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Actually the full quote is: > fascists on both the far-left and far-right of the political debate According to Merriam-Webster, fascism is:[0] > a political

Actually the full quote is: > fascists on both the far-left and far-right of the political debate According to Merriam-Webster, fascism is:[0] > a political philosophy, movement, or regime (such as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition It's true that some on both the "left" and "right" (which is an absurdly simplistic one-dimensional distinction) are over-the-top extremist and forcibly suppress their opposition. However, that's only one aspect of the definition of "fascist". Even so, Merriam-Webster doesn't restrict fascism to the right wing, so I defer to it. But Wikipedia does.[1] Last, I note that the Soviet Union was arguably fascist. While it didn't exalt any nation above the individual, it did exalt the Party, and more generally the state. And its government was certainly autocratic and dictatorial. 0) https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fascism https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fascism 1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascism

pbhjpbhj 6y ago
>the Soviet Union was arguably fascist // You appear to be starting from an assumption that everything USSR did, politically, was left-wing; and thus concluding that fascism can be left wing. A dictator is diametrical opposed to left-wing ideology. What you're doing is like saying uxoricide (murdering your wife) is part of FOSS, because a proponent of FOSS did it.
- mirimir 6y ago
  > You appear to be starting from an assumption that everything USSR did, politically, was left-wing; and thus concluding that fascism can be left wing. No, I did not. Basically I'm arguing that the USSR pretended to be "left-wing" but were actually "right-wing". So perhaps they were fascist, but that doesn't imply that truly left-wing governments and movements are fascist.
  - wolco 6y ago
    The USSR is what happens when you take left wing to the extreme. Go too far replacing free speech with right speech and you get censorship. Censorship requires a heavy police state to enforce. It's the natural progression.
chinesempire 6y ago
> the Soviet Union was arguably fascist No, it wasn't. Fascism is not simply "what you don't like" If USSR was arguably fascist, so are the USA then. Do you think bombing other countries for their oil or to seize control of countries close to the enemy borders (like in Vietnam) looks more democratic or fascist? USSR has been at war in Afghanistan for 9 years, mainly because USA financed the resistance, creating and arming those mujahideen that years later became "terrorists" simply because they weren't needed anymore... USA has been at war in Afghanistan for 19 years now (and counting) and the evidence to go to war were falsified. Fascism is a specific thing, if we broaden the meaning of that word, anything can be called fascist.
- sukilot 6y ago
  We are long past the point of "fascism" meaning anything but "government that hurts people"
  - chinesempire 6y ago
    As Italian, with a grandfather imprisoned by the fascists and the other sent by the fascist regime to die in Russia, I can tell you what fascism is and what is not and I can tell you we never thought it meant "government that hurts people" like nazism is not just "people who wear swastikas", if you use it that way, you are wrong. My grandmother died few moths ago, she was from 1922 and escaped from the fascists on one side and the Marocchinate (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marocchinate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marocchinate) on the other side, while my grandfather was in jail even if he was ill with tuberculosis, my father house was occupied by fascists and he had to hide from the day he was born until he was five, and when the war ended his father never came back. I think it's not long past when people that suffered from it are still alive, don't you think? You're oversimplifying something that's been very hurtful for my country, the history of my continent and for my family. But let me make a simple example for you: fascism was about separating people in classes, USSR was about eliminating classes. Fascism was about colonialism and they did unspeakable things in North Africa, justifying their actions with he excuse that "black people are not humans, they are like animals" USSR never did something similar, because of people's race. Fascism was about individualism, USSR was about colletivism. Etc. etc. etc. Just to exemplify for you what fascism is and what is not: US is more fascist than USSR could ever have been. And not because I like USSR, but because words have meanings and it's not for you to decide what fascism means when we are the ones who faced it, in our houses, fought it, defeated it, and rebuilt from the ruins and the trail of dead fascism left. BL matters, Italian lives matters too.

pbhjpbhj 6y ago

>the Soviet Union was arguably fascist // You appear to be starting from an assumption that everything USSR did, politically, was left-wing; and thus concluding that fascism can be left wing. A dictator is diametrical opposed to left-wing ideology. What you're doing is like saying uxoricide (murdering your wife) is part of FOSS, because a proponent of FOSS did it.

mirimir 6y ago
> You appear to be starting from an assumption that everything USSR did, politically, was left-wing; and thus concluding that fascism can be left wing. No, I did not. Basically I'm arguing that the USSR pretended to be "left-wing" but were actually "right-wing". So perhaps they were fascist, but that doesn't imply that truly left-wing governments and movements are fascist.
- wolco 6y ago
  The USSR is what happens when you take left wing to the extreme. Go too far replacing free speech with right speech and you get censorship. Censorship requires a heavy police state to enforce. It's the natural progression.

chinesempire 6y ago

> the Soviet Union was arguably fascist No, it wasn't. Fascism is not simply "what you don't like" If USSR was arguably fascist, so are the USA then. Do you think bombing other countries for their oil or to seize control of countries close to the enemy borders (like in Vietnam) looks more democratic or fascist? USSR has been at war in Afghanistan for 9 years, mainly because USA financed the resistance, creating and arming those mujahideen that years later became "terrorists" simply because they weren't needed anymore... USA has been at war in Afghanistan for 19 years now (and counting) and the evidence to go to war were falsified. Fascism is a specific thing, if we broaden the meaning of that word, anything can be called fascist.

sukilot 6y ago
We are long past the point of "fascism" meaning anything but "government that hurts people"
- chinesempire 6y ago
  As Italian, with a grandfather imprisoned by the fascists and the other sent by the fascist regime to die in Russia, I can tell you what fascism is and what is not and I can tell you we never thought it meant "government that hurts people" like nazism is not just "people who wear swastikas", if you use it that way, you are wrong. My grandmother died few moths ago, she was from 1922 and escaped from the fascists on one side and the Marocchinate (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marocchinate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marocchinate) on the other side, while my grandfather was in jail even if he was ill with tuberculosis, my father house was occupied by fascists and he had to hide from the day he was born until he was five, and when the war ended his father never came back. I think it's not long past when people that suffered from it are still alive, don't you think? You're oversimplifying something that's been very hurtful for my country, the history of my continent and for my family. But let me make a simple example for you: fascism was about separating people in classes, USSR was about eliminating classes. Fascism was about colonialism and they did unspeakable things in North Africa, justifying their actions with he excuse that "black people are not humans, they are like animals" USSR never did something similar, because of people's race. Fascism was about individualism, USSR was about colletivism. Etc. etc. etc. Just to exemplify for you what fascism is and what is not: US is more fascist than USSR could ever have been. And not because I like USSR, but because words have meanings and it's not for you to decide what fascism means when we are the ones who faced it, in our houses, fought it, defeated it, and rebuilt from the ruins and the trail of dead fascism left. BL matters, Italian lives matters too.