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So what is pulling a Mussolini?
It occurred
to us here at The Phalanx, that some of you may not be familiar with the term
“…pulling a Mussolini.” So we will educate you. Benito Mussolini was an
Italian dictator and founder of the fascist movement that later inspired
Adolf Hitler. Mussolini ruled Italy with an Iron First from 1922 to 1943. His
rule  was perpetuated by several important
elements: expert use of propaganda, a charismatic personality, state control
of the mass media, and sheer terror. Contrary to popular myth, fascism and
socialism aren’t that different. Socialists advocate the abolishment of
private property and state control, while fascism does not advocate
abolishing private property, what a person can and will do with that property
is very much dictated by the state, as state control is maintained as being
of the utmost importance. In both cases, the primacy of the state is
unquestioned. Mussolini expertly used his charismatic speeches and exploited
the fears of his fellow Italians, which grew with increasing economic and
political uncertainty, to usher in a that primacy of the state. Under
Mussolini, he advocated the premise that the state (ie, Mussolini’s fascists)
were always right and acted in the best interest of the Italian people. The
personality cult that surrounded Mussolini soon gave rise to a highly
centralized (and inefficient) police state. The myth that fascism is if
anything efficient, is a misnomer, and the same can be said of German Nazism,
which is itself a variation of Italian Fascism. Above all, Mussolini
appreciated the importance of information. He realized that by controlling
access to information, and manipulating that information in such a way as to
advance the fascist cause was absolutely essential to his hold on power.
People can be misled, almost indefinitely through propaganda, even in the
face of fact and seemingly logical counterarguments, if myth and fantasy are
dominant in their minds, as well as their eyes and ears. Capitalizing on the
old imperial Roman tactic of bread and circuses, he drew people’s attention
away from real issues with massive public works projects. Above all, deception
and distraction were key to Mussolini’s hold on power. Italian Fascism was
never truly effective, his financial schemes and efforts to make Italy
industrially self-sufficient were all failures. Eventually, Mussolini
realized that his many political and economic endeavors would not distract
the Italian people forever and thus began to distract his people in other
ways. Mussolini began to advance the premise that Italy should be at the helm
of a great empire, similar to the Romans of 1500 years earlier. Mussolini set
out to conquer the Mediterranean world, with moves to subjugate Albania,
Libya and Ethiopia. These distractions sufficiently placated the Italian
people and distracted them from the political and economic realities at home.
Eventually, Mussolini bit off more than he could chew in teaming up with
Hitler and his efforts to conquer Europe. In the end Mussolini was killed and
his body hung upside down in the city of Milan. In spite of Mussolini’s
demise, the lessons he taught remain with politicians and charismatic
political leaders to this day. His tactics of deception and distraction are
alive and well. Keep reading The Phalanx and you will see exactly what we
mean.
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