Page 27 - Fascism: The Bloody Ideology Of Darwinsim

The Origin Of The Fascist Mentality 27

of the 20th century, in his famous book, The Open Society and Its Enemies,
describes him as the first source of inspiration for oppressive regimes, and an
enemy of open society. In support of his contention, Popper refers
to how Plato calmly defended the killing of infants in Sparta, and
describes him as the first theoretical proponent of "eugenics":

...[I]t is important that the master class should feel as one
superior master race. 'The race of the guardians must be
kept pure', says Plato (in defence of infanticide), when
developing the racialist argument that we breed animals
with great care while neglecting our own race, an
argument which has been repeated ever since.
(Infanticide was not an Athenian institution; Plato, seeing
that it was practised at Sparta for eugenic reasons,
concluded that it must be ancient and therefore good.)
He demands that the same principles be applied to the
breeding of the master race as are applied, by an
experienced breeder, to dogs, horses or birds. 'If you
did not breed them in this way, don't you think
that the race of your birds or dogs would
quickly degenerate?' Plato argues; and he
draws the conclusion that 'the same principles apply to the
race of men'. The racial qualities demanded from a
guardian or from an auxiliary are, more specifically, those
of a sheep-dog. 'Our warrior-athletes .. must be vigilant
like watch-dogs', demands Plato, and he asks: 'Surely,
there is no difference, so far as their natural fitness for
keeping guard is concerned, between a gallant youth and
a well-bred dog?' 3
These views of Plato, who regarded human beings as a
species of animal, and proposed that they should be "evolved"
through "forced mating," came to the fore once again with the
advent of Darwinism in the 19th century, and were
A bronze statue of a Spartan
implemented by the Nazis in the 20th. We shall be examining soldier going to war.
this in the pages that follow.
While defending the Spartan model, Plato also advanced another aspect
of fascism, the state use of repression to administer society. In Plato's view, this
pressure should be so comprehensive that people should be unable to think of