Issue 10: Can fascism stabilize a society?

Mussolini proposed that business and industry occupy the top of an upright pyramid. Political leaders should play the role of moral leaders and assure that military and industrial wealth be increased to keep the whole society vigorous, robust, and competitive. His ideal was to resurrect the Roman Empire; to this end he made the Catholic Church the state religion of Italy and gave it financial support as it had received under the Roman Empire from the 4^th century A.D.

STRENGTH: The society will remain stable as an upright social pyramid as long as the people trust the leaders. It is likely to deteriorate, however, if the people lose this trust.

WEAKNESSES: Presenting national political leaders as moral leaders, Alasdair MacIntyre maintains, virtually guarantees a tyranny. Smaller communities can agree on a shared goal of life and the virtues that support the pursuit of that goal, but large nations contain diverse populations who are unlikely to agree on life’s end, meaning or purpose. The leaders’ views of the good life would thus be imposed on some parts of the population, and this group would come to distrust the leaders.