Piero Gobetti on Liberal Revolution - Essay Example

? Piero Gobetti on Liberal Revolution Piero Gobetti on Liberal Revolution Piero Gobetti is widely regarded as one of the most influential revolutionaries who brought significant impact on the course of political and social revolution in Italy (Martin, 2008). Gobetti’s ideas popularized the course of anti-fascism liberalism during the twentieth century political culture. He was radically opposed to the opinions of fascism and argued that Italy could advance in its course by replacing the structures erected by fascism. According to Gobetti, the Italian brand of fascism was unrepresentative to the wills of the majority and only existed to promote the ideas and opinions of the ruling elite. Some of the issues that greatly influenced his course of liberation were anchored in the policies of liberation, which he interpreted as the active resistance against the control of labor by the ruling elite (Martin, 2008). Gobetti argued that the factory workers needed to take over the factories in order for them to benefit from the real influence of their labor. The capitalist ideal of alienation of labor was one of the key drivers of his revolution. According to him, change could only be achieved through a complete dismantling of the edifice of power as represented in the fascist system of government. It was because of this belief that he supported the idea of complete reshaping of the society in ways that could capture the interests of the governed. Many times, the idea of a popular revolution was considered as one of his eventual objectives. He spread the idea of revolution through his publications and the journalistic writings he was engaged in both at home and during his life in exile. According to him, it was inappropriate for the factory workers to continue serving under the hegemonic powers of the ruling elite because they could never articulate their opinions in accordance with the ideals of democracy (Martin, 2008). The taking away of the powers of the ruling according to him represented the systematic suppression of the rights of the governed through a system that could never be represented through an active appropriation of the rights of the majority. On this score, Gobetti is widely regarded as a revolutionary who changed the course of the Italian political process. He appropriated the ideals of Marxism in ways that opposed the political processes represented in the thinking of the Italian government. As a staunch believer of the Marxist philosophies of popular revolution by the working class, Gobetti believed that real change in the Italian Political structure could only be achieved through the active rebellion against the fascist status quo. As such, he was opposed to the views propagated by the society, which insisted on the active representation of the political power through a centralized leadership in the opinions and views of the ruling elite. There was an increasing belief that some of the issues appropriated in political doctrine were supposed to represent the views of the opposition. Due to this reason, Gobetti was often criticized as a radical opponent of the government for the reason of benefitting the opposition. Such claims led to some of the challenged he faced as a philosopher, journalist, and activist. Gobetti’s brand of revolution incorporated a range of ideals that combined the ideals of Marxism and other liberal philosophies in order to challenge the status quo on which the Fascist policies were governed. On this score, it could be argued that some of the issues appertaining the control of the state and government were openly subjugated under the absolute regime. His ideals were consistent with the principles of popular liberation as espoused in the ideals of Marx and other philosophers who had thrived in the eighteenth and twentieth centuries. On this matter, it might be argued that some of the ideals he held were anchored on his deep association with the views and aspirations of the majority. However, he was limited by the fact that much of the Italian society had been won over by the rhetoric of Mussolini in whom they imagined that they could finally challenge the rivalries of Europe and triumph over some of the social ills and political dangers of the time. The governed according to him could not adequately be represented through the conversion to the opinions and ideals of ruling elite. Due to this factor, it is widely believed that the appropriation of political ideals in the opinions of Marxism could only be achieved through a system that captured the aspirations of the people. The people, according to him could never be represented through the appropriation of reality in a manner representative of some of the beliefs appropriated by the fascist regime. Gobetti believed that the Italian society could only be adequately governed by changing all the systems and organizations that had been installed through the structure of ruling elite. This view led critics to regard him as some kind of a nihilist who only advocated for the abolition of the ruling system without suggesting any alternative systems to fill up the vacuum. In many ways, some of the systems and issues were popularly known as anti-government. It was due to this reason that he was forced to live in exile for most of his adult life due to the fear of political persecution back at home. Gobetti is generally regarded as one of the most influential revolutionaries who engaged the power of the widely popular Benito Mussolini. He believed that Mussolini derived most of his influence from political rhetoric. As such, some of the issues he advocated were widely regarded as dissident. On the other side, Gobetti won the admiration of many aspiring politicians who were increasingly getting weary of the excesses of the state. He challenged the systems in such a manner that awakened the populations to the unseen excesses of the state. Such issues were sometimes considered an outward expression of his liberal attitudes and inability to proclaim independence of thought in ways that captured the central thinking of the state. Gobetti’s opposition to fascism is widely anchored on the view that the structures of the state were challenged to all forms of opposition. Fascism was absolute in the sense that it opposed all forms of opposition forces, which sought to challenge the powers of the state. All members of the Italian opposition were systematically suppressed or converted through coercion to the ideals of the ruling elite. Gobetti’s philosophies emerged as a resistance against the status quo in ways that captured the ideals of pluralism, which part of the theses on which he anchored his political views. On these grounds, it was widely believed that his principles were an open challenge to the philosophies on which Fascism was founded due to his reluctance to endorse certain policies that would imply an erosion of values and norms of liberal politics. Under Mussolini, the Italian state had assumed total control of nearly all systems of production in ways that discouraged popular representation. For instance, much of the powers of the population were curtailed in ways that discouraged private enterprise. The control of state resources was put into the powers of limited people in order to allow the state to actively challenge all the powers on which liberalism could thrive. In such ways, it became necessary for the emergence of alternative views that could effectively engage the state on matters of individual freedoms and rights. Gobetti approached the subject from the point of view of the workers. He advocated for the kind of change that would wrest power from the minority leadership in order to actively represent the wishes and will of the governed. Some of the matters that were pertinent to his philosophies were actually considered in terms of the active representation of the philosophy of the state. This is because some of these views were considered in terms of the challenges and issues that were represented within the social and political forces of the Italian society. Part of the success of Gobetti’s philosophy were considered to be derivatives of his ability to accurately diagnose and interpret the issues of the state as captured within the political processes of the country. In this manner, there was a way in which the opinions of the state were considered within the interpretation of the state. The consideration of some of the central philosophy in his message could be understood from the position of Hegelian theory of the absolute. Some critics consider Gobetti as having desired unachievable and superficial ends, which could never be realized in a normal situation of ideological and political competition. On this matter, some of the critics argue that the kind of governance, which the philosopher appropriated, could never actually be achieved in a situation in which turmoil engaged the political processes and issues of Europe. In some ways, it might be argued that the ideas represented by the state were developed under the organization of issues and challenged as understood under the state of the government. On this matter, it could never be actually considered whether some of the matters represented in the state were as a result of the actions and issues of the state. It might be argued that the some of the issues that were actualized captured in his central philosophies. In the very end, Gobetti wielded significant influence on the political processes of the state in such a manner that led to the rise of independence of thought and liberal expression of opinions that challenged the tenets on which the Mussolini administration was founded. It is widely believed that Gobetti represented the emergence of independence thought of the state as constituted in the current administration. Some of his supporters view him as a germ of popular revolution that awakened the conscience of the state to the need for a radical surgery to the system of governance as conceived under Mussolini. There is the popular view that some of the issues that constituted his philosophy were the anchorage on which successive opposition forces were based. Reference Martin, J. (2008). Piero Gobetti and the politics of liberal revolution. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Read More