{{titulo_capa}}Fascism Is the True Face of Capitalism - Bertolt Brecht

{{texto1}}Truth must be spoken with an eye to the results it will produce in the sphere of action. As an example of a truth from which no result, or the wrong one, follows, we may cite the widespread view that poor conditions prevail in several countries as a result of barbarism. In this view, fascism is a wave of barbarism that has descended upon some countries with the elemental force of a natural phenomenon. According to this view, fascism is a new third power alongside (and above) capitalism and socialism; not only the socialist movement but also capitalism would have survived without the intervention of fascism. And so on. This is, obviously, a fascist claim; to adhere to it is a capitulation to fascism. Fascism is a historical phase of capitalism; in this sense, it is something new and at the same time old. In fascist countries, capitalism continues to exist, but only in the form of fascism; and fascism can only be fought as capitalism, as the most naked, shameless, oppressive and treacherous form of capitalism. But how can anyone tell the truth about fascism unless they are willing to speak out against capitalism, which brings it forth? What will be the practical results of such truth? Those who are against fascism without being against capitalism, who lament the barbarism that springs from barbarism, are like people who wish to eat veal without killing the calf. They are willing to eat the calf, but they do not like the sight of blood. They are easily satisfied if the butcher washes his hands before weighing the meat. They are not against the property relations that generate barbarism; they are only against barbarism itself. They raise their voices against barbarism and do so in countries where exactly the same property relations prevail, but where the butchers wash their hands before weighing the meat. Protests against barbaric measures may seem effective as long as listeners believe that such measures are out of the question in their own countries. Certain countries are still able to maintain their property relations by methods that appear less violent than those used elsewhere. Democracy still serves in those countries to achieve results for which violence is necessary elsewhere, namely, to guarantee private ownership of the means of production. Private monopoly of factories, mines and land creates barbarous conditions everywhere, but in some places these conditions do not strike the eye so violently. Barbarism only draws attention when the monopoly can only be protected by open violence. Some countries, which do not yet consider it necessary to defend their barbarous monopolies, allow the formal guarantees of a constitutional state, as well as facilities in art, philosophy and literature, and are particularly eager to hear visitors from countries where these facilities are denied. They listen to them with pleasure because they expect to derive from what they hear advantages in future wars. Should we then say that they have recognized the truth when, for example, they loudly demand a tireless struggle against Germany "because that country is now the true home of evil in our days, the partner of hell, the abode of the Antichrist"? We must say that these are crazy and dangerous people. For any conclusion to be drawn from this nonsensical nonsense, since poison gas and bombs do not eliminate the guilty, Germany would have to be exterminated – the whole country and all its people. Man does not know the truth if he expresses it in arrogant, general and imprecise terms. He shouts about "the" German, complains about evil in general, and those who hear him cannot decide what to do. Should he decide not to be German? Will hell disappear if he himself is good? The idiotic talk about barbarism arising from barbarism is also of this kind. The source of barbarism would be barbarism, fought by culture, which comes from education. All of this is put in general terms; it does not claim to be a guide to action and, in reality, it is not addressed to anyone. These vague descriptions point to only a few links in the chain of causes. Obscurantism conceals the real forces that cause disasters. If light is shed on the matter, it promptly appears that disasters are caused by certain men. For we live in an era in which the fate of human beings is determined by human beings. Fascism is not a natural disaster that can be understood simply in terms of "human nature." But even when dealing with natural catastrophes, there are ways of portraying them that are worthy of human beings because they appeal to the human spirit of struggle. After a great earthquake that destroyed Yokohama, many American magazines published photographs showing a heap of ruins. The captions read: Steel remained. And indeed, although at first glance we could see only ruins, after noticing the caption the eye quickly perceived that some tall buildings had remained standing. Among the countless descriptions that can be given of an earthquake, those drawn up by construction engineers on changes in the ground, the force of stresses, the best designs, etc., are of the greatest importance, for they lead to future buildings that will withstand earthquakes. If one wishes to describe fascism and war, great disasters that are not natural catastrophes, one must do so in terms of a practical truth. We must show that these disasters are unleashed by the possessing classes to control the great mass of workers who do not own the means of production. If one wishes to write successfully the truth about bad conditions, one must write it so that its avoidable causes can be identified. If the avoidable causes can be identified, the bad conditions can be fought.