Mark Sullivan wrote:
> Can fascism be wielded by an individual? Isn't it by
definition a
> social political movement? And I took it that
Foucault, uh, Etienne was
> referring to the auto-justification of power within
a culture, not an
> individual.
>
> Yes, the detective's activities are often illegal
and he often takes
> power into his own hands, but his power is severely
limited. He rarely
> makes even a dent on the forces of society, at most
takes out one boss
> who will soon be replaced by another just as bad, if
not worse. Does he
> ever really defeat anarchy? I don't think so. At
most, he keeps
> himself from being sucked into the void.
************** I'm not sure if fascism can be wielded by an
individual. Few of the hardboiled detectives held political
office either. It doesn't matter, though. I'm not calling the
hardboiled detectives fascists themselves. What I am saying
is that a lot of hardboiled literature has a fascist theme to
it. It supports a fascist philosophy. You have a single man
with significant power and a goal to accomplish. He is a law
unto himself, and he's not likely to let a small thing like
human rights get in the way of his goal. And it turns out
that his method is ultimately the only way the battle is won.
His methods are exonerated and justified.
Exceptions to a perfect fit in literature doesn't necessarily
negate the connection.
And no, the war is not won. But that doesn't matter. He has
won the battle.
In THE MAIN by Trevanian, Guttman, a new police recruit, is
appalled by his more experienced and rough and tough mentor,
Lieutenant LaPointe. Guttman tells LaPointe:
"It's fascism. The rule of a man, rather than the rule of
law, is fascism. Even when the man has been around and thinks
he knows best... even if the man is trying to do good
things... to be fair. It's still fascism."
A damn good book, by the way.
miker
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