Dinesh D’Souza, author of “The Big Lie,” hosts the newest Prager University video, “Is Fascism Right or Left?” where he discusses the little known history of the fascist movement — a history the far-left would rather remain buried.
“‘He’s a fascist!’ For decades, this has been a favorite smear of the left, aimed at those on the right,” D’Souza begins. “Every Republican president, for that matter, virtually every Republican since the 1970s, has been called a fascist; now, more than ever.”
He continues, “This label is based on the idea that fascism is a phenomenon of the political right. The left says it is, and some self-styled white supremacists and neo-Nazis embrace the label. But are they correct?”
Capitalism, D’Souza points out, can be traced to Adam Smith, and socialism can be traced to Karl Marx, but the principle philosopher of fascism has been hidden by far-left historians.
“Let me introduce him to you. His name is Giovanni Gentile,” D’Souza says.
Gentile was an Italian philosopher born in the first half of the 20th century. In his writings, he dismisses individualism in favor of a system where citizens were subordinate to the state.
“Like his philosophical mentor, Karl Marx, Gentile wanted to create a community that resembles the family, a community where we are ‘all in this together,'” says D’Souza. “It’s easy to see the attraction of this idea. Indeed, it remains a common rhetorical theme of the left.”
Gentile’s influence strongly impacted left-wing politics over the last century.
D’Souza points out, “At the 1984 convention of the Democratic Party, the governor of New York, Mario Cuomo, likened America to an extended family where, through the government, people all take care of each other.”
He adds, “Nothing’s changed. Thirty years later, a slogan of the 2012 Democratic Party convention was, ‘The government is the only thing we all belong to.’ They might as well have been quoting Gentile.”
You can watch the video here.
