Readings on Fascism and National Socialism: Selected by members of the department of philosophy, University of ColoradoVarious
Philosophy
Readings on Fascism and National Socialism: Selected by members of the department of philosophy, University of Colorado
Various
Fascism; National socialism
It was evident, however, that this moderate system, being
fundamentally illogical and in contradiction with the very principles
from which it proceeded, would soon become the object of serious
criticism. For if the object of society and of the state is the
welfare of individuals, severally considered, how is it possible to
admit that this welfare can be secured by the individuals themselves
only through the possibilities of such a liberal régime? The
inequalities brought about both by nature and by social organizations
are so numerous and so serious, that, for the greater part,
individuals abandoned to themselves not only would fail to attain
happiness, but would also contribute to the perpetuation of their
condition of misery and dejection. The state therefore cannot limit
itself to the merely negative function of the defense of liberty. It
must become active, in behalf of everybody, for the welfare of the
people. It must intervene, when necessary, in order to improve the
material, intellectual, and moral conditions of the masses; it must
find work for the unemployed, instruct and educate the people, and
care for health and hygiene. For if the purpose of society and of the
state is the welfare of individuals, and if it is just that these
individuals themselves control the attainment of their ends, it
becomes difficult to understand why Liberalism should not go the whole
distance, why it should see fit to distinguish certain individuals
from the rest of the mass, and why the functions of the people should
be restricted to the exercise of a mere check. Therefore the state, if
it exists for all, must be governed by all, and not by a small
minority: if the state is for the people, sovereignty must reside in
the people: if all individuals have the right to govern the state,
liberty is no longer sufficient; equality must be added: and if
sovereignty is vested in the people, the people must wield all
sovereignty and not merely a part of it. The power to check and curb
the government is not sufficient. The people must be the government.
Thus, logically developed, Liberalism leads to Democracy, for
Democracy contains the promises of Liberalism but oversteps its
limitations in that it makes the action of the state positive,
proclaims the equality of all citizens through the dogma of popular
sovereignty. Democracy therefore necessarily implies a republican form
of government even though at times, for reasons of expediency, it
temporarily adjusts itself to a monarchical régime.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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