Posted on 01/14/2021 9:00:10 AM PST by Kaslin
Leftists love to throw around the word “fascist,” although half the time they don’t appear to even know what it means. Usually, it’s just a way of insulting someone unenlightened enough to disagree with them. At best, they’re calling the person a big meanie, an authoritarian. But that’s not exactly (or at least not entirely) what a “fascist” is.
Perhaps, for our leftist friends, a brief primer is in order.
Fascism is a political and economic system that arose in Europe following World War I. It has three primary characteristics: extreme nationalism, authoritarianism, and a state-run economy. Indeed, in terms of economics, fascism is very much an ideology of the left, not the right, having more in common with socialism than with any conservative, free-market system. Remember, “Nazi” was short for “National Socialists.” No less an expert than Benito Mussolini called fascism “the third way,” meaning another statist alternative to socialism and communism.
The difference is that, instead of actually owning the means of production, the fascist state allows them to remain nominally in the hands of private citizens and then dictates to those business “owners” what they may and may not do. In that way, the state essentially determines economic winners and losers, depending on which industries and individuals it favors.
As a practical matter, I think we could fairly refer to any person or system that meets two of the three criteria as “fascist.” That’s why the left continues to insist that Donald Trump is a fascist—because they see him as both nationalistic and authoritarian. But Trump is not an extreme nationalist, as his dealings with other nations—including “win-win” trade agreements with Canada, Mexico, Japan, and others as well as his efforts to promote Middle East peace—have made clear. As for his much-publicized (and criticized) “America First” agenda, well—for the president of a country to put the interests of his own citizens ahead of those of other countries should hardly be viewed as controversial, much less extreme.
Nor is Trump an authoritarian, despite the left’s attempts to brand him as a “dictator.” What, exactly, has he dictated? What has he forced American citizens to do against their will? What constitutionally guaranteed rights has he stripped from us? Indeed, in our system, the only way a president can “dictate” is via executive order, and in that respect, Trump’s presidency has been unremarkable. Among one-term presidents, he has issued fewer EOs than Democrats John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Jimmy Carter. He has averaged fewer per year than multi-termers Harry S. Truman or Franklin Delano Roosevelt. In his four years, he issued about the same number (204) as Bill Clinton did in his first term (200).
Moreover, when his executive orders were overturned by the federal courts—as was the case with some of his orders on immigration, early in his presidency—Trump grudgingly acquiesced. He allowed the system to work as it was intended, however much he might have hated doing so. Some authoritarian.
And of course, Trump is obviously no statist. He is a free-marketer all the way, a capitalist par excellence who rose to power on a promise to cut regulations, which he did. So at most, he meets only one of the three criteria for classification as a fascist—nationalism—and even that one, I believe, is a bit of a stretch. (Keep in mind, too, that the most authoritarian AND nationalistic regimes on the planet are communists, not fascists—although I think a good argument could be made that China today, with its selective “capitalism,” is actually closer to Hitlerian fascism than Leninism or Maoism.)
In their embrace of the “Green New Deal,” their Faustian bargain with Big Tech, and their anticipated draconian COVID policy (which I plan to talk about more in a subsequent column), the Bidenites (or should I say “Harrissians”?) are salivating over what they see as their golden opportunity to choose economic winners and losers—the winners, of course, being those businesses and business persons that most closely align with their left-wing ideology.
They might be globalists rather than nationalists, but they certainly meet the other two criteria. So who, exactly, are the real fascists here?
” It has three primary characteristics: extreme nationalism, authoritarianism, and a state-run economy.”
The left meets all 3 criteria, if you allow that adherence to leftism is their substitute for nationalism.
“God does not exist. Religion in science is an absurdity, in practice an immorality and in men a disease.” — Mussolini, 1924Now does that sound like communism, or what? Everything from denying God’s existence to social justice to wealth redistribution. Yes, that is fascism.
“Fascism establishes the real equality of individuals before the nation… the object of the regime in the economic field is to ensure higher social justice for the whole of the Italian people… What does ‘social justice’ mean? It means work guaranteed, fair wages, decent homes; it means the possibility of continuous evolution and improvement. Nor is this enough. It means that the workers must enter more and more intimately into the productive process and share its necessary discipline… As the past century was the century of capitalist power, the twentieth century is the century of power and glory of labor.” — Mussolini, 1935
“When the war is over, in the worlds social revolution that will be followed by a more equitable distribution of the earth’s riches, due account must be kept of the sacrifices and of the discipline maintained by the Italian workers. The Fascist revolution will make another decisive step to shorten social distances.” — Mussolini, 1941
Big business is onboard because they get to keep making money. Schindler was able to become rich under Nazi rule.
I’d call them ‘super-fascists’ since their nationalism is actually Globalism... they would prefer a totalitarian rule from the United Nations.
