Fascist Q & A session

This is a pamphlet written by Oswald Mosley, the notorious leader of the British Union of Fascists (BUF). The Kindle edition is recent, but the original was published at some point before World War II. An older edition on sale here gives 1937 as the year of publication. Mosley's pamphlet is a relatively good, and frequently intriguing, introduction to the politics of the BUF.

On some points, Mosley's positions are surprising for a self-confessed fascist. Thus, he is for gender equality (including equal pay), supports birth control and opposes harassment of the unemployed. On many other points, he sounds like we expect a fascist to sound like. Jews should be extradited from Britain, except “patriotic” ones, but they too should be excluded from citizenship and political influence. The press will not be free “to tell lies” about Mosley's government. Strikes will be declared illegal, political parties dissolved and parliamentary democracy replaced by a curious corporative system reminiscent of medieval guilds or estates. Local government will be under the control of fascists appointed from above. The fascist government will hold frequent plebiscites to ascertain the will of the people. Of course, such plebiscites will simply rubberstamp the decision of the fascist regime…

BUF explicitly call for a planned economy and a strongly autarkic economy. Foreign imports of most food and manufactured goods will be banned. Import of cheap raw materials from British colonies overseas will continue. This will lead to full employment and higher wages in Britain. It would also make industrialization of the colonies impossible. Mosley at one point calls for the complete de-industrialization of India! Why the “dominions” (including Canada) should accept this state of dependency is less clear. Mosley at one point calls for collaboration with traditional Indian leaders and the introduction of corporatism in all colonies. However, I get the impression that he really doesn't know what to do with India, except to stay on and fight the nationalists.

In foreign policy, the fascist leader calls for “peace”, expresses support for Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, and wants to give Japan a free hand to create an empire of its own in China. The real enemy of Britain and the British people is the Soviet Union (called “Soviet Russia” in the pamphlet).

There is a typically fascist tension in Mosley's expositions between modern and pre-modern. On the modern side we find a fascination with technology and science, the strong belief that rational planning can overcome the anarchy of the market, and the tendency to see resources are limitless (at least for the imperial center). At the same time, the corporative system – while nominally a “parliament” of technical experts – is really a pre-modern system in which everyone is locked into his or her profession on a semi-permanent basis. Autarky and the strong emphasis on agriculture could also be seen as pre-modern traits. Above all, BUF's program is strongly nationalist and imperialist, with some racialist traits. A surprising fact about “Fascism: 100 Questions Asked and Answered” is that it's written in a relatively “moderate” and even somewhat tedious style, even when it puts forward extreme positions (such as extradition of most Jews). Presumably, this was necessary due to the general unpopularity of Mosley's Blackshirts.

I'm not a fascist (obviously), but I admit that Oswald Mosley's 100 Q & A's is a good introduction to the fascist political program as it actually looked like, and I therefore somewhat reluctantly give it three stars…