GUIDE TO THE PHILOSOPHY 1938 - 1947.pdf - Rare Books at ...

THEORY OF FASCISM 613
mentation and individualism; the Roman, for loyalty,
social solidarity, discipline and respect for tradition. We
shall point out how the Renaissance established the Greek
values and fostered the Greek spirit, for it was the Renais-
sance which inaugurated in the realm of thought an era
of free enquiry that culminated in the triumphs of science
on the one hand, and the collapse of religion on the other;
and in that of politics an era of democracy which insisted
that liberty and equality were the ultimate political values,
and saw in the State a mere contrivance for maximizing
individual happiness. But we shall go on to tell how the
Greek spirit, unchecked, ran to excess, an excess which was
anarchy in politics, chaos in morals, and loss of faith in
religion; and we shall point to Communism, to sexual
licence and to atheism as the fruits of the unbridled
extravagance of the Greek spirit. Contemplating with
distaste these twentieth century phenomena, we shall
declare our conviction that a movement of integration,
in both politics and morals, has been long overdue, and
in Fascism we shall find that movement. For Fascism stands
for a return to the Roman virtues of loyalty, discipline
and service. It lays stress not so much on individual
development as on social solidarity, and it finds its exemplar
of the ideal man not in the scholar, the scientist or the
thinker, but in the cultivated warrior, the "Knight
chivalrous of Fascism," controlled to the point of ascetisxn,
proud yet humble, deeply religious, an unstinting giver
of himself in the service of others, a defender of the poor
and the weak, a fighter for the right, and an upholder of
the traditions and sanctities of his race.
Varieties of Fascism. It will be obvious that the
existence of such diverse attitudes towards and interpre-
tations of Fascism makes the task of impartial exposition
exceedingly difficult. It is difficult to view impartially
that which arouses strong emotional reactions it is easier,
for example, to obtain a clear view of the binomial theorem
than of the evidence for a sexual offence alleged to have