BoiseBYU wrote: ↑Thu Sep 07, 2017 8:46 am
Again it comes down to the way you want to define the term.
I laughed out loud (literally) when I read this. The entire original post was about how the definition has been changed. We're on the same page, but evidently not in the same book.
The definition I used is common and links economic control and authoritarianism WITH an extreme form of nationalism. You apparently do not. It is not surprising then that we will not agree on what or who is a fascist. Your definition apparently sweeps in the Clean Air Act for example as fascist, while mine would not.
The entire point of the OP is that the left has changed the definition of fascism over the course of the last 30 years to pin Mussolini and Hitler onto the right, when in fact they were leftist leaders implementing leftist ideologies.
If you insist on using the altered definition to argue otherwise, what's the point? No one is arguing how the term is used today by most--that's kind of part and parcel of my argument. I'm simply arguing that this is an intentional bastardization of the term by the political left that incubated these regimes.
In 1944, you know, when fascism was an actual thing, they identified six traits of fascism:
1. Anti-capitalist, but with capitalist features;
2. Direct economic planning, reconciled with partial economic autonomy through corporatism;
3/4. Economic demand management through budget deficits;
5. Militarism and imperialism; and
6. Suspension of rule of law.
It's a definition that applied rather well to all the fascist governments of the time -- Portugal, Spain, Norway, and others in addition to Italy. Portugal and Spain were under fascist systems until the mid-70s, but were never really marked with the authoritarian nationalism that was not part of the original definition.
But since that time, the definition has moved from that initial reading of the commonalities of the fascist economies of Europe to a definition hallmarked with references to nationalism, which was never an element of fascism prior to the 60s. To further the point, this year, Google actually re-wrote the definition of fascism and inserted the words "right-wing" into both the primary and secondary definitions. You can pull old dictionaries at your local library and compare the definitions side-by-side and then ask yourself -- why is the definition of something that has been extinct for 40 years still evolving?
So yeah, you can throw around current understandings and definitions all you want, but you're not really participating in this conversation.
(and P.S. -- as someone who comes head-to-head with the CAA and the EPA's implementation of it on a daily basis, I stand by my assessment 1000% -- it's just as fascist and economically controlling as Obamacare is.)