Why Voldemort is a fascist... (LONG)

[cubfanbudwoman]

No: HPFGUIDX 108801

Nora Renka wrote:
> Why Voldemort is a Fascist, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and 
> March in Step (LONG)
> 
> Many an intrepid poster has made the casual invocation of Nazis 
> (and been toasted by Godwin), but I intend to go one further, being 
> a member of that class of people that dear Kneasy has so kindly 
> warned us all about, the academics.  The purpose of this post is to 
> argue that Voldemort's ideal regime, as extrapolated from 
> information so far, lines up in a number of critical ways with the 
> theoretical bases of fascist ideology.  Fascism is a system 
> notoriously difficult to define because of its sheer irrationality, 
> so this analysis posits a particular mutation for the circumstances 
> of the WW.
>
<Enter our favorite character, Major Snippage>
> 
> My gut has been telling me that the fascism analysis works out.  
> No, it's not exact, as we don't have a kind of solid state 
> established yet, but I think enough of the aspects correspond 
> closely enough to make this a theoretical system worth 
> considering.  This could, of course, be utterly destroyed next 
> book.  I hope it has a little more solidity than that.
> 
> The more I think about it, though, the more it seems to me that the 
> blood ideology is really one of the major driving factors 
> generating the large-scale conflict that defines the series.  It 
> seems to be a good portion of what attracted Voldemort's followers. 
>
> The blood thing and the related issues are what CoS is really about.
> Dumbledore is the guarantor of the Muggleborn students' right to 
> attend Hogwarts, and this freedom and openness is what Lucius 
> Malfoy is attempting to attack.  It's the forces of reaction versus 
> the Open Society, a struggle for the public sector.  Hogwarts is 
> the key into being someone and something in wizarding society for 
> those not born into name and money, and for those people with the 
> name and the money, these uppity folks are disrupting their 
> historical privilege, what they think they're entitled to.
> 
> Entitlement is a very dangerous thing.  Those who feel entitled to 
> something often feel entitled to take what they want--and force 
> seems to be part of what makes something Dark in JKR's world.  Is 
> it any wonder that at least some of the old pureblood families are 
> connected with Dark Magic, when they already believe that they are 
> inherently better and are simply taking what is owed to them?  The 
> same thing goes for the treatment of non-humans, particularly house-
> elves.

 
SSSusan:
Main Entry: fas·cism 
Pronunciation: 'fa-"shi-z&m also 'fa-"si-
Function: noun
Etymology: Italian fascismo, from fascio bundle, fasces, group, from 
Latin fascis bundle & fasces fasces
1 often capitalized : a political philosophy, movement, or regime (as 
that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the 
individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government 
headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social 
regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition

Well, Nora, I think this is quite an excellent analysis.  From 
the "basic" definition alone (above) it's clear that the match is a 
good one.  There are likely others here who will be more inclined to 
argue specific points with you because of their deeper knowledge 
(than mine, that is) of these issues, but I'd like to say I think you 
did a lovely job of making the topic accessible.  

It's clear to me that the DEs *are* all about blood ideology.  I know 
that Diary!Tom in CoS claimed that killing mudbloods didn't matter 
any more, but is that really true?  Did he say that simply because 
his immediate goal was to get Harry out of the way?  If he had 
succeeded in eliminating Harry, what would have happened to the goal 
of ridding the WW of mudbloods [and the world of Muggles?]?  I 
maintain that it would have popped right back up there to #1.

I especially like your point about DD being the guarantor of the 
muggleborns' right to attend Hogwarts *and* how is seen as clear 
insubordination [for lack of a better word at the moment] to those 
who believe in their "right" to the historical privilege they've had 
due to their name & money.  Clearly, you're also right that this is 
one of the dangers of entitlement:  Voldy & the DEs DO feel entitled 
to their "historical privilege" and DD [and folks like the Weasleys 
who "waste" this privilege] surely enrage them. 

Siriusly Snapey Susan