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East Germany was not a fascist state, it was an explicitly anti-fascist state. Horribly authoritarian, with wanton disregard for human rights, yes, but not "fa
by School-Cotton 1y ago
East Germany was not a fascist state, it was an explicitly anti-fascist state.
Horribly authoritarian, with wanton disregard for human rights, yes, but not "fascist".
- Alupis 1y agoIt's yet more evidence almost 0% of the population actually understands what "fascism" really is...
- School-Cotton 1y agoRight. Fascism and Soviet Bloc-style communism are both "bad" in the sense that they have tended to produce authoritarian dictatorships that massively increase human misery. But other than that, they are not at all the same ideology.
- Alupis 1y agoThe problem is with people labeling anything they dislike as "fascist". Surely we can admit it dilutes the actual meaning of the word by using it to refer to things that are, in-fact, not fascist?
- tartoran 1y agoYeah, they were a democracy:) German Democratic Republic (GDR). Same with NK: Democratic People's Republic of Korea
- School-Cotton 1y agoThey were not a democracy despite what they had in the name. They were also not fascist, which has nothing to do with what was in their name. They were actually not fascist, in the sense that they didn't follow the ideology called "fascism". Fascism is a specific ideology invented in Italy in the early 20th century; it does not just mean any authoritarian dictatorship.
- tartoran 1y agoYes, they were not fascist as an ideology. But I was pointing out the country was a democracy in name only which means whatever one calls themselves or claims to be are not necesarily rooted in reality.
- School-Cotton 1y agoYou're correct about that, which is why my claim that they were not fascist has nothing to do with what was in their name or whether or not they claimed to be anything. It is based on the fact that in actual reality they did not follow the ideology of fascism.
- platevoltage 1y agoYou think you're being clever here. East Germany was essentially the USSR's particular brand of Authoritarianism. No one is making the claim that they were a democracy. Believe it or not, there is a difference between Fascism and Authoritarian Communism.
- smsm42 1y agoStrictly speaking, yes. It was a totalitarian communist state, though people often use "fascist" to mean any totalitarian state, even if fascism is only one of many ways a totalitarian state can be implemented.
- School-Cotton 1y ago> It was a totalitarian communist state, though people often use "fascist" to mean any totalitarian state Indeed, but those people are wrong. It would be like calling Jerry Falwell an Islamist extremist. Maybe they are bad for vaguely similar reasons but it is still inaccurate.
- lupusreal 1y agoQuibbling about the flavors about authoritarianism is like quibbling about the flavors of shit. "No no, this is pig shit not chicken shit, it's completely different in a way that is totally irrelevant to the person being forced to eat it."
- School-Cotton 1y agoNo, words mean things and if you use them randomly people will not take you seriously. If you start telling me about how Syria has a serious problem with fundamentalist Baptists I am just going to assume you have no idea what you're talking about.
- lupusreal 1y agoThe meaning of words shifts over time. Fascism and authoritarianism are colloquially conflated so often that if you make a stink about somebody calling the GDR fascist, people are going to assume you are either an apologist for the communist flavor of authoritarianism, or an autistic pedant. Really, you're just pissing into the wind.
- School-Cotton 1y ago
- dredmorbius 1y agoHorseshoe politics. Orwell was on to that notion way back when.