Vilfredo Pareto: The Karl Marx of Fascism
Italian
contributions to political and social thought are singularly impressive and, in fact, few
nations are as favored with a tradition as long and as rich. One need only mention names
such as Dante, Machiavelli, and Vico to appreciate the importance of Italy in this
respect. In the twentieth century too, the contributions made by Italians are of great
significance. Among these are Gaetano Mosca's theory of oligarchical rule, Roberto
Michels' study of political parties, Corrado Gini's intriguing sociobiological theories,
and Scipio Sighele's investigations of the criminal mind and of crowd psychology. [1] One
of the most widely respected of these Italian political theorists and sociologists is
Vilfredo Pareto. Indeed, so influential are his writings that "it is not possible to
write the history of sociology without referring to Pareto." [2] Throughout all of
the vicissitudes and convulsions of twentieth-century political life, Pareto remains to
this day "a scholar of universal reputation." [3]
Pareto is additionally important for us today because he is a towering figure in one of
Europe's most distinguished, and yet widely suppressed, intellectual currents.That broad
school of thought includes such diverse figures as Burke, Taine, Dostoyevsky, Burckhardt,
Donoso Cortés, Nietzsche, and Spengler and stands in staunch opposition to rationalism,
liberalism, egalitarianism, Marxism, and all of the other offspring of Enlightenment
doctrinaires.
Life
and Personality
Vilfredo Federico Damaso Pareto was born in Paris in 1848. [4] He was of mixed
Italian-French ancestry, the only son of the Marquis Raffaele Pareto, an Italian exiled
from his native Genoa because of his political views, and Marie Mattenier. Because his
father earned a reasonably comfortable living as a hydrological engineer, Pareto was
reared in a middle-class environment, enjoying the many advantages that accrued to people
of his class in that age. He received a quality education in both France and Italy,
ultimately completing his degree in engineering at the Istituto Politecnico of Turin where
he graduated at the top of his class. For some years after graduation, he worked as a
civil engineer, first for the state-owned Italian Railway Company and later in private
industry.
Pareto married in 1889. His new spouse Dina Bakunin, a Russian, apparently loved an active
social life, which was rather in conflict with Pareto's own love of privacy and solitude.
After twelve years of marriage Dina abandoned her husband. His second wife, Jane Régis,
joined him shortly after the collapse of his marriage and the two remained devoted to one
another throughout the remainder of Pareto's life.
During
these years Pareto acquired a deep interest in the political life of his country and
expressed his views on a variety of topics in lectures, in articles for various journals,
and in direct political activity. Steadfast in his support of free enterprise economic
theory and free trade, he never ceased arguing that these concepts were vital necessities
for the development of Italy. Vociferous and polemical in his advocacy of these ideas, and
sharp in his denunciation of his opponents (who happened to be in power in Italy at that
time), his public lectures were sufficiently controversial that they were sometimes raided
and closed down by the police, and occasionally brought threats of violence from hired
thugs. Making little headway with his economic concepts at the time, Pareto retired from
active political life and was appointed Professor of Political Economy at the University
of Lausanne (Switzerland) in 1893. There he established his reputation as an economist and
sociologist. So substantial did this reputation eventually become that he has been dubbed
"the Karl Marx of the Bourgeoisie" by his Marxist opponents. In economic theory,
his Manual of Political Economy [5] and his critique of Marxian socialism, Les
Systèmes socialistes, [6] remain among his most important works.
Pareto
turned to sociology somewhat late in life, but he is nonetheless acclaimed in this field.
His monumental Treatise on General Sociology, and two smaller volumes, The Rise
and Fall of the Elites and The Transformation of Democracy, are his
sociological masterworks. [7] Subsequently, we will consider the nature of some of the
theories contained in these books.
The
title of Marquis was bestowed on Pareto's great-great-great- grandfather in 1729 and,
after his father's death in 1882, that dignity passed to Pareto himself. He never used the
title, however, insisting that since it was not earned, it held little meaning for him.
Conversely, after his appointment to the University of Lausanne, he did use the title
"Professor," since that was something which, he felt, he merited because of his
lifetime of study. These facts point to one of the most dominant characteristics of this
man his extreme independence.
Pareto's
great intelligence caused him difficulties in working under any kind of supervision. All
of his life he moved, step by step, towards personal independence. Because he was
thoroughly conscious of his own brilliance, his confidence in his abilities and in his
intellectual superiority often irritated and offended people around him. Pareto, in
discussing almost any question about which he felt certain, could be stubborn in his views
and disdainful of those with divergent opinions. Furthermore, he could be harsh and
sarcastic in his remarks. As a result, some people came to see Pareto as disputatious,
caustic, and careless of people's feelings.
