Posters for the group had advertised discussions of Nietzsche, as well as fellow philosophers Alain de Benoist, Martin Heidegger and Julius Evola. That, according to UCLU, was unacceptable.The Union is certainly correct about the connection of these philosophers to fascism. Heidegger was a member of the Nazi Party and Nietzsche's writing, pace his apologists, played right into the aspirations of those who wished to create a master race and suppress or eliminate all others. His exalted descriptions of the will to power, his praise of savagery, cruelty, and the moral overman, and his hatred for Judeo-Christianity resonated with the Hitlerians who saw themselves as the embodiments of Nietzschean virtue.
“The aforementioned philosophers and thinkers are on the extreme-right, racist, sexist, anti-immigrant, homophobic, anti-Marxist, anti-worker and have had connections, direct or indirect, with Italian fascism and German Nazism,” the UCLU’s motion said.
“Fascism has no place at UCL or UCLU, and ... any attempts by fascists or the far-right to organize on campus must be met with unconditional resistance,” they continued.
But the leftists who would stifle any group wishing to promote thinking that would reinforce fascist ideology have, hypocritically enough, no qualms about promoting ideas which reinforce communist ideology, an ideology whose consequences have been even more horrific than those of Nazism.
While thought characterized as right-wing or “fascist” is evidently unacceptable, the UCLU clearly sees no trouble with the far left, with the motion also citing the group’s commitment to ”the program of a socialist transformation of society” as a reason for the club’s abolition. The motion is peppered with numerous other instances of leftist rhetoric, and occasionally veers off into complaining about modern political issues.Indeed, Marxist-Leninism was responsible for the murders of more than 100 million people in the 20th century and the terrible suffering of countless others. I wonder who will protect the students of the University College of London from the Leninists.
“Fascism is used by the ruling class to divide workers… and thus weaken their effectiveness as a force and undermine their resistance to policies of austerity, attacks on living standards and public services, and other consequences of the crisis of the capitalist system,” the motion says.
In a follow-up statement released Friday, UCLU said their actions were necessary for student safety.
“UCLU recognizes the existential threat that the fascist movement poses to our members, and we believe that it is therefore necessary to prevent and disrupt the ability of fascists to organize — on our campuses, on our streets and in our society,” the organization said. “This is not a question of petty or bureaucratic ‘meddling’ but of protecting ourselves as students and members of society from the real dangers posed by the fascist movement.”
The proposer and seconder of the approved motion, Sam Bayliss and Timur Dautov, are both members of the recognized group UCLU Marxists. Among other activities, the group holds regular reading groups on the writings and thought of revolutionary Vladimir Lenin, who killed and suppressed millions while imposing communism on Russia.