Replies

Thanks for the link, but I'm pretty sure I know where I'm at politically: somewhere to the left of Ann Coulter and to the right of Colin Powell.

According to John Toland, writer of "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich", the truly strange thing about Hitler and the Nazis was their utter lack of a coherent economic agenda, among other things. Stalin drew upon an established idealogy, claiming 'higher sources' like Lenin and Marx, whereas Hitler more or less cobbled together national socialism from, well, his own twisted worldview and grasp of history. In both cases, I guess one could translate both Stalin and Hitler as 'Thugs With Power', and dispense entirely with the whole right, left thing.

"Thanks for the link, but I'm pretty sure I know where I'm at politically: somewhere to the left of Ann Coulter and to the right of Colin Powell."

That was the point of the link. If you only know your position on the left-right axis then you DON'T know your true political position.

"Stalin drew upon an established idealogy, claiming 'higher sources' like Lenin and Marx, whereas Hitler more or less cobbled together national socialism from, well, his own twisted worldview and grasp of history."

Both Stalin and Hitler twisted their respective ideologies to suit their own purposes. In the end it doesn't really make any difference because even if they had remained true to them, the basis for the original ideologies was just as flawed as their versions.

Neither Fascism or Socialism will work as a viable political competitor against Liberal Democracies, even if those liberal Democracies are infected with a mild form of Socialism as western countries are infected today.

It is ironic that so many socialists still think that socialism will work if only leaders would remain true to Marx's and Lenin's original philosophy. They think that it was only Stalins, or Mao's, or Pol Pot's version of socialism that didn't work. In other words, they blame the leaders of socialism for its failures not the ideology it's self. This is why Socialism is still such a danger in the Western world today, while Fascism is not.