It would be a tragedy if, once again, as in the 1930s and 1940s, we found that, due to lack of vigilance, financial or technological giants were financing and supporting extreme right-wing forces that are contrary to democracy.
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I do not know if I have insisted enough, for obvious reasons, on the role that large capitalist companies played in financing and the rise of fascism in some European countries, in the 30s and 40s of the 20th century. In my last book, “Expansive Democracy”, I give some information on the issue and on the responsibility they had in the catastrophe that represented the carnage of the Second World War and its consequences. The reasons or causes of these disastrous attitudes for humanity were influenced by multiple events, among which I will particularly highlight some. The consequences of the Great War of 14 and the fateful Treaty of Versailles, which Keynes will lucidly denounce in his work “The Economic Consequences of the Peace”.
Essentially, this conflict was a war of plunder between empires in which, in the end, four empires perished – the Tsars, the Habsburgs, the Hohenzollerns and the Ottomans – and two were consolidated – the British and the French -, although the great beneficiary was Wilson’s North America. A fire that culminated in the Bolshevik revolution, the first “break” in the chain of capitalism and the cause of multiple terrors among the possessing classes.
The truth is that now the great economic powers have opted for dictatorial regimes of a fascist nature in countries such as Germany, Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, Romania, Hungary, Poland, in the face of what they considered the main threat, the communist one. What our particular “leader” defined as the Jewish-Masonic-Communist collusion. Curiously, there was a decisive exception to this liberticidal clan, that of the United States of America of President Roosevelt and his New dealaccused by the Republican right of being “Stalinist” and confronted with powerful companies sympathetic to fascism, such as Ford.
At the end of the film, the good guys won, and Nazism, fascism and dictatorships of all kinds ended up in the dunghill of history, although in our case and that of Portugal, they resisted for a few more decades to disappear from the map of infamy.
The sponsors of this disaster had to pay a price, not so much personally, since, in general, with a few exceptions, they got away with it, but economically, since many of these companies were nationalized and, above all, because they began to pay real taxes. The tax burden went from about 15% before the war to about 40% after the war. The political and trade union left, for its part, emerged much strengthened and a welfare state was created, unique in the world, which, even with its imperfections, is the best that can be found on the vast globe.
Then came the Cold War, the implosion of the USSR and its satellites, the struggles for the liberation of the colonies; the multiple local wars, the process of European construction and the excesses of ambient ultraliberalism, from the 80s of the last century, with the crisis of 2008 and its fateful or disastrous consequences. A crisis that, for the most part, was the final result of the powerful ultraliberal offensive of Anglo-Saxon capitalism against the social conquests of the post-war period. Measures that exacerbated the most toxic elements of uncontrolled globalization: rampant inequalities, environmental destruction, the erosion of social rights and the general unrest of vast social sectors. A case of “poetic justice” was when the party that promoted, in Great Britain, the great ultraliberal offensive and the BrexitThe Conservatives and Thatcherites were swept away in the last election after leaving the country in a state of chaos.
Currently, the digital revolution, of a disruptive nature, controlled and directed by a handful of North American multinationals, has accentuated the ultra process. Because this great transformation coincides, and it is not by chance, with the rise of a series of populist, anarcho-capitalist, ultraliberal and far-right forces. What is worrying, from my point of view, is the role that these immense multinationals and the leaders who control them play in this process of spreading anti-liberal and anti-social tendencies. A role that begins to resemble that played by large European companies in the rise of fascism in the 30s and 40s of the last century.
It is obvious that these powerful economic, financial and technological conglomerates have never liked advanced economic systems capable of regulating them, imposing progressive tax models, in a word, democratic political powers that compete for leadership of the processes in progress. The alarm should have been sounded given the attitude and positions adopted by billionaire Elon Musk, owner of .
This does not give the impression that the policies of large multinationals such as Google, Amazon or others like them, true monopolies in their respective fields, are moving in the direction of improving social rights, quite the contrary. It is curious that at present the attitude of some large European companies is partially reversed compared to that of the United States in the face of the rise of far-right parties. At least in the case of Germany, the position recently taken by concerned sectors of German capitalism against the parties – Alternative for Germany – considered extremist and a danger to democracy has been significant.
In any case, to know the role that large multinationals play in the development of far-right parties, in countries such as France, Italy, Spain and Europe in general, it is essential to apply transparency rules in terms of financing, not only political parties, but all social and/or media entities – social networks, etc. – that can influence public opinion.
Similarly, anonymity should be prohibited when expressing opinions on Internet platforms, which remain, even if they say otherwise, social media. It would be a tragedy if, once again, as in the 1930s and 1940s, it were found that, through lack of vigilance, financial or technological giants were financing and supporting far-right forces opposed to democracy and in favor of democracy; at least, anti-liberal models. An operation aimed at dismantling social democracies, which could take place thanks to an international alliance of economic, political and cultural forces that we should monitor carefully and counteract effectively.