In
contrast, Pareto could be generous to those he perceived as "underdogs." He was
always ready to take up his pen in defense of the poor or to denounce corruption in
government and the exploitation of those unable to defend themselves. As author and
sociologist Charles Powers writes.
For many years Pareto offered money, shelter, and counsel to political exiles (especially
in 1898 following the tumultuous events of that year in Italy]. Like his father, Pareto
was conservative in his personal tastes and inclinations, but he was also capable of
sympathizing with others and appreciating protests for equality of opportunity and freedom
of expression [8]. Pareto was a free thinker. In some respects, he is reminiscent of an
early libertarian. He was possessed of that duality of mood we continue to find among
people who are extremely conservative and yet ardent in their belief in personal liberty.
[9]
Since
he was an expert in the use of the sword, as well as a crack shot, he was disinclined to
give way before any threats to his person, a mode of behavior he considered cowardly and
contrary to his personal sense of honor. More than once he sent bullies and thugs running
in terror. [10]
Pareto
suffered from heart disease towards the end of his life and struggled through his last
years in considerable ill health. He died August 19, 1923.
A
lifelong opponent of Marxism and liberal egalitarianism, Pareto published a withering
broadside against the Marxist-liberal worldview in 1902. Considering the almost universal
respect accorded the more salient aspects of Marxism and liberalism, it is regrettable
that Pareto's Les Systèmes socialistes has not been translated into English in its
entirety. Only a few excerpts have appeared in print. In an often quoted passage that
might be taken as a prophetic warning for our own age, Pareto writes:
A
sign which almost invariably presages the decadence of an aristocracy is the intrusion of
humanitarian feelings and of affected sentimentalizing which render the aristocracy
incapable of defending its position. Violence, we should note, is not to be confused with
force. Often enough one observes cases in which individuals and classes which have lost
the force to maintain themselves in power make themselves more and more hated because of
their outbursts of random violence. The strong man strikes only when it is absolutely
necessary, and then nothing stops him. Trajan was strong, not violent: Caligula was
violent, not strong.
When
a living creature loses the sentiments which, in given circumstances are necessary to it
in order to maintain the struggle for life, this is a certain sign of degeneration, for
the absence of these sentiments will, sooner or later, entail the extinction of the
species. The living creature which shrinks from giving blow for blow and from shedding its
adversary's blood thereby puts itself at the mercy of this adversary. The sheep has always
found a wolf to devour it; if it now escapes this peril, it is only because man reserves
it for his own prey.
Any
people which has horror of blood to the point of not knowing how to defend itself will
sooner or later become the prey of some bellicose people or other. There is not perhaps on
this globe a single foot of ground which has not been conquered by the sword at some time
or other, and where the people occupying it have not maintained themselves on it by force.
If the Negroes were stronger than the Europeans, Europe would be partitioned by the
Negroes and not Africa by the Europeans. The "right" claimed by people who
bestow on themselves the title of "civilized' to conquer other peoples, whom it
pleases them to call "uncivilized," is altogether ridiculous, or rather, this
right is nothing other than force. For as long as the Europeans are stronger than the
Chinese, they will impose their will on them; but if the Chinese should become stronger
than the Europeans, then the roles would be reversed, and it is highly probable that
humanitarian sentiments could never be opposed with any effectiveness to any army.
[11]
In
another portion of this same work that calls to mind the words of German philosopher
Oswald Spengler, Pareto similarly warns against what he regarded as the suicidal danger of
"humanitarianism":
Any
elite which is not prepared to join in battle to defend its position is in full decadence,
and all that is left to it is to give way to another elite having the virile qualities it
lacks. It is pure day-dreaming to imagine that the humanitarian principles it may have
proclaimed will be applied to it: its vanquishers will stun it with the implacable cry, Vae
Victis [="woe to the vanquished"]. The knife of the guillotine was being
sharpened in the shadows when, at the end of the eighteenth century, the ruling classes in
France were engrossed in developing their "sensibility." This idle and frivolous
society, living like a parasite off the country, discoursed at its elegant supper parties
of delivering the world from superstition and of crushing l'Infâme, all
unsuspecting that it was itself going to be crushed. [12]
Marxism
A
substantial portion of Les Systèmes socialistes is devoted to a scathing
assessment of the basic premises of Marxism. According to historian H. Stuart Hughes, this
work caused Lenin "many a sleepless night." [13]
In
Pareto's view, the Marxist emphasis on the historical struggle between the unpropertied
working class the proletariat and the property-owning capitalist class is
skewed and terribly misleading. History is indeed full of conflict, but the
proletariat-capitalist struggle is merely one of many and by no means the most
historically important. As Pareto explains:
The
class struggle, to which Marx has specially drawn attention, is a real factor, the tokens
of which are to be found on every page of history. But the struggle is not confined only
to two classes: the proletariat and the capitalist; it occurs between an infinite number
of groups with different interests, and above all between the elites contending for power.
