[njndirish]

Are you a fascist?

This article brings up an intriguing question, is fascism a phenomenon of the left or of the right?

[Comrade Mao]

Quote

Fascism, like its cousin communism, is a form of totalitarianism

Article fails automatically with this. I lol'd

[Lamuella]

hahaha, this entire article is a verbal backslap to that discredited idiot Jonah Goldberg. For reference, this is the guy who said he had no problem with book-banning, gave Katrina residents the advice to "grow gills and learn to communicate with serpents" and "repopulate the earth with a race of gilled-supermen", and is in favor of anti-sodomy laws.

[Saniel]

Lamuella, on Feb 12 2008, 09:41 AM, said:

hahaha, this entire article is a verbal backslap to that discredited idiot Jonah Goldberg. For reference, this is the guy who said he had no problem with book-banning, gave Katrina residents the advice to "grow gills and learn to communicate with serpents" and "repopulate the earth with a race of gilled-supermen", and is in favor of anti-sodomy laws.

So he was a Robert E. Howard fan?

But yes, some people consider the left to be fascist. No one that knows what they are talking about, but that does not tend to stop that sort anyway.

[Kenadian_2006]

Mao Zedong, on Feb 12 2008, 10:39 AM, said:

Article fails automatically with this. I lol'd

Well, in his defense, fascism and Stalinism were quite similar.

[Alan Shore]

Having been a Bill Maher viewer for years, while the guy is more than a little nutty on matters of health and science (having seemingly rejected germ theory of medicine if last Friday's show is any indicator), I can still call the author of that piece a liar when he claims Bill Maher is one of those who claims Bush is Hitler. As for the rest, he is clearly ignorant of communism and repeating over and over that liberalism is fascism doesn't make it so. Unless this was a chuckle piece and my sarcasm detector is fritzing, I have no idea why someone would link to it in the Boiler Room.

[Flame Darkfire]

Well since the left is generally in favor of the government having more to do with your daily lives, yes, it is fascist in a sense.

[Ned the Great]

Fascism is far Right. That article was probobally written to try to convince people to vote Republican.

[Flame Darkfire]

Wow, he's right. Still, Far-Left is associated with Communism, so the question is: which of the two extremes do you want?

[HappyHappyLand]

Flame Darkfire, on Feb 12 2008, 06:19 PM, said:

Wow, he's right. Still, Far-Left is associated with Communism, so the question is: which of the two extremes do you want?

Neither.

[Flamingmonkey923]

Flame Darkfire, on Feb 12 2008, 06:19 PM, said:

Wow, he's right. Still, Far-Left is associated with Communism, so the question is: which of the two extremes do you want?

Communism since, contrary to popular belief, Communism does not involve oppressing people. Stalinism does, but we're not talking about that, now are we? Fascism is when you take away civil rights - that would be neither left-wing nor right-wing but it pertains to being socially liberal or socially conservative. In the US, people associate left with socially progressive, and right with socially conservative, but they've really nothing to do with it.

[Ned the Great]

Flame Darkfire, on Feb 12 2008, 06:19 PM, said:

Wow, he's right. Still, Far-Left is associated with Communism, so the question is: which of the two extremes do you want?

Communism definatly. Flaming Monkey is right.

[Robert Davidson]

Ned the Great, on Feb 12 2008, 01:15 PM, said:

Fascism is far Right. That article was probobally written to try to convince people to vote Republican.

wow, very stereotypical here. look in my sig. i've defined Fascism for you. maybe you'll do further research on Fascism and realize that all conservatives or the far right are not fascists. that is just a label that the far left uses to discredit the far right and vice versa.

This post has been edited by Robert Davidson: 12 February 2008 - 02:00 PM

[Gustave5436]

Robert Davidson, on Feb 12 2008, 12:05 PM, said:

wow, very stereotypical here. look in my sig. i've defined Fascism for you. maybe you'll do further research on Fascism and realize that all conservatives or the far right are not fascists. that is just a label that the far left uses to discredit the far right and vice versa.

The far right is fascist. The part of the right that is not fascist is the moderate right; the Democrats, most Republicans, and such.

This post has been edited by Gustave5436: 12 February 2008 - 02:01 PM

[Lamuella]

"A system of government marked by centralization of authority under a dictator, stringent socioeconomic controls, suppression of the opposition through terror and censorship, and typically a policy of belligerent nationalism and racism. Does that sound like any conservative principles to you?"

Having lived in the UK for the entirety of Margaret Thatcher's time in government:

Yes. This sounds exactly like conservative principles to me, or at least exactly like the way that the conservative party governed.

[Gene L]

Neo-conservatism is pretty fascist. If you take the old-school conservatism to be "as little government as possible," i.e., Libertarianism, then sure.

The article seems to muddle the difference between totalitarianism and fascism.

[Flamingmonkey923]

Robert Davidson, on Feb 12 2008, 08:05 PM, said:

wow, very stereotypical here. look in my sig. i've defined Fascism for you. maybe you'll do further research on Fascism and realize that all conservatives or the far right are not fascists. that is just a label that the far left uses to discredit the far right and vice versa.

So let's look at your own definition of fascism

"A system of government marked by centralization of authority under a dictator, stringent socioeconomic controls, suppression of the opposition through terror and censorship, and typically a policy of belligerent nationalism and racism (American Heritage Dictionary). Does that sound like any conservative principles to you? not to me it doesn't. Notice it doesn't say anything about being far right or far left. The far left has this idea ingrained in their heads that ALL conservatives are fascists. i say, do some actual research on the history of Fascism.

1. Centralization of authority under a dictator - well George W. Bush is a pretty good example of this. He invaded Iraq without bothering to ask congress, claiming it was his authority as Commander and Chief (although ONLY congress has the power to declare war). He is now claiming that he only needs to answer to the Iraqi parliament if he wants to lock the United States into a permanent military base deal in Iraq, and there are plenty of other authoritative, dictator-esque Bush moments.

2. Stingent socioeconomic controls - This one's not even a question. Denying gays the right to marry, keeping the price of healthcare high, and creating an education system that is designed to keep the poor stupid and the rich educated. Completely a Bush policy.

3. Suppression of opposition through terror and censorship - Well Bush doesn't terrorize or threaten his political opponents, but he sure as hell terrorized the rest of the nation by scaring them into a paranoia about terrorism. 'If you don't vote for me, the terrorists are gonna get you!' That's terrorism right there.

4. A belligerent policy of nationalism and racism - And the icing on the cake. If there's been a more nationalistic president than George W. Bush in the past 30 years, let me know. As for racist, just ask a Middle-Eastern person how long it takes him to get through airport security these days.


So yeah, fascism is a spawn of extremist conservative policies. Communism is a spawn of extreme leftist policies. Stalinism, which is NOT Communism, is another conservative policy to the extreme.

[Saniel]

Robert Davidson, on Feb 12 2008, 02:05 PM, said:

wow, very stereotypical here. look in my sig. i've defined Fascism for you. maybe you'll do further research on Fascism and realize that all conservatives or the far right are not fascists. that is just a label that the far left uses to discredit the far right and vice versa.

I try to look at your signature, but it is so hard to get past the idle threat as it makes me laugh too much.

Yeah, "fascism" was just a label the "left" made up to discredit Mussolini. It was not like the fascists called themselves fascists or anything.

[Lamuella]

hmm... does "any attempt at converting me to the church of liberalism will only result in your demise" count as a death threat?

[Flamingmonkey923]

I still find the whole "Church of Liberalism" phrase hilariously ironic.