Are Tories fascists?

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During any industrial dispute, and especially during the current Miner's strike the government gets accused of being "fascist" , oI using "fascist" tactics.

Faced with mass police brutality, its hardly surprising. But because of the particular nature of Fascism, however, we have to be very careful about hurling the word "fascist" around as an insult.

Some people define fascism by talking about its most obvious characeristics, such as antisemitism, racism in general, use of violent methods and the cult of leadership. But to really understand fascism and to work out how to right it you've got to try to find out why it comes about and how fascism comes to power.

Extreme Quite simply, Fascism is an extreme form of capitalism that sets out to destroy the organised labour movement, crushing other sources of dissent on the way. You get fascism at times of deep capitalist crisis, when the bossclass are unable to make workers pay for the bankruptcy of their a ser by the 'normal' methods.

- * he measures taken = = :3x governmen: are agains: the wishes or interess o: individual capitalists. In some cases, as in Italy and Germany in the 1930s, some capitalists lose their businesses. Many find the blatant smashing of democracy and use of violence offensive. The capitalists fall in line, however, because the organised working class presents a far greater threat, than the loss of some power and a few civil liberties.

The big capitalists represent a tiny minority of the population. Fascism relies on very large mobilisations and has to turn towards the smaller capitalists, the disaffected layers of society who have been crushed between Richard Bayley from York LPYS continues our "What is Socialism" series with a look at fascism.

the wheels of big business and the working class to sweep the into power. It also mobilises the unemployed and most poverty-stricked people who capitalism have dumped on the scrap heap.

These groups could easily be enlisted to an active and solid workers' movement, but are attracted by the bogus clarion calls and activity of fascists.

To defeat fascist groups you need a united front of all workers parties ready to mobiiise against fascism. (In this country, this is less of a problem, as the Labour Party so completely dominates the Labour movement). It involves unity around action, not appeals to the state to "ban" fascists. And the action needed is to smash them off the streets, throw them out of the labour movement and to take on the state racism which gives the fascists racism its respectability.

Some people have described Margaret Thatcher as a "fascist" Clearly, this is wrong; Thatcher is an old fashioned right-wing Tory: In this country, Fascism would mot just mean the witch-hunting and victimisation of a few left wingers. Even using troops, against strikers which this government might do has always been an option for caitalism. Fascists would be attacking, even murdering the Len Murrays and Denis Healeys of this world.

Difference

There is a qualitative difference between capitalist democracy and fascist dictatorship, and to call all capitalists "fascists" is a dangerous mistake. Labelling Thatcher a "fascist" -when she far prefers buying off the top Trade Union bureaucrats instead of smashing them - is only disarming our movement for when the real thing comes along.

Think of what a fascist state would look like compared to Thatcher's Britain: no trade unions, with workers organised in "Labour fronts" that become an arm of the state, used to control workers, not fight for their interests. There would be no political opposition, and no opposition parties. The state would put demands on women to reproduce for the "Father/Motherland", and there would be a glorification of male dominance. For gays, racial mir orities, and left wingers would bi sent into forced labour or concentration camps.

All right wing regimes show tendencies towards this model -but the big difference between fascism and Thatcher's Britain is that fascism is based on the complete smashing and destruction of the labour movement and other political parties So while Thatcher is trying to weaken the unions through the government's anti-union laws and thus uses the police, to stop picketing, it's a far cry from a fascist state where trade unions would have become illegal and there would be no rights at all for working class people to organise outside of the state's machinery.