The existence of these groups may vary in duration, they may be based on permanent or more
or less temporary characteristics. In the most savage peoples, and perhaps in all, sex
determines two of these groups. The oppression of which the proletariat complains, or had
cause to complain of, is as nothing in comparison with that which the women of the
Australian aborigines suffer. Characteristics to a greater or lesser degree real
nationality, religion, race, language, etc. may give rise to these groups. In our
own day [i.e. 1902] the struggle of the Czechs and the Germans in Bohemia is more intense
than that of the proletariat and the capitalists in England. [14]
Marx's
ideology represents merely an attempt, Pareto believes, to supplant one ruling elite with
another, despite Marxist promises to the contrary:
The
socialists of our own day have clearly perceived that the revolution at the end of the
eighteenth century led merely to the bourgeoisie's taking the place of the old elite. They
exaggerate a good deal the burden of oppression imposed by the new masters, but they do
sincerely believe that a new elite of politicians will stand by their promises better than
those which have come and gone up to the present day. All revolutionaries proclaim, in
turn, that previous revolutions have ultimately ended up by deceiving the people; it is
their revolution alone which is the true revolution. "All previous historical
movements" declared the Communist Manifesto of 1848, "were movements of
minorities or in the interest of minorities. The proletarian movement is the
self-conscious, independent movement of the immense majority, in the interest of the
immense majority." Unfortunately this true revolution, which is to bring men an
unmixed happiness, is only a deceptive mirage that never becomes a reality. It is akin to
the golden age of the millenarians: forever awaited, it is forever lost in the mists of
the future, forever eluding its devotees just when they think they have it. [15]
One
of Pareto's most noteworthy and controversial theories is that human beings are not, for
the most part, motivated by logic and reason but rather by sentiment. Les Systèmes
socialistes is interspersed with this theme and it appears in its fully developed form
in Pareto's vast Treatise on General Sociology. In his Treatise, Pareto
examines the multitudes of human actions that constitute the outward manifestations of
these sentiments and classifies them into six major groups, calling them
"residues." All of these residues are common to the whole of mankind, Pareto
comments, but certain residues stand out more markedly in certain individuals.
Additionally, they are unalterable; man's political nature is not perfectible but remains
a constant throughout history.
Class
I is the "instinct for combinations." This is the manifestation of
sentiments in individuals and in society that tends towards progressiveness,
inventiveness, and the desire for adventure.
Class
II residues have to do with what Pareto calls the "preservation of
aggregates" and encompass the more conservative side of human nature, including
loyalty to society's enduring institutions such as family, church, community, and nation
and the desire for permanency and security.
Following this comes the need for expressing sentiments through external action, Pareto's Class
III residues. Religious and patriotic ceremonies and pageantry stand out as examples
of these residues and will include such things as saluting the flag, participating in a
Christian communion service, marching in a military parade, and so on. In other words,
human beings tend to manifest their feelings in symbols.
Next
comes the social instinct, Class IV, embracing manifestations of sentiments in
support of the individual and societal discipline that is indispensable for maintaining
the social structure. This includes phenomena such as self-sacrifice for the sake of
family and community and concepts such as the hierarchical arrangement of societies.
Class V is that quality in a society that stresses individual integrity and the
integrity of the individual's possessions and appurtenances. These residues contribute to
social stability, systems of criminal and civil law being the most obvious examples.
Last
we have Class VI, which is the sexual instinct, or the tendency to see social
events in sexual terms.
Throughout
his Treatise, Pareto places particular emphasis on the first two of these six
residue classes and to the struggle within individual men as well as in society between
innovation and consolidation. The late James Burnham, writer, philosopher, and one of the
foremost American disciples of Pareto, states that Pareto's Class I and II residues are an
extension and amplification of certain aspects of political theorizing set down in the
fifteenth century by Niccolo Machiavelli. [16] Machiavelli divided humans into two
classes, foxes and lions. The qualities he ascribes to these two classes of men resemble
quite closely the qualities typical of Pareto's Class I and Class II residue types. Men
with strong Class I residues are the "foxes," tending to be manipulative,
innovative, calculating, and imaginative. Entrepreneurs prone to taking risks, inventors,
scientists, authors of fiction, politicians, and creators of complex philosophies fall
into this category. Class II men are "lions" and place much more value on traits
such as good character and devotion to duty than on sheer wits. They are the defenders of
tradition, the guardians of religious dogma, and the protectors of national honor.
