Dionysos over Apollo: The Fundaments of Fascism

Wozu "der Mensch" da ist, soll uns gar nicht kümmern: aber wozu Du da bist, das frage dich: und wenn Du es nicht erfahren kannst, nun so stecke Dir selber Ziele, hohe und edle Ziele und gehe an ihnen zu Grunde! Ich weiss keinen besseren Lebenszweck als am Grossen und Unmöglichen zu Grunde zu gehen... - Friedrich Nietzsche (1873)


When does one live the most, the sincerest, the happiest? Thrill-seekers know the answer. From the middle-aged mother who takes her kids to the theme park for a ride on the rollercoaster to the university student who goes bungee-jumping in the summer holidays, it is clear that in modern times, people seek thrills and adrenalin rushes more than ever. In fact, some would say that the more free time we have and the more leisure, the more we find ourselves unfulfilled and searching for meaning in our lives.

This fundamental dissatisfaction seems to be hard to answer politically. After all, in a democratic capitalist state, the choice of the individual over what affects their lives and what they want and do seems optimal. Yet everywhere we see problems stemming from political apathy, we see people frustrated with lack of control over their destinies, we see young people resorting to vandalism and petty crime for want of anything better to do, we see routine and lack of excitement eat away at the happiness and even the sanity of the average worker, and so on. How come we do not live? How come we feel we have no choice, no influence, no power to control our senses?

For the politically moderate citizen in a capitalist, democratic state, this has been a worrying question for quite some time, and the answer has not eased their doubt. How can thrills and "living life on the edge" still be seen as a true fulfillment when all that should have been replaced by the happiness that wealth and freedom from oppression bring? Interestingly enough, the only ideology to really address this apparently fundamental need of humans is one entirely opposed to capitalist democracy, and which rejects it based on this question: fascism.

What is fascism then? To most, it has a reputation as black as some of its history, a reputation of being the last refuge of the violently stupid. In some cases, this is entirely deserved, and indeed, it is known for attracting the people from the lower middle class without much hope for improvement in their social status, and who feel disenchanted and disfranchised with the current system and are seeking to destroy it. But the same can be said of anarchism and of many more ideologies besides.
Other people, such as Vichy specialist Robert Paxton, have tried to identify it with militant nationalism. Yet this is equally unable to satisfy, since militant nationalism can also come in the form of radical leftist thought, and even as a subsidiary ideology for religious fundamentalists. Moreover, there is no idea that can be said is shared between these varied groups, making such an identification rather self-defeating. None of this is what fascism is about. I will in the next paragraphs try to give an overview of the meaning of fascism as a movement and especially as an intellectual inspiration.

Primarily, and before all other things, fascism is about movement. It recognizes the fact that, as with the bungee-jumping example, humanity is wired in such a way that a human feels alive most and has the greatest sense of power and control when he is moving forward in some dramatic way, to some dramatic goal. This can be anything from finally speaking up against something that has been bothering you for ages to actually organizing an armed insurrection against an evil government, and anything in between. Additionally, fascism recognizes that the more dangerous and reckless this movement is, the more thrill it gives: hence the need for "extreme sports", for travels to outer space, for explorations in the jungle, and so on. Even though most people never do or experience any of these things, all of them have an interest in at least one or more of these or similar things, and if they cannot experience them themselves, try to experience them by vicariously living the life of some star, hero or intrepid explorer.

Combined with, and springing forth from this observation on human nature, is the fundamental importance of 'historical movement', that is to say, the way that the great myths, great acts, great people and great cultures of the past have inspired and changed the world and the people that live in it. From the ancient works of the Egyptians to the wars of Napoleon, from the fabled wisdom of the Greeks to the infamous destruction of the Mongol hordes, from the insight of Jefferson to the cruelty of Nero: all of these serve to illustrate, inspire and above all else move the hearts of the people who read about them. Such an inspiration is essentially morally neutral in its nature: after all, the awe one feels when considering the endless carnage that the Second World War entailed is no less real or true to man than the awe one feels when reading the famous words "We hold these truths to be self-evident..."

However, the critic might inquire, how does one combine such things in a political manner? Surely there is no politics to any of this? But there is, and fascism can explain how. What this basically entails is that for great movement, great things must happen, and for great things to happen, great people are necessary. Such can be seen again in the example of the American founding fathers, especially Washington, who is very much revered for his combination of military strategic prowess and power of political wisdom: i.e., for being a great man. For the greatest of men make great movement in all spheres of the world, in the arts, in politics, in war, in society, in morality, in divinity; in all do they extend their grasp, in all do they move mountains by putting their great shoulder to the stone. Compare this with Heidegger, one of the most important fascist philosophers: you are not a spectator at a passing show. Your world, your life, all the things before you, are within your own power. The Dasein of your existence has the infinite possibilities of "being free for the freedom of choosing and grasping [yourself]".

