I have been re-reading “Bread and Wine” by Ignazio Silone. I first read this in the 1960s, probably in Mudd’s senior seminar class, “Science and Man’s Goals”. Silone’s novel was first published in 1936 and it tells the story of the rise and impact of fascism in Italy. What is very upsetting is the close similarity between Italian Fascism and what is happening in America today.
The church, the banks, and the big corporations take over rule as embodied in an unlikely hero patriot. Mussolini was viewed as a great revolutionary who would “make Italy great again.” One of the first demands of fascism is absolute conformity and the abolition of criticism. Then, the heroic leader begins to explore aggressive moves around the world. All of this is in the name of patriotism and returning to some classic era of the nation’s history. Meanwhile, both emigration and immigration are strictly controlled. Italy went to war in North Africa in 1936 and added Ethiopia to its list of colonies in Africa. Anyone who wanted to advance himself needed to show absolute support for the regime; the opposition was everywhere suppressed. Meanwhile, the peasants were driven further into poverty. The fascist hero wastes no time on liberal governments and seeks relations with the world’s totalitarian leaders.
We may not be there entirely yet, but give Trump another term and there will be no turning back, I am afraid.