For
society to function properly there must be a balance between these two types of
individuals; the functional relationship between the two is complementary. To illustrate
this point, Pareto offers the examples of Kaiser Wilhelm I, his chancellor Otto von
Bismarck, and Prussia's adversary Emperor Napoleon III. Wilhelm had an abundance of Class
II residues, while Bismarck exemplified Class I. Separately, perhaps, neither would have
accomplished much, but together they loomed gigantic in nineteenth-century European
history, each supplying what the other lacked. [17]
From
the standpoint of Pareto's theories, the regime of Napoleon III was a lopsided affair,
obsessed with material prosperity and dominated for almost twenty years by such
"foxes" as stock-market speculators and contractors who, it is said, divided the
national budget among themselves. "In Prussia," Pareto observes, "one finds
a hereditary monarchy supported by a loyal nobility: Class II residues predominate; in
France one finds a crowned adventurer supported by a band of speculators and spenders:
Class I residues predominate." [18] And, even more to the point, whereas in Prussia
at that time the requirements of the army dictated financial policy, in France the
financiers dictated military policy. Accordingly, when war broke out between Prussia and
France in the summer of 1870, the "moment of truth" came for France. Napoleon's
vaunted Second Empire fell to pieces and was overrun in a matter of weeks. [19]
Another
aspect of Pareto's theories which we shall examine here briefly is what he calls
"derivations," the ostensibly logical justifications that people employ to
rationalize their essentially non-logical, sentiment-driven actions. Pareto names four
principle classes of derivations: 1) derivations of assertion; 2) derivations of
authority; 3) derivations that are in agreement with common sentiments and principles;
and, 4) derivations of verbal proof. The first of these include statements of a dogmatic
or aphoristic nature; for example, the saying, "honesty is the best policy." The
second, authority, is an appeal to people or concepts held in high esteem by tradition. To
cite the opinion of one of the American Founding Fathers on some topic of current interest
is to draw from Class II derivations. The third deals with appeals to "universal
judgement," the "will of the people," the "best interests of the
majority," or similar sentiments. And, finally, the fourth relies on various verbal
gymnastics, metaphors, allegories, and so forth.
We
see, then, that to comprehend Pareto's residues and derivations is to gain insights into
the paradox of human behavior. They represent an attack on rationalism and liberal ideals
in that they illuminate the primitive motivations behind the sentimental slogans and
catchwords of political life. Pareto devotes the vast majority of his Treatise to
setting forth in detail his observations on human nature and to proving the validity of
his observations by citing examples from history. His erudition in fields such as
Greco-Roman history was legendary and this fact is reflected throughout his massive
tome.
At
the social level, according to Pareto's sociological scheme, residues and derivations are
mechanisms by which society maintains its equilibrium. Society is seen as a system,
"a whole consisting of interdependent parts. The 'material points or molecules' of
the system ... are individuals who are affected by social forces which are marked by
constant or common properties." [20] When imbalances arise, a reaction sets in
whereby equilibrium is again achieved. Pareto believed that Italy and France, the two
modern societies with which he was most familiar, were grossly out of balance and that
"foxes" were largely in control. Long are his laments in the Treatise
about the effete ruling classes in those two countries. In both instances, he held,
revolutions were overdue.
We have already noted that when a ruling class is dominated by men possessing strong Class
I residues, intelligence is generally valued over all other qualities. The use of force in
dealing with internal and external dangers to the state and nation is shunned, and in its
place attempts are made to resolve problems or mitigate threats through negotiations or
social tinkering. Usually, such rulers will find justification for their timidity in false
humanitarianism.
In
the domestic sphere, the greatest danger to a society is an excess of criminal activity
with which Class I types attempt to cope by resorting to methods such as criminal
"rehabilitation" and various eleemosynary gestures. The result, as we know only
too well, is a country awash in crime. With characteristic sarcasm Pareto comments on this
phenomenon:
Modern
theorists are in the habit of bitterly reproving ancient "prejudices" whereby
the sins of the father were visited upon the son. They fail to notice that there is a
similar thing in our own society, in the sense that the sins of the father benefit the son
and acquit him of guilt. For the modern criminal it is a great good fortune to be able to
count somewhere among his ancestry or other relations a criminal, a lunatic, or just a
mere drunkard, for in a court of law that will win him a lighter penalty or, not seldom,
an acquittal. Things have come to such a pass that there is hardly a criminal case
nowadays where that sort of defense is not put forward. The old metaphysical proof that
was used to show that a son should be punished because of his father's wrongdoing was
neither more nor less valid than the proof used nowadays to show that the punishment which
otherwise he deserves should for the same reasons be either mitigated or remitted. When,
then, the effort to find an excuse for the criminal in the sins of his ancestors proves
unavailing, there is still recourse to finding one in the crimes of "society,"
which, having failed to provide for the criminal's happiness, is "guilty" of his
crime. And the punishment proceeds to fall not upon "society," but upon one of
its members, who is chosen at random and has nothing whatever to do with the presumed
guilt. [21]
Pareto
elucidates in his footnote: "The classical case is that of the starving man who
steals a loaf of bread. That he should be allowed to go free is understandable enough; but
it is less understandable that "society's" obligation not to let him starve
should devolve upon one baker chosen at random and not on society as a whole."
