I CAME NEAR BEING A FASCIST
Ramon Fernandez
I
CAME NEAR BEING A FASCIST.
I did not miss it by far, merely by
the commonplace material circumstance of not having been absent from
Paris from February 6 to 12. For in the position that I was in, there
was
~o
ideological nicety that could have brought me to this side of the
barricades, no reasoned argument, but rather, an atmosphere of passion
and of struggle was required-to put it briefly, acts of violence witnessed
at first hand and reconstructed in such a fashion as to bring out the truth
inherent in them. In relating my little story (I must beg pardon once
for all for speaking of myself, a thing that I do none too well), I shall
perhaps be contributing worth while testimony. In any event, what I
shall have to say will be nearer the truth than it would be if I were
to rely upon unfamiliar data or to fall back upon general reflections.
I came, then, near being a Fascist. Fascism is a clever trap set for
well intentioned bourgeois intellectuals, sufficiently disinterested but lazy,
as is the case with all those who derive profit from an established form of
society. I answered this description very well. Add to this a professional
fondness for theorizing, which tends to make one highly susceptible to
original "solutions." Taken all in all, and naturally along with its
other aspects, Fascism is the art of quieting the social unrest of intel–
lectuals, by leading them to engage in a revolution which will neither
alter their habits nor sacrifice their interests.
"So, you want a revolution, do you? Very well. You want to put
down capitalism? Fair enough. You would like to see fresh proletarian
blood injected into the body social? Agreed upon that."
But inasmuch as it is the big capitalist who finances those "anti–
capitalist" groups to which the newly fledged revolutionist
become~
attached,
the latter finds it unnecessary to renounce any of the advantages he
formerly enjoyed, from dining out to fat fees from the press. The trick:
is easily turned. All that our intellectual friend requires is a little
sophistical justification, and he is persuaded that he is acting to the best
interests of all.
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