Nietzsche, one of the most profound inspirers of the intellectual side of fascism, explained it best in his idea of Der Wille zur Macht. For great men to come forth and do great deeds, one must first create the circumstances in such a way, that the wish to power is cultivated. For, according to Nietzsche, this is the most primeval and the most grand of all urges of man: it needs no justification but its continued existence, and by the exchange of wills to power between great men (and women for that matter, even had Nietzsche not much cared about that), all that is of importance in the world is done. Why would some good man enter politics? Because he has the will to the power of doing good in his country. Why would some intelligent man enter science? Because he has the will to the power of gaining new insights and unlocking new fields of knowledge. Why would some strong and trustworthy man enter the army? Because he has the will to the power of defeating his nation's enemies.
So the essential duty of a fascist state is to enable such greatness to come forth, and to let the people of that state rise beyond their normal ken, beyond mediocrity.

For why is fascism then so against our modern liberal democracy, if it is so representative of the good and strong urges in man? After all, democracy is working rather well, isn't it?

The answer is that fascism rejects democracy not because it gives a voice to the people, but because it speaks in their name and in their stead, and pretending to give the people power, it weakens them, and instead of giving them freedom, it chains them, and instead of giving them wealth of spirit, it gives them wealth of matter. In essence, democracy is the idealization of mediocrity, and of powerlessness: its prime values are peace and tranquility. Whereas in essence, fascism is the idealization of superiority and of brilliance: its prime values are movement and change. For these reasons and no other are the two incompatible.
As Nietzsche wrote: "I point to something new: certainly for such a democratic type there exists the danger of the barbarian, but one has looked for it only in the depths. There exists also another type of barbarian, who comes from the heights: a species of conquering and ruling natures in search of material to mold. Prometheus was this kind of barbarian." Prometheus, who rebelled against the Gods to bring fire to the world, is the ideal of fascism, an ideal that you or me can achieve: he is the one who goes against the status quo, who radically rejects all that chains him, to bring forth his true person, his gift to the world.

This allows us to come to the inevitable issue of how fascism can be considered in relation to our lives within the framework of our current societies. Our current society, as it is now, can be identified with Apollo, the Greek God of peace, music, harmony. He is a god who gives tranquility, who rests the mind, and who provides for the harmony of nature: but he is a cool god, who can give not only peace but also boredom, and not only harmony, but also apathy. Such is the nature of the democratic (capitalist) state; it can give wealth, but not inspiration, it can give peace, but not vitality, it can give freedom, but not happiness, it can give legality, but not legitimacy.
Opposed to this allegory we find the personification of fascism: Dionysos. He is the god of wine, of revelry, but also of theater, exuberance, change, breaking of old orders and forever seeking new; a god both of vitality and death.
It is written in Euripides' The Bacchai that when Dionysos first came as a God upon the earth of the Greeks, the young and bright people, especially the females, were struck with a mad feeling of freedom, and broke all chains and social rules to dance and feast upon the mountaintop. And when Pentheus, the King of Thebes, representing the old tranquil order, opposed the God, he was struck down by the power of Dionysos, and was rent apart by the mad power of the revelling women. Yet there is more to the story than just this: for Pentheus' death represents the dramatic destruction of the old conservative order and the moving towards new rules and new worlds, and so his death is an honorable and important role for the Dionysian legend. Therefore, the later Dionysia festival re-enacted his death, so symbolizing the necessity of moving from old to new, from chains to freedom in its most pure sense.

Such is the ideal of fascism in our current society also: we must forever seek to greatness, forever try and destroy the old order to replace it by the endless possibilities a new world can bring, forever strike down the old gods and symbols to replace them with those of our own making and our own feelings. One should feel alive and in control of one's fate, and whatever stands against this is a threat to one's humanity, a threat to one's true freedom. That is the waking call of fascism in our times, a waking call to all those who feel frustrated in their ambitions, in their talents, in their potential, in the whole of their lives by the status quo and its maze of unhappiness and unfulfillment: regardless of whether the obstacles come from socialists or from capitalists, whether from the rich or from the poor, whether from the black or from the white, whether from the laws or from the religions, one must destroy all that makes it impossible to be a free human being.
Posted by Matthijs Krul @ 14:51