The capital point of the Fascist doctrine is the conception of the
State, its essence, the work to be accomplished, its final aims. In
the conception of Fascism, the State is an absolute before which
individuals and groups are relative. Individuals and groups are
"conceivable" inasmuch as they are in the State. The Liberal State
does not direct the movement and the material and spiritual evolution
of collectivity, but limits itself to recording the results; the
Fascist State has its conscious conviction, a will of its own, and for
this reason it is called an "ethical" State.
In 1929 at the first quinquiennial assembly of the Regime, I said: "In
Fascism the State is not a night-watchman, only occupied with the
personal safety of the citizens, nor is it an organisation with purely
material aims, such as that of assuring a certain well-being and a
comparatively easy social cohabitation. A board of directors would be
quite sufficient to deal with this. It is not a purely political
creation, either, detached from the complex material realities of the
life of individuals and of peoples. The State as conceived and enacted
by Fascism, is a spiritual and moral fact since it gives concrete form
to the political, juridical and economical organisation of the
country. Furthermore this organisation as it rises and develops, is a
manifestation of the spirit. The State is a safeguard of interior and
exterior safety but it is also the keeper and the transmitter of the
spirit of the people, as it was elaborated throughout the ages, in its
language, customs and beliefs. The State is not only the present, but
it is also the past and above all the future. The State, inasmuch as
it transcends the short limits of individual lives, represents the
immanent conscience of the nation. The forms in which the State
expresses itself are subject to changes, but the necessity for the
State remains. It is the State which educates the citizens in civic
virtues, gives them a consciousness of their mission, presses them
towards unity; the State harmonizes their interests through justice,
transmits to prosperity the attainments of thoughts, in science, in
art, in laws, in the solidarity of mankind. The State leads men from
primitive tribal life to that highest expression of human power which
is Empire; links up through the centuries the names of those who died
to preserve its integrity or to obey its laws; holds up the memory of
the leaders who increased its territory, and of the geniuses who cast
the light of glory upon it, as an example for future generations to
follow. When the conception of the State declines and disintegrating
or centrifugal tendencies prevail, whether of individuals or groups,
then the national society is about to set."