Editorial

We Must Oppose the Fascization of Life

The inquiry into the case of Maher Arar has brought to light some disturbing examples of the extent to which ordinary life in Canada and the United States is being increasingly fascized. Events such as the illegal deportation of Arar to Syria to be interrogated under torture, which only a few decades ago would have become international scandals, today only raise a few eyebrows. Police forces both north and south of the border routinely justify the most gross violations of human and civil rights under the banner of combating terrorism.

There is an ongoing debate these days within leftist circles about whether we are living in a fascist society. On the one hand are those who argue that the behaviour of the U.S. abroad and its increasing persecution of dissidents at home constitute outright fascism. Others argue that since things are not yet as bad as they were in Nazi Germany it is wrong to suggest that the U.S. or other countries are fascist countries. In some cases, people attempt to prove their point by defining fascism in a way which leads to their particular conclusion.

It is the view of Modern Communism that this entire debate misses the point and, therefore, leads nowhere. The issue is not whether or not fascism as a system exists in the U.S., Canada or elsewhere, but rather to identify where capitalist society is headed and what specific measures it is using to preserve its monopoly on power.

In a capitalist society, power rests in the hands of the ruling capitalist class. It uses that power both to preserve itself as a ruling class and to expand its influence abroad. If its interests are threatened, it uses its power to eliminate the threat. If its continued existence as a ruling class is challenged, the capitalist class will use the full force of its power, its army and police forces, to crush those who threaten it. If the laws of the land interfere with this objective then those laws will be ignored.

At this time, no revolutionary crisis exists in North America which would necessitate the ruling class resorting to full-blown fascism to preserve its rule. Nevertheless, increasingly draconian methods are being implemented to suppress dissent, and the dominant sections of the capitalist class are using the state and various fascistic measures to weaken or eliminate their competitors, both domestic and foreign.

In other words, fascism is neither an aberration nor is it a qualitatively different stage of capitalism. It is simply the most naked form of capitalist state power. As such, some elements commonly associated with fascism – police brutality, political persecution, and even political assassinations – occur to a greater or lesser degree in every capitalist country. The issue, then, is not to split hairs about when a particular society crosses an imaginary line and meets someone’s definition of fascism. Rather, the issue is to combat the growing fascization of life which is taking place on a daily basis before our eyes.

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