Blackshirts and Reds: Rational Fascism and the Overthrow of Communism

Blackshirts & Reds examines major political and economic concepts including fascism, capitalism, communism, revolution, democracy, and ecology. Michael Parenti explores how "rational fascism" serves capitalism, how corporate power undermines democracy, and how revolutions function as mass empowerment against exploitative privilege. The book analyzes the external and internal forces that led to communism's collapse and discusses the consequences of the "free-market" victory on eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Parenti demonstrates the relevance of Marxism and class analysis for understanding political realities and the ongoing tension between ecology and global corporatism. Parenti argues that fascism should be understood as an integral component of capitalism rather than merely an extreme form of it. He portrays the twentieth-century struggle between fascism and communism as a single conflict driven by capitalism's need for expansion against a system under siege. The book presents these arguments through documented analysis and accessible prose.