[22]
Pareto
gives another example, about a woman who tries to shoot her seducer, hits a third party
who has nothing to do with her grievance, and is ultimately acquitted by the courts.
Finally, he concludes his note with these remarks: "To satisfy sentiments of
languorous pity, humanitarian legislators approve 'probation' and 'suspended sentence'
laws, thanks to which a person who has committed a first theft is at once put in a
position to commit a second. And why should the luxury of humaneness be paid for by the
unfortunate victim of the second theft and not by society as a whole? ... As it is, the
criminal only is looked after and no one gives a thought to the victim. [23]
Expanding on the proposition that "society" is responsible for the murderous
conduct of certain people, with which viewpoint he has no tolerance, he writes:
In
any event, we still have not been shown why people who, be it through fault of
"society," happen to be "wanting in the moral sense," should be
allowed freely to walk the streets, killing anybody they please, and so saddling on one
unlucky individual the task of paying for a "fault" that is common to all the
members of "society." If our humanitarians would but grant that these estimable
individuals who are lacking in a moral sense as a result of "society's
shortcomings" should be made to wear some visible sign of their misfortune in their
buttonholes, an honest man would have a chance of seeing them coming and get out of the
way. [24]
In
foreign affairs, "foxes" tend to judge the wisdom of all policies from a
commercial point of view and usually opt for negotiations and compromise, even in
dangerous situations. For such men profit and loss determine all policy, and though such
an outlook may succeed for some time, the final result is usually ruinous. That is because
enemies maintaining a balance of "foxes" and "lions" remain capable of
appreciating the use of force. Though they may occasionally make a pretence of having been
bought off, when the moment is right and their overly-ingenious foe is fast asleep, they
strike the lethal blow. In other words, Class I people are accustomed by their
excessively-intellectualized preconceptions to believe that "reason" and money
are always mightier than the sword, while Class II folk, with their native common sense,
do not nurse such potentially fatal delusions. In Pareto's words, "The fox may, by
his cunning, escape for a certain length of time, but the day may come when the lion will
reach him with a well-aimed cuff, and that will be the end of the argument."
[25]
Apart
from his analyses of residues and derivations, Pareto is notable among sociologists for
the theory known as "the circulation of the elites." Let us remember that Pareto
considered society a system in equilibrium, where processes of change tend to set in
motion forces that work to restore and maintain social balance.
Pareto
asserts that there are two types of elites within society: the governing elite and the
non-governing elite. Moreover, the men who make up these elite strata are of two distinct
mentalities, the speculator and the rentier. The speculator is the progressive, filled
with Class I residues, while the rentier is the conservative, Class II residue type. There
is a natural propensity in healthy societies for the two types to alternate in power.
When, for example, speculators have made a mess of government and have outraged the bulk
of their countrymen by their corruption and scandals, conservative forces will step to the
fore and, in one way or another, replace them. The process, as we have said, is cyclical
and more or less inevitable.
Furthermore,
according to Pareto, wise rulers seek to reinvigorate their ranks by allowing the best
from the lower strata of society to rise and become fully a part of the ruling class. This
not only brings the best and brightest to the top, but deprives the lower classes of
talent and of the leadership qualities that might one day prove to be a threat.
Summarizing this component of Pareto's theory, a contemporary sociologist observes that
practicality, not pity, demands such a policy:
A
dominant group, in Pareto's opinion, survives only if it provides opportunities for the
best persons of other origins to join in its privileges and rewards, and if it does not
hesitate to use force to defend these privileges and rewards. Pareto's irony attacks the
elite that becomes humanitarian, tenderhearted rather than tough-minded. Pareto favors
opportunity for all competent members of society to advance into the elite, but he is not
motivated by feelings of pity for the underprivileged. To express and spread such
humanitarian sentiments merely weakens the elite in the defense of its privileges.
Moreover, such humanitarian sentiments would easily be a platform for rallying the
opposition. [26]
But few aristocracies of long standing grasp the essential nature of this process,
preferring to keep their ranks as exclusive as possible. Time takes its toll, and the
rulers become ever weaker and ever less capable of bearing the burden of governing:
It
is a specific trait of weak governments. Among the causes of the weakness two especially
are to be noted: humanitarianism and cowardice-the cowardice that comes natural to
decadent aristocracies and is in part natural, in part calculated, in
"speculator" governments that are primarily concerned with material gain. The
humanitarian spirit ... is a malady peculiar to spineless individuals who are richly
endowed with certain Class I residues that they have dressed up in sentimental garb.
