Fascist Italy:

The innovative use of Italian "corporations" revolutionized the nation. By illegalizing trade unions and compelling employers to work together with the employees, the Fascist state could increase productivity and the standard of living. It was like starting out at Year One for the Italian people, the times were so good that most books became outdated and were shelved while the Balilla was stocked with plenty of children praising the virtues of Fascism. It was a time of happy families and general prosperity. The motorways were crammed with commerce and the railways all ran on time.

Mussolini's Italy was more successful in fighting the battles against social ills. Farmers were encouraged to grow more wheat in the Battle for Grain, families were encouraged to have more children in the Battle for Births and land was reallocated for agricultural growth during the Battle for Land. Unfortunately, military alliances during WW2 ousted this wonderful Italian government before it could do any more good. Never before did Italy see such prosperity than in the Fascist era of 1920-1940. The time was marked by Italian fortitude against civil dissent and unrest.

Fascist Italy - an easy way to show how Socialism WORKS!

But did it really work?

The innovative use of Italian "corporations" revolutionized the nation.:

Like other Socialist nations, trade unions were made virtually illegal in Italy and in their place were "corporations" - but unlike Capitalist corporations, Fascist corporations were compulsive arms of the state that dictated production and "sorted out the differences" between workers and employees. It was generally assumed that since Italy post WWI had high unemployment, that having the government do this instead of the free trade unions would be better. While it did solve unemployment, it did not solve the massive public inequity that crushed Italy's economy later.

By illegalizing trade unions:

As I mentioned before, the freedom of assembly was taken away from Italian workers, since they were not allowed to privately gather to discuss work terms with an employer. The Fascist government did this for them.

compelling employers to work together with the employees:

The result of this was the loss of private property in the Italian culture, replaced by a dictatorial state. Notice this trend of illegalizing private trade unions in favor of "public" trade unions is a trend of failure in Socialist economies.

increase productivity:

To do this, Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini grabbed control of both the workers - via Fascist "corporations" - and then most other private trades were assumed by the various Italian "battles" for economic growth. The results of these explorations speak for themselves (heavy militarization of Italy, revoking of personal liberties, and virtual banning of private property - thrusting a confused and overwhelmed Italian people into bloodlust as WW2 began).

standard of living:

The Lira, during the so-called "Battle for the Lira", was devalued beyond belief as Mussolini artificially inflated it to make it appear more valuable (thus putting himself up on the national economic market). At home workers had a hard time selling goods due to the cheapness and value of imported goods. This created vast unemployment which was only rectified by the Italians forcing people into hard labor during other "battles" for economic growth.

Year One:

Mussolini, to encourage the Fascist changeover, actually renamed the year of Fascist takeover - 1922 - as "year one". This was to encourage nationalistic support. This method was unpopular as was his attempt to bill himself as living superman (he took photos of himself driving race cars, flying planes, and doing other talented things - Italy began to turn on him because of this propaganda, thinking he was pompous and arrogant).

most books became outdated and were shelved:

Like other Socialist nations, other political ideologies were detested and made illegal. Therefore, it was the judgment of the Fascist legion to censor and ban most books. The Fascist ideology, like other Socialisms, insist that the collective needs conflicted with private ones - the only way that they could pass this absurd notion into the culture was to forcefully ban anything in opposition. The Nazis, often notorious for their 1933 Berlin book burning incident, actually engaged the same technique as the Fascists afterwards, instead of burning books, they like the Fascists simply took control of the printing presses that printed the books and closed them down. This encouragement of non-thought is a trend of Socialism simply because Socialism demands collectivistic thinking.

Balilla:

The Balilla, a middle-school age group part of the Fascist government, were government-controlled re-education centers. Boys were taught that fighting was a natural part of the male instincts, just as women were taught that they were there to have more babies for the Fascist legions. A slogan for the young men in school was "war is to the male what childbearing is to the female". The object was to have all students respect the absolute authority of the Italian government, so should the Fascist government last more than one generation, the population would all be "ideal citizens" who did not challenge civil order. Balilla motto - "I believe in Rome, the Eternal, the mother of my country... I believe in the genius of Mussolini... and in the resurrection of the Empire."

plenty of children praising the virtues of Fascism:

It was hard to praise anything else - children were required to study and obey Fascist laws and ideologies. Books and other publications suggesting different ideologies were banned. The only legal political party in Fascist Italy was, of course, the Fascist party.

happy families:

Families were basically fighting units/laborers whose ultimate goal as a family unit was to produce more "happy citizens" and not to question the central authority of Mussolini and the Fascist leadership.

general prosperity:

The only real industry that benefited under Mussolini's administration was the agricultural industry, but even that suffered harsh price manipulation and inequity. The post-Fascist Italy eventually recovered, but not until the Fascist policies were reversed.

motorways were crammed with commerce:

Mussolini did build motorways, although there was no real evidence to show that their construction actually changed anything in the Italian economy.

the railways all ran on time:

Mussolini took credit for anything he could, once saying that in Italy, all trains ran on time. This comment proved to be largely false - the railway system did not change much in the 1920's, and most of the changes occurred BEFORE 1922, when the Fascists took over.

battles:

Fascist "battles" came in various forms, all were efforts by Italy to "fix" their social disorders. Strangely, this practice occurs in America, only under the title of "wars". It's an efficient propaganda tool - saying the government is "fighting" things like the "Battle for Grain" or "War on Drugs" - often these agendas fail openly.

the Battle for Grain:

The Battle for Grain had farmers cultivating wheat to raise it's value. This ended up pushing other more efficient foodstuffs to the side, and domestically, the price for grain DID go up - making bread and other vital foods expensive for the poor. This hurt the nation's economy more than helped it.

the Battle for Births:

The Fascists insisted the woman's primary job was to cultivate more Fascists. Definitely not to think or to work in prominent areas of society.

the Battle for Land:

The battle for land was one of the few actual claims at Italian victory. They turned a large marsh, the Pontine marshes, into agricultural land. I'll let the readers determine if farming a swamp is a "agricultural victory".

it could do any more good:

The WW2 casualties for Italy were 330,000 military dead, and 80,000 citizens dead. This did not include the bloody internal revolts and violence of the Italian Blackshirts - their police unit (much like the German SS) - and various other Italian murders, assaults and violent acts as a result of their Fascist regime.

Never before did Italy see such prosperity:

Post WW2 Italy was economically devastated and the government was plagued with many poor Fascist policies. The total cost of WW2 for Italy was $94 billion - and that was just literal war supplies.

civil dissent and unrest:

Terrorizing left-wing political groups and violently assaulting anyone who might offer dissent - even other Communist/Socialist groups (which Italians claimed were not Fascist despite nearly identical political platforms), censoring the presses, disorganizing and terrorizing trade unions, and violently thieving from the masses were the means to keep the civilians "under control". You be the judge if Socialism worked in Fascist Italy.

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