Fascism and Futurism Forever by Gio

My political journey has been abnormal compared to most people I’ve met in the online “Third Position” community. So I’ll start by divulging a bit about my background.

When I was 15 or 16 I heard The Feeding of the 5000 by Crass for the first time. I had been into punk music for a few years at this point starting with bands like Rancid, NOFX and Blink 182, and eventually moving on to Black Flag, Bad Brains and the Exploited, but nothing had prepared me up to that point for Crass. The rough, primitive and noisy sounds were certainly like nothing I had ever heard before, but what really stood out was the lyrics. Delivered in a thick British accent by Steve Ignorant, his lyrics were outraged and full of disgust but with a passionate belief that a better world was possible despite the seeming hopelessness of the situations we might find ourselves in. Something about it just really resonated with me on a visceral level. I soon learned that Crass were Anarchists.

The context of this is it is 2002. 9/11 has just happened, the War on Terror is in full swing, I’m starting to become politicized but haven’t really figured what to think about what I saw going on around me. This was my political awakening. Discovering Anarchism through Crass begins to give me some direction and understanding of the world I found myself in. I began reading the well known Anarchist figures like Mikhail Bakunin and Emma Goldman and sorting out what I agreed with and what I didn’t.

I eventually settled myself on individualist Anarchism with Post-Left characteristics (or something like that). I agreed with the anti-war and anti-Capitalist sentiments of Anarchism, and hatred of cops, bosses and politicians came very naturally to me. But, I never really went along with the identity politics, inherent in leftism in general these days, and I found the collectivism and authoritarianism of Communism to be distasteful.

This is where I stayed ideologically for a good long while. I never really questioned this worldview at all. My affinity for Anarchism came very naturally to me, and was largely instinctual and feeling based. Not very intellectual. It just felt right.

In my first year at university I took a course on 20th Century Europe in Art, Literature and Film. There was one class in the course that covered “The Avant-Garde”. While I liked Surrealism or Expressionism to varying degress, I found myself drawn to Futurism in much the same way as I had been drawn to Anarchism through punk music as a teenager. Stylistically a lot of it reminded me of graffiti which I was heavily involved in at the time, but ideologically it really threw a curveball at me.

It had the energy and ferocity of anarcho-punk , and in a lot of ways was anarchistic, but at the same time there was ultranationalism, glorification of war and scorn for women. Futurism challenged a lot of positions that I held as an anarchist, and I began to reconsider many of the ideals I had once held. It also presented Fascism in a new light to me. I had always perceived Fascism as an extremely uptight, reactionary, conservative movement, but if Futurists were Fascist, maybe it had been misrepresented to me.

I slowly began the process of researching, reading and reassessing Fascism. It would be a few years still, but I eventually I felt comfortable referring to myself as a Fascist and I would go on to cut ties with my Anarchist past and embrace the Fascist worldview.

This brings us to the present. The characteristics of Fascism that always resonated with me was it’s revolutionary character. The desire to build a new kind of nation, in opposition to both left and right. To destroy the old world, and the present order and build something beautiful and vital on top of the ruins. The characteristics most visible in the early years of the movement, before compromises with the bourgeoisie and later the Germans had been made. The Futurists, Fiume and the Trenchocracy! That’s what sold me on Fascism.

These characteristics are seemingly nowhere to be found in the 21st century conception of Fascism. What I see instead is a movement defined by ultraconservatism, traditionalism and reaction. Of white identity politics, jewish conspiracy theories and tedious nostalgia for 1950’s suburbia. I just don’t relate to the movement at all, and have increasingly been distancing myself from it. At this point I pay very little attention to it at all.

Furthermore, since starting Futurism Forever in March 2021 “the movement” has attempted to doxx me, make hit pieces full of lies about FF, slander and spread malicious rumors about me and my group, impersonate me and so on. It’s a drag. These people suck and there is no benefit to associating with them. Their movement is toxic, regressive and moribund which is anathema to the spirit of Futurism and Fascism proper. In short, it is a bad joke. While there are specific figures and friends I have made in the movement who I respect and will continue to support, I wash my hands of the rest of it.

In many way’s I have been reverting back to my individualist anarchist roots in the absence of viable collectives who share ideas and hold values that are important to me. But with a new perspective. Trying to recreate or rebuild movements from 100 years ago is contradictory to the Futurist worldview anyways. We should be fresh, forward thinking, audacious and innovative. We should strive to create something new, like our heroes did.

I’m writing this as there is a lot of confusion surrounding what Futurism Forever is. So to make it crystal clear:

1. We are NOT a political organization. The emphasis has always been on art, culture and lifestyle.
2. While we are not a political organization, this is not to say that we are apolitical, just that none of us have deluded ourselves into thinking that what we’re doing here is activism. All of us have been involved in radical politics throughout our lives and will continue to be so in the future. But FF itself does not pretend to be more than it is. An art podcast and blog. Our main motivation to do this is because it’s fun.
3. We are not a Fascist organization. While most of us have a background in Fascism and have spent time in those circles, FF itself is not a Fascist group. Futurism is the common denominator. Our contributors are very diverse, come from various backgrounds and not all of them identify with Fascism.

Anyways I hope this article cleared up some confusion, and offered some insight into where I’m coming from and what I want FF to be. We had a great foundational year in 2021 and I look forward to building on that in 2022. We learned a lot of valuable lessons last year, both good and bad, and we strive to improve because of it. Until my next article, salut.