redbloodedamerica: imachainsaw: redbloodedamerica:mother-child-life: So, I looked up the definitio
redbloodedamerica: imachainsaw: redbloodedamerica: mother-child-life: So, I looked up the definition of fascism on my phone, I was pretty sure I knew what it meant but wanted to be sure. Anyway, the Google recommended definition is completely different than the Merriam Webster definition (my personal choice of dictionary). Is it just me or is google implying that fascism is only a problem of “right-wing” government? Cuz that’s what it looks like. I mean I could be totally wrong but people have been calling trump and pence fascists lately (my reasoning for googling the definition) and I didn’t think they were using the right word to describe them. Idk. @redbloodedamerica @your-uncle-dave what do y'all think? It just looks like blatant misinformation to promote an agenda, to me. Yes, this notion that fascism is somehow “right-wing” or a “corporatocracy” has been a myth devised by leftist intellectuals for several decades now. It is sad that Google is relying on a source that is pushing this biased false notion. Merriam’s definition is not very satisfying either. This is also due to the general vagueness of the term. As Jonah Goldberg wrote in his excellent book Liberal Fascism: It’s an academic version of Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle: the more closely you study the subject, the less clearly defined it be- comes. The historian R. A. H. Robinson wrote twenty years ago, “Although enormous amounts of research time and mental energy have been put into the study of it … fascism has remained the great conundrum for students of the twentieth century.” Meanwhile, the authors of the Dictionnaire historique des fascismes et du nazisme flatly assert, “No universally accepted definition of the fascist phe- nomenon exists, no consensus, however slight, as to its range, its ideological origins, or the modalities of action which characterize it.” Stanley G. Payne, considered by many to be the leading living scholar of fascism, wrote in 1995, “At the end of the twentieth century fascism remains probably the vaguest of the major political terms.” There are even serious scholars who make a credible case that Nazism wasn’t fascist, that fascism doesn’t exist at all, and that it is primarily a secular religion (this is my own view). “[P]ut sim- ply,” writes Gilbert Allardyce, “we have agreed to use the word with- out agreeing on how to define it.“ And yet even though scholars admit that the nature of fascism is vague, complicated, and open to wildly divergent interpretations, many modern liberals and leftists act as if they know exactly what fascism is. What’s more, they see it everywhere — except when they look in the mirror. Fascism is an offshoot of socialism. It was thought to be the “third way” alternative to Marxist socialism and free market capitalism. In fact, it resembles modern progressivism (or if you want to call it “democratic socialism”) more than anything else and many of the early progressives even stole their ideas straight from European fascist countries which were very nouveau and chic at the time. The concept that it is mainly associated with authoritarianism or dictatorships is only a reflection of how Italy and Nazis Germany operated and should be treated as more of a side note more than a general definition because it could be possible to have a full-fledged democratic fascist governments just as easily. That’s because fascism is more of a collaboration of state and economy where the government controls the means of production but does not necessarily own it. It generally uses private enterprise in order to fund its nationalist agenda such as robust social programs, large infrastructure projects, a large military industrial complex, its imperialist endeavors, and the general size and scope of the central government in general. It is an ideology focused on the importance of the nation state, shared national identity, a powerful strongman leader, and worldwide superiority. The only way the left have been able to steer the conversation towards it being associated with right-wing ideology is because the state works hand-in-hand with large corporations in order to push their nationalist agenda. So, naturally the left spins it that the corporations must be in charge but we all know historically that has never been the case. The government is running the show in fascist economies. In fact, Germany and Italy both nationalized many private instruments such as labor unions and even particular industries if it suited their needs better. Where they differ from the communists is that they did not attempt to run the entire economy from the centralized government. However, one thing the right and the left can both agree upon when it comes to the concept of fascism is that it about control. So, when you hear it used a pejorative directed at someone trying to say silence your free speech it is not necessarily being used incorrectly. Then again, most left-wing ideology is based on the concept of control after all. I highly recommend reading Jonah Goldberg’s Liberal Fascism and here are a few videos that may help you on your way to better understanding this ideology: you fucking morons conveniently leave out that the fundamental tenant of socialism is production and distribution is held in common by the working class. to say that fascist states have any semblance of that is purely contrivance and lack of rudimentary knowledge of this topic youre trying to write your little op-ed on. and complete ignorance of how those fascist states operated. not to mention that left wing ideology strongly adheres to the abolition of divisions and stratification of the working class and thus any attempt to divide the working class through xenophobic rehtoric and state mandated or sanctioned segregation is fundamentally opposite of leftism. Oh, by all means, please enlighten us with your rudimentary understanding of how fascist economies worked. I always enjoy when fervent true-believing apparatchiks drag in their outdated Marxist language to make arguments about “not-true socialism”. It always somehow works out to absolve socialism despite the long history of socialist failure and evil because the true dream has still somehow yet to happen.Sorry to burst your bubble but xenophobia, state-mandated everything, segregation, and command economies have always been institutions of the left. -- source link