Thoughts on fascism, Mann, Yeats, and Nietzsche.

[ananda]

Now that predatory corporate fascism has officially and egregiously taken over this country and its government, some thoughts arise.

In the forward to Joseph and His Brothers, Thomas Mann says something most insightful and resonant about fascism and democracy. He says that fascists have much stronger wills than those who believe in freedom and democracy. Here's the exact quote: "... I had just begun to narrate, in Mario and the Magician, a story with strong political inclinations, dealing with the psychology of Fascism and of 'freedom,' with the lack of will of the latter, which puts it at a great disadvantage with respect to the robust will of its opponent." Most telling, eh? This also reminds me of Yeats "The Second Coming," where "the best lack all conviction, and the worst are full of passionate intensity."

Then I think of Nietzsche and the concept of the will to power, remembering that George W. Bush used that exact kind of language in the runup the war on Iraq, and wondering .. in a chicken egg kind of fashion .. whether the will to power leads to fascism or whether fascism takes its overriding power from the strong ineluctable will of those who embrace it.

In the spirit of sad and thoughtful musing in these difficult times,
Sue