Style over Substance

Italian incompetence.

I have been looking at a number of websites and scholarly articles examining the issue of Italian military incompetence.  Some of these emphasize the most egregious example of this – the World War II (WWII) experience – and others take a broader, long-term historical view, with at least one author asserting that claims of Italian military incompetence can be found as far back as the sixteenth century (or earlier).

With all manifestations of human phenotypes, there are both biological and cultural mechanisms at play, and, of course, the biology and the culture influence each other. We must look deeply here. Some articles (and this is mostly with respect to WWII and to a lesser extent WWI) cite “poor equipment” (but others argue against this) and "poor leadership" from the officer class (who were mostly Northern Italians, by the way), but even if there is some truth there, that begs the question as to why the Italian state and military apparatus was so inept as to provide poor equipment and poor leadership to its soldiers.

The idea that this stereotype goes back centuries suggests deep-seated biological (e.g., genetic pacification starting with the Roman Empire and the dysgenic effects of war during the Roman Republic) and cultural (e.g., “La Dolce Vita,” amoral familism, a lack of a military tradition starting with when provincials and mercenaries began - to an ever-increasing extent - replacing Italians in the Roman Legions, etc.) causes. That Italians are not taken seriously as a people, in the same manner as, say, the Germans or the English, or even the French (or Spaniards for that matter, who have a much better military reputation than do Italians) is something that is very deeply rooted in Italy's history (and by Italy I speak historically over the centuries and not just the modern Italian nation state).

One comment I found particularly interesting was that – and this again was in particular reference to WWII – Italian Fascism promoted style over substance.  Thus, the Fascist regime did not prepare the Italian military in any real sense - training, morale, an effective officer corps, equipment and other material, etc.  There was a lot of empty blustering about "eight million bayonets" but nothing substantive behind it.  It was a paper tiger, a fraud, a big show - style over substance.

Indeed, style over substance is a defining characteristic of Italians, perhaps THE defining characteristic.  Italian Fascism is a perfect example, but there are others.  Cola di Rienzi had impressive dreams, but no idea of how to actualize any into reality. Schettino is another excellent example, the stereotype of the flashy, superficial Italian womanizer, doing fancy tricks with his ship, but who is useless during an actual emergency and who becomes a meme for incompetent cowardice. Or The Great China Plague of 2020, met with Italians “singing on balconies.”  Empty and superficial – style over substance in every respect.

To the extent that this is biological, the Italian people desperately require eugenic improvement.  To the extent that it is cultural, degenerate elements of the culture – the whole “La Dolce Vita” stupidity and the emotional gesticulating “singing on balconies” paradigm – needs to change. Wine, Women, and Song need to be replaced with Authority, Hierarchy, and Discipline.

Let’s consider Italian Fascism in more detail – in what ways did it go wrong?  What could have it done instead to put substance over style in all things, including military competence and effective collective action?

Italian Fascism went in the wrong direction at its most fundamental basis. It emphasized the State, while it should have emphasized The New Man (like Romanian fascism) as well as racial improvement (like German fascism).  Italian fascism was externalized (the pipe-dream of a “new Roman Empire”) while it should have been internalized (to build a New Italy). Instead of comic opera wars against Ethiopia and Greece, Mussolini should have instead waged war against the Monarchy and the Church. He should have waged unrelenting war against "La Dolce Vita." Instead of empty style, Il Duce should have delivered transformative substance.

If Mussolini was a real revolutionary with a dedicated vision, and far-sighted strategic planning, this could have been accomplished.  He could have slowly but surely removed pro-monarchy elements from the military and state apparatus, and replaced these with individuals who were both dedicated Fascists and also of high merit and ability.  He could have slowly but surely worked to lessen the influence of the Catholic Church over the lives of Italians, particularly the youth. He could have made fascitizing the society priority number one, with an emphasis on the youth, particularly boys and young men. He could have harnessed the vibrancy of Futurism as an underlying ideological force, focused on industrialization and science and technics, and slowly but surely (as religion waned) promoted eugenics and racial improvement. The Italian military should have been focused on for two purposes – to build a modern force of high morale and effective striking power to safeguard Italian sovereignty and Italian interests WITHOUT wars of aggression but to defend the Italian state and people (enabling Italy to be safely neutral in WWII) and as a school of national development for young men to learn discipline, sacrifice, authority, hierarchy, and heroism. Foreign policy could have followed the Montreux Conference model of promoting fascism throughout Europe and forging alliances of common interests with European fascist movements to help build a New European Order of cooperation, NOT military conquest. These are things that would have been perfectly feasible, given Mussolini’s decades in power (and he would not have been deposed in 1943 if Italy had not been involved in the war).  All of the fascist energy should have been turned inward, to purge Italy of "La Dolce Vita" hedonism and instill in the youth a sense of purpose and greatness. Real improvements in industry, education, culture, military, and science could have been achieved.  Eugenics to improve the stock and undo centuries of dysgenics and genetic pacification could have been instituted, to biologically enhance the Italian breed, to go along with the important cultural changes. 

Mussolini's war against the mafia was more or less effective (although that could have been done better as well), indicating that firm internal action was possible (the mafia was brought back to power by the Americans). That same drive and determination should have been applied to society as a whole. The Catholic Church was (is) a mafia, the Monarchy was a mafia - those deserved the same treatment as did the criminal mafia itself.  Of course, the tactics would have had to be different, the timetable slower.  But the ultimate endgame should have been the same.

But, no. Instead, Mussolini was the Donald Trump of European fascism – all bluster, no action; all style, no substance.  A blustering, bloviating fraud.  Talk loudly and carry a twig.

And so, in 2020, we get “singing on balconies” – essentially Schettinoism applied to the covid-19 response.  My dear Italians – you need less singing and more fighting.

The purpose of this post is not merely yet another critique of Italy and the Italians. Italy is an important cornerstone of Europe, particularly of Western Europe.  Italy - along with Germany, England, France, and Spain - was always cited by Yockey as one of the core pillars of his Western Imperium. Ultimately, Italy will be one key to ultimate success for the White, Western cause.  Therefore, that nation and its people need to do better than Schettino jumping into a lifeboat and do better than "singing on balconies" in response to the Chinese war of genocide against Italians and the rest of humanity.

Of course, nation-wide comprehensive change cannot occur under the present System.  But we need Italians to begin to step up now, as they are today. Not all of them, but there has to be a healthier, right-wing element that can begin to foreshadow, today, the New Italian of tomorrow.  The Italian Far Right needs to step up and become a key player, a serious player, for the fight for the West and for the White Race. And we need them to start right now.

It is time for substance over style. It is time to become a hammer of history and not an anvil.

The time for "singing on balconies" is over.