[D66] Inside the identity state

[Antid Oto]

http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2012-10-08-mocnik-en.html

Rastko Mocnik
Inside the identity state
Two types of fascist politics

As authoritarianism casts its shadow over modern liberal democracies, 
Rastko Mocnik identifies two forms of neo-fascism in Slovenia: one 
cultural, the other technocratic. Why have these emerged? What kind of 
social dynamic underpins them?

Looking at how elements of fascism can emerge spontaneously in 
contemporary society enables us to see that fascism does not originate 
from "evil" or "lack of enlightenment", but rather from the logic of 
objective historical processes, and from internal pressures and 
tensions. It is therefore essential to struggle against modern fascism 
at an objective level: by addressing changes in historical structure and 
the processes this structure "automatically" generates. Moralistic 
campaigns, the promotion of tolerance and so on, cannot be effective 
since they do not take account of historical causes. They merely serve 
to obscure or distract, and quite often also encourage or even introduce 
the processes that lead to contemporary fascist practices. In these 
moralistic campaigns, conducted at a governmental and European level, we 
can observe the authoritarian element present in current liberal 
politics. In a democracy, the people should be telling the rulers what 
to do; now the rulers instruct the people on what they should do, think 
and feel, and tell them what is good for them.