Green fascism and corporate CEOs

BrookesNews.Com ^ | 30 January 2006 | Gerard Jackson

[Tailgunner Joe]

Fascism is an ugly though greatly misunderstood word. Few realise that fascist economics involved the socialisation of the economy in practice though not in word. So-called capitalists kept the deeds to their property, as did everyone else, but only so long as they did as instructed by the state. In other words, fascism made a mockery of property rights.

But another aspect of fascist thinking is that it sought to direct business from commercial to ‘social’ ends, as if they were different and incompatible. Unfortunately Shell and BP Amoco have apparently decided that green fascism is the “wave of the future”, as it, along with communism, was called in the 1930s.

You doubt me? OK, who said the following?:

(a) “[G]overnments should use legislation to set the pace and direction for changes in behaviour and attitudes”. Mussolini, the Nazi Party, Sir John Brown (BP CEO) or Greg Bourne, former regional president/director of BP Amoco and now CEO of WWF-Australia?

(b) “At a time of individualism people needed to be prodded (emphasis added) into behaving differently for the common good and . . . social progress”. Mussolini, the Nazi Party, Sir John Brown or Greg Bourne?

(c) “The Public good above private gain”. Mussolini, the Nazi Party, Sir John Brown or Greg Bourne?

(d) “[We should] give private industry possibilities and tasks for far-reaching collaboration” Mussolini, the Nazi Party, Sir John Brown or Greg Bourne?

(e) “[We should direct the economy] to certain fixed objectives”. Mussolini, the Nazi Party, Sir John Brown or Greg Bourne?

(f) “Business . . . is a long term commitment to the people you work with, the people with whom you do business and the society of which we are all a part” Mussolini, the Nazi Party, Sir John Brown or Greg Bourne?

(g) “The function of private enterprise is assessed from the standpoint of public interest, and hence an owner or director of a business undertaking is responsible before the state for his production policy”. Mussolini, the Nazi Party, Sir John Brown or Greg Bourne?

Answers:

(a) Greg Bourne

(b) Greg Bourne

(c) This was a Nazi Party slogan

(d) The Nazi Party (the Nazi paper Deutsche Volkswirt, 1933)

(e) Mussolini

(f) Sir John Brown

(g) Mussolini

Not much too choose from, is there? The Economist, July 27, 1935, scathingly summed up BP Amoco’s corporatist nonsense when it reported that the Italian “Corporate state only amounts to the establishment of a new and costly bureaucracy from which those industrialists who can spend the necessary amount, can obtain almost anything they want, and put into practice the worst kind of monopolistic practices....”

What we have here is a particularly squalid attempt by a multinational corporation to use the greens’ destructive ideology to exploit the power of the state at the expense of consumers. It should be noted that consumers were never mentioned. Only the collective was worthy of consideration. Make no mistake, this is what Mussolini called stato corporativo or fascism for short.

The extent of BP Amoco’s intellectual bankruptcy can be gauged by Greg Bourne’s article Yes, even oil company execs worry about smog over our city (The Age, 7 May 1999). Here he parroted the green mantra of sustainable development which amounts to no development at all. Now that he is CEO of the anti-growth and anti-people WWF-Australia we can expect more of the same.

[satchmodog9]

I love the BP global warming commercials.

[43north]

I used to work with "Sir" John Browne in Alaska. He lived as a bachelor with his mother until her death and since his ascension to power at BP has ALWAYS had handsome, young male administrative assistants.

He is the perfect British sissy boy to run the world's 2nd largest "beyond peroleum" company.

The English have completely lost any semblance of sanity.

[GladesGuru]

Well, look at it this way - at least he won't be reproducing.

[sergeantdave]

Australian writers understand the nature of fascism better than American writers and its connection to deep ecology.

People in America are beginning to understand the Marxist/socialist roots of the so-called environment movement. When they finally cross that last barrier and realize that left wing environmentalism is a fascist/Marxist movement, the Sierra Club and the other eco-fascist organizations will die.