[quote]entheogens wrote:
DoubleDuce wrote:
It makes the argument that Fascism originated from communism and the politics of the left. Things like that Mussolini and Hitler were both originally communists and Mussolini claimed he was one till his death.
Mussolini was a socialist at one time. He was never a communist and Hitler certainly was not. Anything remotely Leftist was wiped out under their regimes. Check out what Hitler did to trade unions and left-oriented academics. Same goes for Mussolini.
In any case, we can find cases new and old of people switching from one tendancy to another. For example, Christopher Hitchens used to be a Trotskyist and now is a neocon. The same can be said about David Horowitz. Yet, we would not conclude that Marxism gave rise to Neoconservatism.
Obviously, I would need to read the book to check what other supporting facts are given but, honestly, those you provide sound spurious to me.
There was also a stark similarity between what was happening in Germany, Italy and here in the US. It goes so far as to point out that the US could be considered the first fascist state under Woodrow Wilson and later escalated by FDR. With the Blue Eagle program, the first department of propaganda, est.
That is a peculiar argument. I know that the free marketers
on here don’t like FDR, but to claim that he was a fascist seems more than far-fetched.
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Yes, both Hitler and Mussolini had deep roots in socialism (though Hitler didn’t claim to belong to any specific economic philosophy).
Both however used all inclusive government ownership and regulation combined with a socialist economy while trying to carryout the philosophies of Marx in their country.
Marx’s philosophy gave birth to both fascism and communism.
Ass for unions:
“Fascism recognizes the real needs which gave rise to socialism and trade-unionism, giving them due weight in the guild or corporative system in which divergent interests are coordinated and harmonized in the unity of the State.” --BM
Mussolini claimed not to destroy them, but relocate their power to the state.
This really should be considered an ultimate goal of communism as well as total collective ownership would go beyond just the workers in a particular sector.
Edit: I forgot to mention one of the Early fascist slogans, “First brown, then red”. Witch furthers the point that they hated each other because they were fighting over the same segment of the population.