I had preconceived notions before I read this piece. Ever since I can remember, relatives on my dad's side of the family always complained about how Mussolini ruined our family. My family is very, very Italian and my ancestors lived on a large estate in Sicily before Mussolini took control of Italy in 1925. Our family apparently tried to fight against his party, but part ended up joining the Mafia and the others fled to the US and shorted our last name from Perrello to Pearl. Well, at least that's the story, anyway. I've heard it my whole life from uncles, aunts, great uncles, etc. It always gets brought up at family reunions. To speak well of fascism or Mussolini will get you punched around my family.
I looked up a definition of fascism online before reading this piece. It's defined as: A system of government marked by centralization of authority under a dictator, stringent socioeconomic controls, suppression of the opposition through terror and censorship and typically a policy of belligerent nationalism and racism.
In this piece, however, Mussolini describes fascism as a spiritual conception. He mentions that it is an ethical and spiritual practice. I don't get how anyone could consider what fascist regimes have done to be ethical and spiritual.
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