Prije nego što postane službeno Before It Becomes Official

Država može službeno biti fašistička ili antifašistička, a fašizam se, po definiciji, može provoditi samo kroz državu i njezine organe. Kad država počne provoditi fašizam, odnosno kad fašizam počne i službeno postojati, to je već kasna faza, gdje je otpor znatno otežan jer sustav, niti na papiru, nije na strani otpora, pa preostaje jedino borba protiv samog sustava što gotovo neizbježno uključuje oružani sukob neke vrste. Zato se protiv fašizma bori onda kada se još službeno ne provodi, ali postoji realan i rastući potencijal da do toga dođe. Zahvaljujući g. Thompsonu i onome što se događa oko njega, vidimo da taj potencijal postoji.

Dvije ključne odlike fašizma radikalni su nacionalizam i autoritativnost. Oboje je prisutno. Thompson promovira radikalni nacionalizam (to barem nitko ne osporava), a autoritativnost se jasno vidi u ponašanju masa na njegovim koncertima. Zašto autoritativnost? Jer ondje nema prostora za slobodno mišljenje izvan ideološkog okvira koji se ondje nameće, okvira koji određuje što je “dopušteno” reći o ekonomskom uređenju, povijesti ili identitetu. To samo po sebi još ne bi bilo presudno da ostaje izolirano, ali problem nastaje kada se isti obrazac širi na društvo i institucije. I upravo zato ljudi marširaju protiv normalizacije i relativizacije fašizma, protiv onoga što rade Thompson, pravaške stranke i slični, jer je to jedini način da se spriječi njegovo oživljavanje. Kada fašizam postane službena politička opcija, tada je već kasno.

A činjenica je da postoje ljudi koji otvoreno žive fašističke obrasce: od slogana “Bog i Hrvati” (koji je sam po sebi grijeh, Ponovljeni Zakon 5,7), ZDS, do zahtjeva za zabranom kulturnih manifestacija, migracija i svega što odstupa od etnički definiranog nacionalnog identiteta. Iz toga logično slijedi autoritarni impuls, prisila da se svi povinuju vladajućoj ideologiji i da se drukčije mišljenje potisne. Zato se među nabrijanim Thompsonovim slušateljima teško može slobodno izraziti stav koji odstupa od tog nacionalizma; taj mikro-okvir pokazuje kako izgleda društvena norma u autoritarnom sustavu. Problem nije samo u Thompsonu kao pojedincu, nego u tome da se isti obrazac može preliti na institucije. A kada zahvati zakonodavnu i izvršnu vlast, dobivamo ono što je Europa već vidjela 1940-ih.

U Hrvatskoj se takva opasnost ne može ignorirati: na njegovim koncertima bilo je 500 000 ljudi, u Saboru se toleriraju fašistički pozdravi, raspravlja se o nepostojanju koncentracijskih logora iz ideoloških, a ne znanstvenih motiva, a državne institucije ne sankcioniraju protuustavne radnje. To znači da ideološka pripadnost već sada stoji iznad Ustava, umjesto da mu se podređuje, i time postaje stvarna vladajuća ideologija. Ako to vidimo, onda je jasno: krajnje je vrijeme za otpor takvim tendencijama, iako država nije “službeno” fašistička.

A state can be officially fascist or anti-fascist, and fascism, by definition, can only be carried out through the state and its organs. By the time a state begins to enact fascism, that is, by the time fascism begins to exist officially, we are already in a late stage, where resistance is far harder, because the system is not on the side of resistance even on paper, so all that is left is a struggle against the system itself, which almost inevitably involves armed conflict of some kind. That is why fascism is fought while it is not yet officially in force, but while a real and growing potential for it exists. Thanks to Mr. Thompson and what is happening around him, we can see that this potential is here.

The two key features of fascism are radical nationalism and authoritarianism. Both are present. Thompson promotes radical nationalism (at least no one disputes that), and the authoritarianism is plain in how the crowds behave at his concerts. Why authoritarianism? Because there is no room there for free thought outside the ideological frame imposed on the place, a frame that decides what is “permitted” to say about the economic order, history, or identity. On its own this would not be decisive if it stayed isolated, but the problem arises when the same pattern spreads to society and its institutions. This is exactly why people march against the normalization and relativization of fascism, against what Thompson, the far-right parties, and others like them are doing, because it is the only way to prevent its revival. Once fascism becomes an official political option, it is already too late.

And the fact is that there are people who openly live out fascist patterns: from the slogan “Bog i Hrvati” (which is itself a sin, Deuteronomy 5:7), to the ZDS salute, to demands for banning cultural events, migration, and anything that departs from an ethnically defined national identity. From this the authoritarian impulse follows logically, the compulsion to make everyone submit to the ruling ideology and to suppress any dissenting view. That is why, among Thompson’s worked-up listeners, it is hard to freely express a position that departs from that nationalism; this small-scale frame shows what a social norm looks like under an authoritarian system. The problem is not Thompson as an individual, but that the same pattern can spill over into institutions. And when it takes hold of the legislative and executive branches, we get what Europe already saw in the 1940s.

In Croatia this danger cannot be ignored: there were 500,000 people at his concerts, fascist salutes are tolerated in the Sabor, the non-existence of concentration camps is debated out of ideological rather than scholarly motives, and state institutions do not sanction unconstitutional acts. This means that ideological allegiance already stands above the Constitution, instead of being subordinate to it, and so becomes the real ruling ideology. If we see this, then it is clear: it is high time to resist such tendencies, even though the state is not “officially” fascist.