The Danger of American Fascism

Editor’s Note: In the Trump era, the rise of the “alt-right,” the Capitol Hill riot, the systematic persecution of immigrants and ethnic minorities, the collusion between tech companies and traditional media in opinion control, and the operation of the war machine driven by the military-industrial complex all serve as warnings that fascism has never been far away; it has always lurked in the shadows of capital and power. This article, “The Danger of American Fascism,” written in 1952 by the renowned American Marxist scholar Paul A. Baran, remains relevant today and is highly useful for understanding the current state of American society and politics. It was republished in an abridged form in the Monthly Review in April 2025 and is now translated here for readers’ reference.

编者按：在特朗普时代，“另类右翼”的崛起、国会山骚乱、对移民与少数族裔的系统性迫害、科技公司与传统媒体合谋的舆论管控、军工复合体驱动的战争机器运转，都在警示着人们，法西斯主义从未远离，它一直在资本和权力的阴影下徘徊。美国著名马克思主义学者保罗·A·巴兰（Paul A. Baran）写于1952年的这篇文章《美国法西斯主义的危险》在今天看来也并没有过时，对于我们了解美国社会、政治现状非常有帮助。此文经摘编后于2025年4月重新发表于《每月评论》，现翻译后供读者参阅。

One of the most disturbing features of the current American political situation is the widespread complacency regarding the danger of fascism in one’s own country. That this complacency pervades the political thinking of the so-called “common man,” of conventional intellectuals, and of the bought-and-paid-for press is not surprising—indeed, it is an important aspect of the current political situation. What is truly alarming is the attitude of the existing progressive and left-wing forces in the United States, which belittle the threat of fascism in this country and refuse to regard fascism as a probable stage in the development of American capitalism. Hence, the political consciousness and insight of the editors of the Monthly Review are all the more gratifying; they have consistently viewed American society from a historical perspective and have frequently and forcefully reminded people of the seriousness of the fascist danger and the folly of the prevailing optimism.

当前美国政治局势中最为令人不安的一个特征，便是人们普遍对本国法西斯主义的危险性表现出一种令人不安的自满。这种自满情绪在所谓的“普通大众”、墨守成规的知识分子以及被收买的媒体的政治思维中普遍存在，这并不令人意外——事实上，这正是当前政治局势的一个重要方面。真正令人担忧的是，美国现存的那些进步的和左翼力量的态度，它们轻视法西斯主义在本国构成的威胁，拒绝将法西斯主义视为美国资本主义发展过程中大概率会出现的一个阶段。因此，《每月评论》的编辑们的政治意识和洞察力就显得格外令人欣慰，他们始终用历史的视角观察美国社会，经常且有力地提醒人们法西斯主义危险的严重性以及普遍存在的乐观主义的愚蠢。

This optimism is usually based on the following rather simple reasoning: for a political system to “fit” the definition of fascism, it must possess the characteristics of German or Italian fascism. It must be based on a fascist mass movement composed primarily of Brownshirts or Blackshirts. It must be a one-party regime led by a Führer or Duce, symbolizing the principle of dictatorial leadership. It must be extremely nationalist, racist, and anti-Semitic. It must be thoroughly illiberal, intolerant of opposition, and hostile to civil liberties and human rights.

这种乐观主义通常基于以下相当简单的推理：一个政治体制要“符合”法西斯主义的定义，就必须具备德国或意大利法西斯主义的特征。它必须以主要由褐衫军或黑衫军组成的法西斯群众运动为基础。它必须是一党制政权，该党由一个元首或领袖领导，象征着独裁领导原则。它必须是极端民族主义、种族主义和反犹主义的。它必须是彻头彻尾的非自由主义，不容忍反对派，敌视公民自由和人权。

Clearly, if measured by this standard, the American political situation is nothing to get excited about. In this country, we have neither a fascist mass movement nor storm troopers rampaging through city streets. Neither Truman, Stevenson, nor Eisenhower possesses the personal character or political ambitions of a Hitler or a Mussolini. Although racism and anti-Semitism undoubtedly occupy a significant place in the ruling ideology, they are not dominant… Although forces opposing the existing order are intimidated, imprisoned, and persecuted, they have not been completely outlawed and suppressed…