[27]
In the end, of course, the ruling class falls from power. Thus, Pareto writes that
"history is a graveyard of aristocracies." [28]
Published
as a slim volume near the end of Pareto's life, The Transformation of Democracy
originally appeared in 1920 as a series of essays published in an Italian scholarly
periodical, Revista di Milano. In this work, Pareto recapitulates many of his
theories in a more concise form, placing particular emphasis on what he believes are the
consequences of allowing a money-elite to dominate society. The title of this work comes
from Pareto's observation that European democracies in the 1920s were more and more being
transformed into plutocracies. The deception and corruption associated with plutocratic
rule would eventually produce a reaction, however, and lead to the system's downfall. In
Pareto's words,
The
plutocracy has invented countless makeshift programs, such as generating enormous public
debt that plutocrats know they will never be able to repay, levies on capital, taxes which
exhaust the incomes of those who do not speculate, sumtuary laws which have historically
proven useless, and other similar measures. The principal goal of each of these measures
is to deceive the multitudes. [29]
When a society's system of values deteriorates to the point where hard work is denigrated
and "easy money" extolled, where honesty is mocked and duplicity celebrated,
where authority gives way to anarchy and justice to legal chicanery, such a society stands
face to face with ruin.
Before
we enter into the controversy surrounding Pareto's sympathy for Italian leader Benito
Mussolini, let us take pains to avoid the error of viewing events of the 1920s through the
spectacles of the post-World War II era, for what seemed apparent in 1945 was not at all
evident twenty years before. Inarguably, throughout the whole of the 1920s, Mussolini was
an enormously popular man in Italy and abroad, with all except perhaps the most inveterate
leftists. An American writer puts it as follows:
Postwar [First World War] Italy ... was a sewer of corruption and degeneracy. In this
quagmire Fascism appeared like a gust of fresh air, a tempest-like purgation of all that
was defiled, leveled, fetid. Based on the invigorating instincts of nationalist idealism,
Fascism "was the opposite of wild ideas, of lawlessness, of injustice, of cowardice,
of treason, of crime, of class warfare, of special privilege; and it represented
square-dealing, patriotism and common sense." As for Mussolini, "there has never
been a word uttered against his absolute sincerity and honesty. Whatever the cause on
which he embarked, he proved to be a natural-born leader and a gluttonous worker."
Under Mussolini's dynamic leadership, the brave Blackshirts made short shrift of the
radicals, restored the rights of property, and purged the country of self-seeking
politicians who thrive on corruption endemic to mass democracy." [30]
If
the Italian Duce was so popular in the 1920s that he received the accolades of the Saturday
Evening Post [31] and the American Legion [32], and the highest praises of
British and American establishment figures such as Winston Churchill [33] and Ambassador
Richard Washburn Child, [34] how much more enthusiastic must have been Italians of
Pareto's conservative bent at that time. They credited Mussolini with nothing less than
rescuing Italy from chaos and Bolshevism. The coming tragedies of the '40s, needless to
say, were far away, over a distant horizon, invisible to all.
Pareto invariably expressed contempt for the pluto-democratic governments that ruled Italy
throughout most of his life. His rancor towards liberal politicians and their methods
surfaces all through his books; these men are the object of his scorn and sharp wit.
Pareto translator Arthur Livingston writes, "He was convinced that ten men of courage
could at any time march on Rome and put the band of 'speculators' that were filling their
pockets and ruining Italy to flight." [35] Consequently, in October 1922, after the
Fascist March on Rome and Mussolini's appointment by the King as Prime Minister,
"Pareto was able to rise from a sick-bed and utter a triumphant 'I told you
so!'." [36] Yet, Pareto never joined the Fascist Party. Well into his seventies and
severely ill with heart disease, he remained secluded in his villa in Switzerland.
The
new government, however, extended many honors to Pareto. He was designated as delegate to
the Disarmament Conference at Geneva, was made a Senator of the Kingdom, and was listed as
a contributor to the Duce's personal periodical, Gerarchia. [37] Many of these
honors he declined due to the state of his health, yet he remained favorably disposed
towards the regime corresponding with Mussolini and offering advice in the formulation of
economic and social policies. [38]
Many years before the March on Rome, Mussolini attended Pareto's lectures in Lausanne and
listened to the professor with rapt attention. "I looked forward to every one,"
Mussolini wrote, "...[f]or here was a teacher who was outlining the fundamental
economic philosophy of the future." [39] The young Italian was obviously deeply
impressed and, after his elevation to power, sought immediately to transform his aged
mentor's thoughts into action:
In
the first years of his rule Mussolini literally executed the policy prescribed by Pareto,
destroying political liberalism, but at the same time largely replacing state management
of private enterprise, diminishing taxes on property, favoring industrial development,
imposing a religious education in dogmas...." [40]
Of
course, it was not only Pareto's economic theories that influenced the course of the
Fascist state, but especially the sociological theories: "the Sociologia Generale
has become for many Fascists a treatise on government," [41] noted one writer at the
time. Clearly, there was some agreement between Pareto and the new government. Pareto's
theory of rule by elites, his authoritarian leanings, his uncompromising rejection of the
liberal fixation with Economic Man, his hatred of disorder, his devotion to the
hierarchical arrangement of society, and his belief in an aristocracy of merit are all
ideas in harmony with Fascism. Let us keep in mind, however, that all of these ideas were
formulated by Pareto decades before anyone had ever heard of Fascism and Mussolini.