National Socialism = Nazi
International Socialism = Communism
Communism, socialism, fascism. Which is it?
It doesnt matter. Either way we are screwed.
To them “Fascist” means racist, because of the Nazis.
But the Nazis weren’t “Fascist”, that was Mussolini, and had it not been for the pressure Hitler exerted on Mussolini, his Fascist regime was not racist. Plenty of Jews worked for Mussolini’s government, and there was little racial discrimination.
All Fascism is, is the notion that The State is supreme in all matters, and that business only exists to the extent that is serves The State.
Isms in my opinion are not good. A person should not believe in an ism, he should believe in himself. I quote John Lennon, “I don’t believe in Beatles, I just believ in me.” Not bad, but then again he was the walrus.
-Ferris Bueller
Is that Adrian from The Young Ones?
What an excellent article!
All true. Also-Fascism as practiced in Europe (especially after WWI) had a definitely anti Semitic spin. That version was everywhere in Europe and most dramatically in Germany. If they can't remember (or if they never knew) Liberals ought to know that much at least. Trump has worked hard, albeit completely alone, to establish peace, a stable economy, employment for all who want it, opportunities for all Americans across the board....In fact, global peace, economic stability and wholesale advancement for US minorities have been HANDED to the US by President Trump (almost totatlly gratis) and as thanks, Liberals spit in his face. No Fascist EVER worked so hard and achieved so much for ALL citizens to improve life, opportunities and security for all. All this was done at the expense to no one in the country. Absolutely NO ONE suffered to secure these benefits for fellow citizens at the expense of his/her neighbor. No Fascist tyrant was could have ever made that claim. Liberals are a perfect example of the way the US educational 'system' has failed
Are there any examples of libertarianism defeating a communist takeover of a country from within? I mean outside of fictional novels.
It usually takes a Franco or a Pinochet to reverse the commies. Reducing everything to an economic question plays right into their hands. Fascism is nearly always a “reactionary” movement that rises up as organized resistance to communism. Of course, the Current Year Left isn’t really even Marxist anymore in the traditional sense. Marx would have deplored all of the sexual perversion they push these days as bourgeoisie decadence, though he would have lacked any moral basis from which to do so.
Calling Leftists the “real fascists” doesn’t even phase them. At that point the serious ideologues among them know that you are distracted with word games. Meanwhile, now homosexuals can adopt children/victims!! Hooray!!
So, is Trump a fascist? Who cares? He’s nationalistic, relative to the Current Year. He certainly wanted to wield power to further his goals: that makes him “authoritarian” to the critics from several corners. He was less libertarian than the mainstream of the GOP on economics, though certainly not a fan of a “planned economy.” Meanwhile, on social issues ...
It’s good to know the real meaning of the word, but the way it is used now, it means whoever doesn’t agree with an ignorant boneheaded leftist punk.
That works especially well...once you have basically created a monopoly on media/academia...which they have.
With that, why cannot conservatives create their OWN large social media/other platforms?
Why must we rely on theirs?
Is it a lack of(techie)intelligence? initiative? financing? other?
How can you win an information war with weapons sold to you by your enemy...then be shocked when those weapons don't work?
Bottom-line:
1. If you're looking for someone else to win your battles, you're going to lose.
2. If you're looking for "fairness" in today's world, you've already lost.
.
The state doesnt control the media: The media controls the state because the media controls reality
Big Tech, Big Finance, and Big Business are the doms here. Democrats think they are in control, but without media, they are helpless. They are the submissives in this perverted partnership....some havent figured that out yet
After all, look whose technology manipulation made this (s) election work and now is trying to criminalize any questioning of it, build a “ new reality’ that Biden won and anyone questioning it should be purged. And that Trump by refusing to surrender is guilty of “inciting insurrection” and must be punished and druven out of holding public office.
From “ 1984’ by Orwell with comment by Mark Steyn, where Winston Smith ......reflects on an aspect of his job - which is to rewrite the past to eliminate aspects that are inconvenient to the Party)
If the Party could thrust its hand into the past and say of this or that event, IT NEVER HAPPENED--that, surely, was more terrifying than mere torture and death?
The Party said that Oceania had never been in alliance with Eurasia. He, Winston Smith, knew that Oceania had been in alliance with Eurasia as short a time as four years ago. But where did that knowledge exist? Only in his own consciousness, which in any case must soon be annihilated. And if all others accepted the lie which the Party imposed--if all records told the same tale--then the lie passed into history and became truth.
'Who controls the past,' ran the Party slogan, 'controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.' And yet the past, though of its nature alterable, never had been altered. Whatever was true now was true from everlasting to everlasting. It was quite simple. All that was needed was an unending series of victories over your own memory. 'Reality control', they called it
https://www.steynonline.com/10937/reality-control
That is Rik. What a great show. The fifth roommate thing really freaked me out.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.