No, I certainly would not, and in fact, for years, just the opposite was true. I judged the magnicifent ideality of the Soviet Constitution--or the communist experiment--by the actuality of Soviet communism. Having lived in China, and having travelled extensively in the Societ Union, I have seen first hand the oppression an ideal social program can bring to actual social situations. So when in graduate school, where many students and faculty remain fashionably Marxist, I took the position that we should not be irresponsibly wielding political ideologies as a literary tool, when they have caused so much damage to human beings on the planet. Lit crit should not exist or operate in a complete vacuum. Lit crit should not separate ideological cause from real time effect.
    But you know, I am not as sure now that any social ideology causes the damage--whether it is democratic, national socialist, monarchist, fascist, roman catholic, protestant--what have you. All they do is prove--their presence proves--that people want to bond together for protection against enemies real and imagined. They want to believe in something, be productive, triumphant, and in the right. And they want the rewards that should come from right action.  But the ideologies themselves simply become a vehicle for those who would drive them. And those who do drive them--they are nearly always the problem. They can take any ideology where they want it to go. 
     Fascism is no better nor worse than any of the other isms out there. And it has a beauty--a good intention, in ways--and in ways, it even resulted in some positive social effects. What did Pound say--he wished that his work would be examined in its parts, and not taken and judged at once, as a whole. The Fascist doctrinal texts deserve a read--as does the communist manifesto, and the historical records of the See of Peter. And in like manner, we should learn to separate out what is positive from what is negative, even from that which seems to have an overwhelming amount of the negative to it.  My response that fascism gets a rap is directed against wholesale judgements. It is so easy to say 'and yes, fascism,' then roll our eyes and bond in agreement that it was a horrible, despicable nightmare for the world and for people. It may have been that too. But I would suggest that we not consider THAT the whole story, that we instead look at the story in its parts.
    As society, like academia, moves further and further away from condoning or promoting anything like independent thought,  the accepted use of history is as a series of summary, wholistic soundbites. They are, after all, a lot easier to acquire than is a diverse judgement of parts. And such wholistic judgements are becoming the ever more requisite shibboleths to social acceptance.
   Call it a quirk, but of this I am wary.
>>> Daniel Pearlman <[log in to unmask]> 08/26 9:16 PM >>>
I'm sure you would not judge the actuality of Soviet communism
by the magnificent ideality of the Soviet Constitution.
 
==Dan
 
At 05:49 PM 8/26/99 -0500, you wrote:
>As a utopian vision, Fascism has some merit. Mussollini's manifesto, for
example, promotes some of the same kind of ideas as does Confucius--a need
for order, but within order, flexibility. The need to subordinate the
individual to the whole. Some may argue against the merit of this--and I am
not sure that I like it myself--but it is the same impulse that built us
great cathedrals in the middle ages, for example. Like fashion, certain
terms, like certain writers, become throw aways--especially in the academy.
 That is, for years, it was fashionable to condemn Nietzsche, because of
the alleged connection between his philosophy and the Nazis. It in fact was
so easy to condemn him that no one had to read him. Yet there is no Nazi in
Nietzsche. If anything, he is sort of Buddhist. For years (even now) it has
been easy to throw away Pound, rather than to read him. How many of you
have encountered resistance somewhere along the line when you suggested
that you liked Pound? How many people have had difficulty getting
professors to teach him? What is his place in the Modernist anthologies?
Likewise, there are some darn compelling essays on fascism as a social
program.
>   And they finally got those swamps drained in Italy, right?
>
>>>> Joe Brennan <[log in to unmask]> 08/26 5:26 PM >>>
>since I'm obviously (I thought) punning, it has several meanings -- assent,
>of course, and also a comment on pound's "political leanings."
>
>jb....
>
>In a message dated 8/26/99 3:41:29 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
[log in to unmask] 
>writes:
>
><<
> i trust this acknowledges your assent, and not a
> declaration of political leanings...
>
> Stoneking
>
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Joe Brennan <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Thursday, August 26, 1999 3:05 PM
> Subject: Re: EP and academics
>
>
> > or even  right on....
> >
> > In a message dated 8/26/99 2:53:48 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
> > [log in to unmask] writes:
> >
> > << right.
> > >>
>
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