Umberto Eco, in his oft cited (by anti fascist pseudo intellectuals) essay - ‘Ur Fascism’...is either a liar or a revisionist propagandist. Either way...he’s very enamored with his own intellect...no matter how stupid his ideas actually are.
I specifically love this paragraph:
Has this dude even studied Mussolini? He claims to have revered him as a child; to have memorized his speeches...but wtf?
Mussolini was absolutely a believer in Socialism’s anti-capitalism. Trotsky referred to Mussolini as, perhaps, his greatest student. Lenin loved him.
Mussolini was obsessed with the anti-capitalist rhetoric of Marxist Socialism. His socialist falling out is not due to ideological shifts that became ‘fascism’. Literally...his distinction, what got his party membership revoked, was because he was more concerned with a socialist revolt on a national scale. This is more related to the jingoism of the First World War...and outside of Italy...it was actually the majority take on socialism at the time.
Italy was different, however, and in their obsequious devotion to Marx’s internationalism was the line they drew with Mussolini.
Finally, Eco namedrops a fascist ‘guru’ named Julius Evola.
WTF?? That guy wasn’t even fascist - he was just an unhinged lunatic that flitted around socialism , fascism and anything else. Almost no one of any gravity followed or respected him.
He was his own undulating mess of unhinged ideas. Trying to tie him to a position of influence or import in the fascist movement of anything north or south of the Alps is bullshit. More than that - it’s a lie. A curious lie. Why would someone try to poison the well and conflate Fascism with a single crazy individual and their ideas?
Oh, I know why. People might realize that fascism...as a collection of trade unions virtually synonymous with Marx’s syndicates...well...sounds a lot like socialism on a national level. If you don’t want to risk the world deciding between a) socialism on a more doable, national level...and b) Marx’s stateless, international socialism...
…Just corrupt the entire thing as an unhinged mess of nationalism and racism! All you need do is excise it’s shared foundation with Marxist Socialism…and then undermine it by associating it with weirdos like Evola.
It’s revisionist bullshit to help the socialists.
IMO, Eco was a propagandist and a liar.
Here’s the link to Ur Fascism if you want to read it.
https://www.pegc.us/archive/Articles/eco_ur-fascism.pdf
Workers of the world, unite! - Marx
Worker of the nation, unite! - The Fascists.
‘...immediately, the Italian Left branded fascism a reactionary force in the service of the bourgeoisie. It would keep on saying so. History, by & large, has accepted this definition of fascism. But fascism was anything but a right-wing movement.’ - ‘Mussolini’ - Nicolas Farrell