anti-ethnic sentiments coupled with anti-elite mentality. The bigotry they respond to with massive virtue signals, which are transformed by the capitalist class into crony capitalist solutions, which usually result in a worsening of the material standards, which causes swing voters to believe the center left is inept, leading to rising rightist views, ad infinitum.

        TLDR: the right’s persistent denial of leftist solutions and appropriation of leftist analysis combined with horseshoe theorizing leads the center towards such gems as “Grampy Biden gonna save the planet by letting us use electric vehicles to commute to our systemically pollutant jobs!” and “Oh snap, Zaddy Zeley gonna receive a Marshall Plan 2.0 and feed the world!”

        Still TLDR: Without this definition of Fascism being widely accepted, The “pendulum of history” only traces fascism in the sand of time