T. A. Gardner
Thread Killer
Who told you that?
No, Fascism is not considered a leftist ideology. Here's why:
- Economic Policy: Fascism supports a corporatist economy where the state and private businesses work in tandem, but private property and economic hierarchies are maintained. This is in stark contrast to leftist ideologies like socialism or communism, which advocate for collective or state ownership of the means of production and the abolition of class distinctions.
Statist capitalism is Leftist. China practices this today. The state controls what gets produced and even who produces it but leaves the means in private hands so long as they obey the government.
- Political Orientation: Fascism is authoritarian, ultranationalist, and often militaristic. Leftist ideologies typically emphasize egalitarianism, internationalism, and workers' rights, which are fundamentally at odds with fascist principles. Fascism seeks to preserve or restore a hierarchical social order centered around the nation or race, rather than promoting equality.
Almost all Leftist governments are authoritarian. A strong central government is part and parcel of Leftist governments. Ultranationalist and militaristic can be any particular government.
Leftist ideologies emphasize equality of outcomes, and fascist governments do this in spades. Communism is internationalist, fascism is nationalist. Two sides of the same coin.
Fascism embraces worker's rights too, although in practice like Communism that amounts to little more than full control over the workforce.
Equality on the Left is based on outcomes, not opportunity. Fascism does exactly that, just like Socialism or Communism. All three can be, and often are, racist in practice. Witness DEI in the US. That's a thoroughly Leftist and racist thing, just like CRT, or disparate impact theory.
- Social Structure: Fascism tends to uphold traditional social hierarchies, promoting nationalism, racial purity, and often conservative moral values. Leftist ideologies, on the other hand, strive for social justice, reducing inequalities, and often challenge traditional social norms regarding gender, race, and class.
The Nazis alone promoted racial purity. Fascists in Spain and Italy didn't, among others. Socialist and Communist countries do likewise. For example, Mexico under PRI and the revolution they had at the beginning of the 20th century banned foreign nationals from owning property in the country, expropriated all foreign owned businesses, and became ultranationalist. Mexico was Socialist bordering on Communist, as one example.
- Opposition to Communism/Socialism: Historically, fascism emerged partly as a direct opposition to socialism and communism. Fascist regimes in Italy (Mussolini) and Germany (Hitler) explicitly fought against communist and socialist movements, seeing them as existential threats to their nationalistic and authoritarian projects.
The Soviet Union and fascist states like Italy and Germany were good buddies until the dictators running them decided to stab each other in the back for more power...
- Historical Context: The term "fascism" was coined by Mussolini, who initially was a socialist but moved towards a very different political philosophy. His fascism was a response to the perceived weaknesses of socialism and democracy, blending conservative, nationalist, and corporatist elements.
Fascism was socialist in nature, it just added other elements Mussolini liked.
- Philosophical Foundations: Fascist thinkers like Giovanni Gentile and Mussolini himself emphasized the state as an end in itself, with the individual's purpose being to serve the state or the nation, rather than the individual or collective liberation emphasized by leftist thought.
Communist states see the state as an end in itself with the subsumption of the people in its service.
Fascism is on the Left and Grok is wrong.In summary, while fascism might adopt some leftist rhetoric for populist appeal (e.g., Mussolini's early socialist leanings or the Nazis' initial promises to workers), its core ideologies, practices, and historical implementations are fundamentally opposed to the principles of leftism. Instead, fascism is generally placed on the far right of the political spectrum, although political spectrums can be overly simplistic and not capture the nuances of ideologies.
@Grok