Fascist social-spending cuts aimed to discipline labor, not just shrink deficits.

Evidence

Ultimately, the curtailing of social expenditures was undertaken with a more insidious objective than merely curbing the defi cit. It was about sound relations of production, and specifi cally about disciplining the workers. Here Ricci left no doubts when he attacked social reforms for “protecting hustlers [faccendieri] and troublemakers [facinorosi]” (Ricci 1926, 15). He was especially critical of unemployment benefi ts that quelled the market’s force over labor: “When there is a government that gives out subsidies to the unemployed, the temptation is born to become unemployed [nasce la tentazione di disoccuparsi], to take the subsidy, to work less, and produce less” (Ricci 1926, 22). — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, 1238

Categorization

• XREF: Ricci’s ‘temptation to become unemployed’ rhetoric is the direct ancestor of modern Conservative ‘workfare’ and anti-welfare moralizing — connects welfare chauvinism arguments from the reader’s other sources. — connects to: Fascist austerity dismantled welfare, cut taxes on capital, and banned unions — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 193; IMF austerity economists reused the fascist playbook of labor discipline — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 231; Regressive taxation and spending cuts serve the same class-confiscating function — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 150
• ADDENDUM: Ties to ‘On Sacrifice’ themes loosely, but more precisely the disciplinarian-rhetoric of welfare here parallels the class-signaling logic in ‘Complaints About Immodesty’ — moral panic as class/identity signaling.

Broader Connections

• Fascist austerity dismantled welfare, cut taxes on capital, and banned unions #corroborates (0.90) — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 193
• IMF austerity economists reused the fascist playbook of labor discipline #expands (0.85) — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 231
• Regressive taxation and spending cuts serve the same class-confiscating function #expands (0.80) — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 150