很显然，如果以此标准衡量，美国的政治局势实在没什么值得大惊小怪的。在这个国家，我们既没有法西斯式的群众运动，也没有冲锋队在城市街头横行霸道。无论是杜鲁门、史蒂文森，还是艾森豪威尔，他们的个人性格和政治抱负都绝非希特勒或墨索里尼之流。尽管种族主义和反犹太主义在统治意识形态中无疑占据相当重要的地位，但它们并非占据主导地位……尽管反对现存秩序的力量受到恐吓、监禁和迫害，但并未被完全取缔和镇压……

However, this way of looking at fascism is quite misleading. Admittedly, although this view is based on a more or less accurate observation of the German experience, it tends to focus our attention on the forms of political events while paying insufficient attention to their social content and historical significance. Forms are not unimportant, but it is crucial to remember that forms may vary from country to country and from period to period, and that specific political events can only be properly understood through an understanding of the economic and social substance of the historical process.

然而，这种看待法西斯主义的方式相当具有误导性。诚然，尽管这种观点基于对德国经验或多或少准确的观察，但它往往使我们专注于政治事件的形式，而对其社会内容和历史意义关注不足。并非形式不重要，但至关重要的是要记住，形式可能因国家和时期的不同而有所变化，只有通过理解历史进程中的经济和社会实质，才能恰当地看待具体的政治事件。

Fascism is a political system developed by capitalist society in the era of imperialism, in times of war, and in periods of social and national revolution. It aims to strengthen the role of the state as an instrument of capitalist rule and to adapt it to the demands of intensified class struggle on the domestic and/or international stage…

法西斯主义是资本主义社会在帝国主义时代、战争时期以及社会和民族革命时期发展起来的一种政治制度。它旨在强化国家作为资本主义统治工具的作用，并使其适应国内和/或国际舞台上阶级斗争加剧的要求……

Since approximately 100 to 200 large corporations control the bulk of the American economy, the ruling class has achieved a leadership position based on a high concentration of property and power. It is no longer primarily interested in occasionally grabbing benefits and then quickly hiding away, but is determined to transform the government into a normally functioning bourgeois executive organ…

由于约100到200家大公司控制着美国经济的大部分，统治阶级获得了基于财产和权力高度集中的领导地位。它不再主要热衷于偶尔捞取好处然后迅速躲藏起来，而是决心将政府改造成一个正常运转的资产阶级执行机构……

The problem of fascism acquiring a broad mass base in the United States differs in many important respects from the classic cases of Italy and Germany… (Given the full employment brought about by military spending, the weakness of left-wing forces, and the alliance of organized labor with big business)…

法西斯主义在美国获得广泛群众基础的问题在诸多重要方面与意大利和德国的经典案例有所不同……（鉴于军事开支带来的充分就业、左翼力量薄弱以及有组织的劳工与大企业结盟）……

Under these circumstances, there is obviously no need to stuff the leaders of labor organizations into concentration camps, to have storm troopers create a reign of terror in working-class districts, or to channel popular energies into persecuting Jews. However, these particularly favorable conditions are not sustainable. The masses who support or tolerate a political system that provides them with jobs in arms production may not look so favorably upon a regime that would use them as cannon fodder in a world war. Therefore, the ruling class cannot leave the cohesion and stability of its mass base to chance. Dominating the ideology of the masses to ensure their loyalty to the policies of the big business-military alliance (in peacetime, and especially in wartime) has become an urgent necessity. To ensure popular acceptance of the arms program and loyalty in wartime, the minds of the American people have been constantly filled with the existence of an external threat. This external threat has been consistently used as a pretext to suppress any potential opposition within American society. … American Communists, independent socialists, and those resolutely opposed to fascism have been systematically purged from key areas of national life. The government and big business continuously conduct campaigns aimed at achieving near-total uniformity of opinion on all important political questions.

在这种情况下，显然没有必要把劳工组织的领导人塞进集中营，没有必要让冲锋队在工人区制造恐怖气氛，也没有必要把民众的精力引向迫害犹太人。然而，这种特别有利的条件是不可持续的。那些支持或容忍一个能为他们提供军备生产工作的政治制度的民众，可能不会那么看好一个会让他们在世界大战中充当炮灰的政权。因此，统治阶级不能把其群众基础的凝聚力和稳定性交给运气。对民众的意识形态进行统治，以确保他们对大企业—军事联盟的政策（在和平时期，尤其是在战争时期）保持忠诚，已成为当务之急。为了确保民众接受军备计划，并在战争中保持忠诚，美国民众的头脑中一直被灌输着外部威胁的存在。这种外部威胁一直被用作借口，以镇压美国社会中可能存在的任何潜在反对势力。……美国的共产党人、独立社会主义者以及坚决反对法西斯主义的人士，已被有计划地从国家生活的关键领域清除出去。政府和大企业持续不断地开展运动，旨在使所有重要政治问题上的意见几乎完全一致。

