Definitions of Fascism

Fascism is a system of government that gives the state full control over the population. The government works in partnership with Big Industry.

Under fascism, wealth is redistributed and controlled by the government. Ownership of land is only on paper. In reality everything is actually owned by the government, and the citizens are just working the land.

Free men—the ruling men—own all the land and control all the workers. Today, these free men are the industry leaders and big businesses.

Historian and journalist Joan Veon explains how fascism comes to fruition:

Through public-private partnerships, the balance of power shifts from the people to the partner who has the most money. As the power shifts to the deepest pockets (the corporation), we have then moved into fascism—rule by big (reinvented) government and big business.ⁱ

Veon says that these two elements are key in introducing fascism:

(1) the downsizing of federal government in order to fit into the future global governance
(2) the government's shift to privatization of public services through public-private partnerships.ⁱⁱ

The New York Observer published an interview with former Congressman John Hall, who warns that fascism could be next for America:

Hudson Valley Congressman John Hall warned that the nation could quickly descend into Fascism if more is not done to curb the influence of corporate money in politics. Speaking about the Citizen's United decision, which allowed unregulated flow of cash into campaign coffers, Hall said, "I learned when I was in social studies class in school that corporate ownership or corporate control of government is called Fascism. So that's really the question—is that the destination if this court decision goes unchecked?"ⁱⁱⁱ

The Economic Thought of the Roman Catholic Church

Fascism appeals to the Roman Catholic Church because it is the perfect vehicle through which to gain global control.

Popular 20^th-century journalist Pierre van Paassen wrote this about Catholicism's nature:

For today Rome considers the Fascist regime the nearest to its dogmas and interest. We have not merely the Reverend (Jesuit) Father Coughlin praising Mussolini's Italy as "a Christian Democracy," but Civilita Cattolica, house organ of the Jesuits, says quite frankly "Fascism is the regime that corresponds most closely to the concepts of the Church of Rome."^iv

Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) is considered by the Catholic Church to be its greatest theologian. His thinking is “foundational for understanding the economic thought of the Roman Church-State.”^v

A depiction of Thomas Aquinas in a Belgian cathedral.
Source: Wikimedia Commons....

Aquinas taught the socialist idea of communal possessions, using the same political buzzwords we are seeing in today's papal statements. In Summa Theologiae he makes these frightening statements:

The possession of all things in common is the natural law…‘the possession of all things in common and universal freedom’ are said to be of the natural law because, to wit, the distinction of possessions and slavery were not brought in by nature, but devised by human reason for the benefit of human life.

The community of goods is ascribed to the natural law, not that the natural law dictates that all things should be possessed in common and that nothing should be possessed as one’s own, but because the division of possessions is not according to the natural law, but rather arose from human agreement...the ownership of possessions is not contrary to the natural law, but an addition thereto devised by human reason...Hence, whatever certain people have in superabundance is due, by natural law, to the purpose of succorring the poor (emphases added).^vi

So, as Rome sees it, property is for common good. You may own it, but it is for common good. Whatever you have that is more than you need will be given to others. Does this mean in practical terms that if you own anything, you will be taxed to death so that the state may collect revenues to support those who have not?

Pius XI tells us this in his 1931 encyclical Quadragesimo Anno:

Under Fascism, property owners may keep their property titles and deeds, but the use of their property is, as Leo XIII wrote, “common”. Fascism is a form of socialism that retains the forms and trappings of capitalism, but not its substance. Under Fascism, property titles and deeds are intact, but the institution of private property has disappeared. Government regulations and mandates have replaced it. For this distinction between legal ownership and actual use, the fascists owe a debt to the Roman Church-State (emphases added).^vii

According to Second Vatican Council document Gaudium et Spes, “The complex circumstances of our day make it necessary for public authority to intervene more often in social, economic and cultural matters.”^viii

Fascism Today

In a video discussing the 2011 Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum, Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum, says this:

We are living in a completely new reality. So we want to know, what is this reality? What is different now after the [world economic] crisis from before the crisis? Because our assumption is that this crisis was a structural one. Many things have changed and we should not go back to the old recipes.

We [the World Economic Forum] want to make a strong contribution to the G20 process. We are working together with the French Presidency. The G20 has become a major element of the global governments.

Business has to be integrated into this process because the problems which we face cannot be solved by governments alone. They need public-private partnerships. They need the support of the business community and of civil society (emphasis added).^ix

If the combination of big business and big government makes fascism, then fascism is indeed happening today. Just like the feudal lords in the Middle Ages, today's big industry is working with the government to suppress the common workers and control their movements. People believe they are free, but they are not. Today's serfs—the working class—have no option but to make the rich richer.

One key aspect of fascism—the redistribution of wealth—is particularly popular with the Roman Catholic Church, and is being practiced today with alarming frequency.

This article is adapted from They Have Made Void Thy Law Part 1 in Professor Walter Veith's Rekindling the Reformation series.