Your definition of "fascism."

There doesn't seem to be any consensus on what "fascism" means. What do you believe it means?

 

To me, fascism consists of the following (off the top of my head):

• Authoritarian rule
• Anti-democracy
• Widespread corruption in the government
• Corporatism
• Rampant racism
• Rampant cronyism
• Belligerent nationalism
• Use of lies and propaganda

 

Always thought it was akin to face sitting.

 

I've always looked at it like a dictatorship.

 

If you have a dictatorship with a free market economy, that's fascism. A dictatorship with socialism is Communism

 

I think this sums it up quite well

 

Fascism is purely Corporatism ... unless you happen to support corporatism - a govt/private enterprise collusion that demands by law individual participation .

 

In defining Fascism, I think we need to go to the source, namely Mussolini and Hitler. Populism+Nativism+Nationalism+Scapegoating+Fuhrer Principle+Statism/Authoritarian Rule+State capitalism/Corporatism=Fascism.

 

Probably you think a moral fascist is the superior fascist . We know you are moral .

 

ie the current administration

 

OP forgot military state

 

To me, Fascism is basically a one party rule that is free from opposition through a monopolizing force.

See the original symbol:



Fascists believe unity makes strength. The bundle of rods surrounding the handle of the ax symbolize unity. One rod is easily broken, many rods are tough to break. Making the majority stronger and mightier than the opposition.

 

Ask Mussolini how hard those rods were to break

 

Mussolini ended up hanging upside down from a metal girder by his own people. I think your definition falls short, because it blurs the lines between fascism and garden variety authoritarianism which has been around since the beginning of civilization, or one-party rule, which is the norm in Third World countries. It also blurs the lines between fascist totalitarianism (e,g., Hitler, Mussolini) and communist totalitarianism (e.g., Stalinism; Maoism)

 

Socialism in theory seems to be a good thing. Whenever I think of communism, nothing good comes to mind. Hmm.

 

"Free market" is a bit strong to describe the fascist economic system, but it's true capitalists could retain their factories. My problem is with the term "dictatorship", because it doesn't distinguish between authoritarian and totalitarian patterns. Both Fascism and Communism were totalitarian--going beyond mere authoritarian dictatorship in trying to penetrate every aspect of life and actively involve the citizenry in its agendas. "The state involves itself in all facets of society, including the daily life of its citizens. A totalitarian government seeks to control not only all economic and political matters but the attitudes, values, and beliefs of its population, erasing the distinction between state and society. The citizen's duty to the state becomes the primary concern of the community, and the goal of the state is the replacement of existing society with a perfect society".totalitarianism

Then, too, the ideologies or secular quasi-religious cults serving to legitimate the systems of Fascism and Communism were different. Fascism was based on extreme nationalism (and racism in the case of the Nazis) and glorification of the Fuehrer principle (follow the leader). Communism was based on an ideology Marxism-Leninism, or revolutionary scientific socialism, purporting to be guided by an understanding of the socioeconomic laws of history, internationalist, and dedicated to advancing the interests of the working class (although under Stalin these differences were more rhetorical than real).

 

Youtube

 

Lazy Italians shall be severely and excellently disciplined .

 

A democratic fascism would succeed through consensus , and fail by majority vote .

 

Adding to the confusion, Communists, non-communists, and right-wing propagandists use the terms differently. Strictly speaking, socialism "advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole."
socialism defined - Yahoo Search Results
To a Communist, socialism is the first stage of the revolution, in which the government takes over the means of production, distribution and exchange, while using the "dictatorship of the proletariat" to liquidate the last vestiges of capitalism, after which society will move to communism in which distribution and exchange will be guided by the principle "from each according to his ability, to each according to his need"--and there will be no further need of government. Obviously pie in the sky. Non-communist "social democracies" like the Scandanavian countries favor extensive government regulation of the economy and "welfare state: measures involving heavy taxation of the rich and generous welfare programs. Right wing ideologues tend to regard any non-military government programs (unless they benefit mainly the rich) as "socialism" on the road to godless Communism.