Likewise, it may be said that they are as much in harmony with age-old monarchical ideas,
or those of the ancient authoritarian republics, as with any modern political
creeds.
Some
writers have speculated that had Pareto lived he would have found many points of
disagreement with the Fascist state as it developed, and it is true that he expressed his
disapprobation over limitations placed by the regime on freedom of expression,
particularly in academia. [42] As we have already seen, however, it was in Pareto's nature
to find fault with nearly all regimes, past and present, and so it would not have been
surprising had he found reason occasionally to criticize Mussolini's.
Neither Pareto nor Mussolini, it should be pointed out, were rigid ideologues. Mussolini
once declared, perhaps a bit hyperbolically, that "every system is a mistake and
every theory a prison." [43] While government must be guided by a general set of
principles, he believed, one must not be constrained by inflexible doctrines that become
nothing more than wearisome impedimenta in dealing with new and unexplained situations. An
early Fascist writer explained, in part, Mussolini's affinity with Pareto in this
respect:
"To
seek!" a word of power. In a sense, a nobler word than "to
find." With more of intention in it, less of chance. You may "find"
something that is false; but he who seeks goes on seeking increasingly, always hoping to
attain to the truth. Vilfredo Pareto was a master of this school. He kept moving. Without
movement, Plato said, everything becomes corrupted. As Homer sang, the eternal surge of
the sea is the father of mankind. Every one of Pareto's new books or of the new editions
of them, includes any number of commentaries upon and modifications of his previous books,
and deals in detail with the criticisms, corrections, and objections which they have
elicited. He generally refutes his critics, but while doing so, he indicates other and
more serious points in regard to which theymight have, and ought to have, reproved or
questioned him. Reflecting over his subject, he himself proceeds to deal with these
points, finding some of them specious, some important, and correcting his earlier
conclusions accordingly. [44]
Though
Fascist rule in Italy came to an end with the military victory of the Anglo-Americans in
1945, Pareto's influence was not seriously touched by that mighty upheaval. Today, new
editions of his works and new books about his view of society continue to appear. That his
ideas endured the catastrophe of the war virtually without damage, and that they are still
discussed among and debated by serious thinkers, is suggestive of their universality and
timelessness.
Endnotes
[1]
See, for example, W. Rex Crawford, "Representative Italian Contributions to
Sociology: Pareto, Loria, Vaccaro, Gini, and Sighele," chap. in An Introduction to
The History of Sociology, Harry Elmer Barnes, editor (Chicago: University of Chicago
Press, 1948), Howard Becker and Harry Elmer Barnes, "Sociology in Italy," chap.
in Social Thought From Lore to Science, (New York: Dover Publications, 1961), and
James Burnham, The Machiavellians: Defenders of Freedom (New York: The John Day Company,
1943).
[2]
G. Duncan Mitchell, A Hundred Years of Sociology (Chicago: Aldine Publishing
Company, 1968), p. 115.
[3] Herbert W. Schneider, Making the Fascist State (New York: Oxford University
Press, 1928), p. 102.
[4]
Biographical details are taken from Charles H. Powers, Vilfredo Pareto, vol. 5,
Masters of Social Theory, Jonathan H. Turner, Editor (Newbury Park, California: Sage
Publications, 1987), pp. 13-20.
[5]
Appearing originally in 1909, the Manuele di economia politica has been translated
into English: Ann Schwier translator, Ann Schwier and Alfred Page, Editors (New York:
August M. Kelly, 1971).
[6]
(Geneva: Librarie Droz, 1965). Published
originally 1902-3. The book has never been fully published in English.
[7]
The Treatise on General Sociology (Trattato di Sociologia Generale), was
first published in English under the name The Mind and Society, A. Borngiorno and Arthur
Livingston, translators (New York: Harcourt, Brace, Javanovich, 1935). It was reprinted in
1963 under its original title (New York: Dover Publications) and remains in print (New
York: AMS Press, 1983). The Rise and Fall of the Elites: An Application of Theoretical
Sociology (Totowa, New Jersey: The Bedminster Press, 1968; reprint, New Brunswick, New
Jersey: Transaction Books, 1991) is a translation of Pareto's monograph, "Un
Applicazione de teorie sociologiche," published in 1901 in Revista Italiana di
Sociologia. The Transformation of Democracy (Trasformazioni della democrazia),
Charles Power, editor, R. Girola, translator (New Brunswick, New Jersey: Transaction
Books, 1984). The original Italian edition appeared in 1921.
