Getting Used to the F-word

Getting Used to the F-word
Italian police officers adopt the goose-step (or Passo Romano) for the first time, at a parade marking the 13th anniversary of Mussolini's creation of the metropolitan police force, Rome, on Oct. 17, 1938. FPG/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
William Gairdner
Updated:
0:00
Commentary
There has never been much agreement on the definition of fascism. Nevertheless, the impression that, whatever its form, it always has to do with the triumph of the will over nature, seems a penetrating truth about early fascism as well as its more recent manifestations. The French saying Chassez le naturel, il revient au galop (“banish the natural, and it comes galloping back”) is a truth of nature that, absent the help of massively oppressive state powers, no degree of will could ever succeed in altering for long. Despite this bald reality, the recent history of the West has been a disturbing and repetitive narrative centered on the complexities and catastrophes that result from efforts to banish nature.
William Gairdner
William Gairdner
contributor
William Gairdner is a best-selling author living near Toronto. His latest book is "Beyond the Rhetoric" (2021). His website is WilliamGairdner.ca, and on youtube.com/@William-Gairdner
Related Topics