Fascism Viewed from the Right
Julius EvolaEvola praises those aspects of Fascism which he believes to have been in accordance with the best traditions of European governance, in particular the Classical Roman tradition, while he remains critical of those aspects which ran contrary to this ideal, such as its socialist, proletarian and totalitarian tendencies, as well as what he saw as its petty moralism. Evola also distinguishes between the Fascism of the 'Twenty Years' between 1922 and Mussolini's overthrow in 1943, and the 'Second Fascism' of the Italian Social Republic, which he considered as much more problematic. He likewise criticizes the Fascist racial doctrine for being based on false principles. Frequently quoting Mussolini's own words, Evola presents the core of the Fascist ideal, arguing that, for all its flaws, it remains superior to the political system which has since arisen to replace it.
Julius Evola (1898-1974) an Italian political philosopher saw in fascism an opportunity to revive tradition, or pre-Modern civilizations like that of the Roman Republic, where politics was divorced from economics and parties that vied with each other offering bribes and rewards to electors who would reward the successful bidder with a majority. He viewed the Enlightenment as a misnomer, and argued that deterministic rationalism had repudiated the existential essence of volkgeist Tradition. He saw himself as viewing fascism the right in the context of Italian politics, but in its purist form Fascism was not characterised by opposing interests but was focused on maintaining the spiritual integrity of governing aristocracies. Fascism had promise, but that it had deviated from its ideal. For Evola, Classical Rome provided an ideal where voting rights reflected the contributions individual citizens made to the state, as in the Comitia Centuriata, where numerical strength was countered by the function and dignity of those who were worthy to rule, who were empowered by a phenomenon Friedrich Nietzsche termed the power of distance.