[8]
This term, "equality of opportunity" is so misused in our own time, especially
in America, that some clarification is appropriate. "Equality of opportunity"
refers merely to Pareto's belief that in a healthy society advancement must be opened to
superior members of all social classes "Meritocracy," in other words. See
Powers, pp. 22-3.
[9]
Powers, p. 19.
[10]
Ibid., p. 20.
[11]
Adrian Lyttelton, Editor, Italian Fascisms: From Pareto to Gentile (New York:
Harper & Row, 1975), pp. 79-80.
[12]
Ibid., p. 81.
[13]
H. Stuart Hughes, Oswald Spengler: A Critical Estimate (New York: Charles
Scribner's Sons, 1952), p. 16.
[14]
Lyttelton, p. 86.
[15]
Ibid., pp. 82-3.
[16]
James Burnham, Suicide of the West (New York: John Day Company, 1964), pp.
248-50.
[17]
Pareto, Treatise, # 2455. Citations from the Treatise refer to the paragraph
numbers that the author uses in this work . Citations are thus uniform in all
editions.
[18]
Ibid., # 2462.
[19]
Ibid., # 2458-72.
[20]
Nicholas Timasheff, Sociological Theory: Its Nature and Growth (New York: Random
House, 1967), p. 162.
[21]
Pareto, Treatise, # 1987.
[22]
Ibid. # 1987n.
[23]
Ibid.
[24]
Ibid., # 1716n.
[25]
Ibid., # 2480n.
[26]
Hans L. Zetterberg, "Introduction" to The Rise and Fall of the Elites by
Vilfredo Pareto, pp. 2-3.
[27]
Pareto, Treatise, # 2474.
[28]
Ibid., # 2053.
[29]
Pareto, Transformation, p. 60.
[30]
John P. Diggins, Mussolini and Fascism: The View from America (Princeton, NJ:
Princeton University Press, 1972), p. 17. Diggins' quotations in the cited paragraph come
from the writings of an American Mussolini enthusiast of the 1920s, Kenneth L.
Roberts.
[31]
Ibid., p. 27.
[32]
Ibid., p. 206. Mussolini was officially invited to attend the San Francisco Legion
Convention of 1923 (he declined) and some years later was made an honorary member of the
American Legion by a delegation of Legionnaires visiting Rome. The Duce received the
delegation in his palace and was awarded a membership badge by the delighted American
visitors.
[33]
In an interview published in the London Times, January 21, 1927, immediately after a visit
by Churchill to Mussolini, the future British Prime Minister said: "If I had been an
Italian I am sure that I should have been wholeheartedly with you [Mussolini] from start
to finish in your triumphant struggle against the bestial appetites and passions of
Leninism." See Luigi Villari, Italian Foreign Policy Under Mussolini (New
York: The Devin-Adair Company, 1956), p. 43.
[34]
The United States Ambassador to Italy in the '20s, Child dubbed Mussolini "the
Spartan genius," ghostwrote an "autobiography" of Mussolini for publication
in America, and perpetually extolled the Italian leader in the most extravagant terms.
Diggins, p. 27.
[35]
Pareto, Treatise, p. xvii.
[36]
Ibid.
[37]
Franz Borkenau, Pareto (New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1936), p. 18.
[38]
Ibid., p. 20.
[39]
Benito Mussolini, My Autobiography (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1928), p.
14.
[40]
Borkenau, p. 18.
[41]
George C. Homans and Charles P. Curtis, Jr., An Introduction to Pareto (New York:
Alfred A. Knopf, 1934), p. 9.
[42]
Borkenau, p. 18. In a letter written to Mussolini written shortly before Pareto's death,
the sociologist cautioned that the Fascist regime must relentlessly strike down all active
opponents. Those, however, whose opposition was merely verbal should not be molested
since, he believed, that would serve only to conceal public opinion. "Let the crows
craw but be merciless when it comes to acts," Pareto admonished the
Duce. See Alistair Hamilton, The Appeal of Fascism: A Study of Intellectuals and
Fascism, 1919-1945 (New York: Macmillan Company, 1971), pp. 44-5.
[43]
Margherita G. Sarfatti, The Life of Benito Mussolini (New York: Frederick A.
Stokes, 1925), p. 101.
[44]
Ibid, p. 102.
[A different version of the preceding article appeared in the Journal of Historical
Review, 14/5 (September-October 1994), 10-18. The text presented here, however, includes
some additional material; the JHR version is not yet online]