Talk:Benito Mussolini

	This Politics related article has been awarded BRONZE status for quality. It's getting there, but could be better with improvement. See RationalWiki:Article rating for more information.

Yes, he really said it. I know, it hurts. Researcher 20:39, 28 October 2009 (UTC)

To be fair (though when are we ever fair?), he did later say that if he had said it, of course it was obviously wrong and that it was a stupid thing to say. But it doesn't negate that he said it. Researcher 20:39, 28 October 2009 (UTC)

Mussolini's coporatism was a rough bastardisation of socialist theory, but was socialist in principle all the same. 134.226.1.229 11:49, 29 October 2009 (UTC)

That still doesn't utterly destroy the fact that Mussolini was a fascist because he founded THE Fascist Party. Researcher 13:55, 29 October 2009 (UTC)

LOL. Well yes, I don't disagree with you. I just think Mussolini's corporatism is as close to a workable socialist model the western world has yet come up with (In contrast to the dysfunctional Soviet system) Though I should point out that I abhor socialism or any doctrine which would place the interests of the 'people' (However that can be defined or satisfied) over the interests of the individual (The only person who can decide what is in who's best interest is the individual him/herself.) MC. 134.226.1.229 14:20, 29 October 2009 (UTC)

For that reason I abhor nationalism, which seems to play a much greater part in the uprising of "evil empires" like Germany during WW2 or current North Korea. --GTac 14:39, 29 October 2009 (UTC)

And the award for the most irrelevant post goes to... GTac! MarcusCicero 20:06, 29 October 2009 (UTC)

What part confused you, MC? --GTac 10:32, 30 October 2009 (UTC)

I think you misunderstand what I said on a very basic level. MarcusCicero 12:48, 31 October 2009 (UTC)

There is an old joke that the Japanese were the only ones to get Communism right. (I know it's not Western, but...) Researcher 14:40, 29 October 2009 (UTC)

Fascism and similar systems were a right-wing spin on socialism (they often even accepted Marx's class theory, just having different theories of how the "class struggle" should end), but fascist countries were no more economically successful than the countries ruled by democratic socialist parties about that time or a little later. ListenerX^TalkerX 15:16, 29 October 2009 (UTC)

Not having studied the economy of those times, I think it's the prevalent opinion that Italy was better under Mussolini than before him - from an economic and general wellness point of view, disregarding all the bad parts, and obviously before WWII only. Editor at CP^{mały książe} 12:20, 30 October 2009 (UTC)

'Better' is a very subjective word, isn't it? After all the tenant farmers may have been 'better' (According to contemporary Academical and economic consensus) when they moved to work in the factories during the Industrial Revolution, but the shorter lifespan and horrible working hours tell another story. Mussolini certainly improved economic output (Temporarily and at great strain to the national finances) but the long term impacts speak for themselves.

The fundamental difference between Hitler and Mussolini is that Hitler surrounded himself with many very capable sycophants. These men were administrative genius' and it is pretty apparant that Hitler allowed them quite a lot of leeway (Hence their particular skills were put to maximum use) Whereas Mussolini was an autocrat and apart from his abilities in forging a brilliant image for himself, was highly incompetant in administrative ability. MarcusCicero 12:48, 31 October 2009 (UTC)

Yes, well put re: H vs. M. An obvious evidence of this is we know the names of many of Hitler's "capable sycophants", but, as far as I can think of, none of Mussolinis deputies. ħuman 19:05, 31 October 2009 (UTC)

Mussolini and Pius XI

I read somewhere a while back that there were those who believed that Mussolini ordered Pius XI's death, and Count Ciano (M's son in law) visited the Pope and smothered him. 86.191.145.34 (talk) 22:52, 11 March 2016 (UTC)