A complex system of economic and social pressures has been established to suppress independent thought and stifle independent scientific, artistic, and literary creation. A web of corruption has been spread over the entire political and cultural life of the country, driving principle, honesty, humanity, and courage out of public life. The cynicism of vulgar empiricism has destroyed the moral quality of the American intellectual community, respect for reason, and the ability to distinguish good from evil. The emphasis on crude pragmatism and the “science of manipulation” has stifled concern for the purposes and goals of human activity; it elevates efficiency itself as the ultimate goal, regardless of what is being “efficiently” accomplished. Nonconformity and failure to comply with this official ideology, while perhaps not leading to imprisonment, do result in unemployment, social ostracism, and endless harassment from the authorities.

一套复杂的经济和社会压力体系已被建立起来，用以压制独立思考，扼杀独立的科学、艺术和文学创作。一张腐败之网已遍布整个国家的政治和文化生活，将原则、诚实、人道和勇气驱逐出了公共生活。庸俗经验主义的玩世不恭摧毁了美国知识界的道德品质、对理性的尊重以及辨别善恶的能力。对粗俗实用主义、“操纵科学”的强调，扼杀了对人类活动目的和目标的关注；它将效率本身奉为终极目标，而不管“高效”达成的是什么。不顺从以及不遵守这种官方意识形态，虽然可能不会被判入狱，但确实会导致失业、被社会排斥以及来自当局无休止的骚扰。

This consolidation of the mass base in ideology and politics creates the indispensable internal preconditions for the crucial foreign policy of the American ruling class. For in this era, when class struggle has shifted to the international stage, this base must currently support American leadership in it. The American ruling class strives to preserve capitalism wherever possible, to maintain the colonial system where it is threatened with collapse, and to strangle social revolution where it has succeeded, becoming the founder of a new counter-revolutionary Holy Alliance… In the United States, they currently do not need storm troopers to slaughter the wives and children of revolutionary workers and peasants, but where needed, such as in the towns and villages of Korea (referring to the US invasion of Korea—translator’s note), they are using these methods.

这种在思想政治上群众基础的巩固，为美国统治阶级至关重要的对外政策创造了不可或缺的内部前提条件。因为在这个时代，阶级斗争已转移到国际舞台，这个基础必须在当前支持美国在其中的领导地位。美国统治阶级竭力在一切可能的地方维护资本主义，在殖民体系面临崩溃威胁的地方竭力维持它，在社会革命取得成功的地方竭力扼杀它，已成为新的反革命神圣同盟的缔造者……在美国，他们目前还不需要冲锋队去屠杀革命工人和农民的妻儿老小，但在需要的地方，比如在朝鲜的城镇和乡村（指美国入侵朝鲜的战争——译者注），他们却在使用这种手段。

Whatever specific form its actions take, the alliance of big business and the military in the United States assumes all the functions of a fascist regime. It undertakes all the basic tasks of fascist rule. And in the era of imperialism, in times of war, and in periods of national and social revolution, it rapidly develops into a form of government under capitalism with American characteristics. It is perfectly adapted to its sinister historical mission—to be an instrument of brutal class struggle on the national and international levels.

无论其具体行动采取何种形式，美国的大企业与军方的联盟都承担着法西斯政权的所有职能。它承担着法西斯统治的所有基本任务。并且在帝国主义时代、战争时期以及民族和社会革命时期迅速发展成为资本主义制度下具有美国特色的政府形式。它完全适应了其阴险的历史使命——成为在国家和国际层面上进行残酷阶级斗争的工具。

(Translation: Song Lidan, Associate Researcher, Institute of Marxism, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences)

（翻译：中国社会科学院马克思主义研究院副研究员 宋丽丹）

Source: Paul A. Baran, “The Danger of Fascism in the United States: A View from the 1950s,” Monthly Review, 2025, Volume 76, Number 11 (April 2025). https://monthlyreview.org/2025/04/01/mr-076-11-2025-04_0-2/.

原文出处：Paul A. Baran，The Danger of Fascism in the United States: A View from the 1950s，Monthly Review, 2025, Volume 76, Number 11 (April 2025).https://monthlyreview.org/2025/04/01/mr-076-11-2025-04_0-2/.