Facism: “I Don’t Think That Word Means What You Think It Means.”

By Daniel Miessler on August 25th, 2008: Tagged as Language | Politics

Many, especially in the blogsphere, are fond of saying, “This country is becoming fascist.” Or, “We’re on a path to fascism.” That sounds cool, and it certainly will get some attention, but I wonder if most using the word “fascism” actually know what it means.

A Little About Facism

First a test. What’s the difference between Facism and Communism? Not an easy answer for probably 95% of Americans, including me until very recently (hence this post).

Here are the main components of Facism:

  • Nationalism (focus on the cohesion and success of the nation)
  • Authoritarianism (emphasis on the authority of the state)
  • Class Collaboration (classes accept their differences and work together)
  • Economic Planning (think Roosevelt’s New Deal)
  • Militarism (maintain a strong military capability and be prepared to use it aggressively to defend or promote national interests)
  • Integralism (similar to class collaboration; essentially saying all parts work for the same goal)
  • Populism (being for the people rather than for a small group of elites)

I’m not an expert on political science so I won’t wade out too deep here, but the short answer (based on my limited research) is that there is relatively little difference between fascism and communism. The primary, most noticeable components are present in both:

  1. Militarism
  2. Nationalism
  3. Authoritarianism

Check out this quote from Hitler and see if it reminds you of anything:

We have endeavored to depart from the external, the superficial, endeavored to forget social origin, class, profession, fortune, education, capital, and everything that separates men, in order to reach that which bind them together. — Adolf Hitler

Sounds pretty communist, right? Pretty much the main difference between it and communism seems to be nationalism, i.e. a main communist concept has been that of just being a worker, and not a worker for any particular place.

Basically, unless I’m missing something, facism is communism with nationalism and controlled capitalism added in. But the main points are the same—you still have a state-run system for the most part, and a focus on the good of a whole.

Much more to explore on this. And if any of you are into poly sci I welcome any input. Political Science has suddenly become very interesting to me.

Operative Questions

When we, the few remaining “aware” citizens of the United States say we are afraid of the government becoming something, what is it specifically that we’re afraid of? Or, to put it another way, what is it that makes America what it is? And how will we know when it’s become something else?

What are the characteristics that we do not want to see in it? What are the names for these things? Do we not want socialism? Do we not want fascism?

Given my newfound knowledge of fascism I’d say there are quite a few people watching (and hosting) FOX News who are actually striving for fascism without knowing it.

Rambling now…must go to bed.

More soon.

Please comment.

  • http://www.stevengharms.com/ Steven G. Harms

    Well the most basic tool for discerning communism from fascism is to realize that fascism is far right. They both happen to be at such extremes that they’re near the point where extremes wrap around onto one another. National socialism is also a bit of a confusing factor here for while they claimed socialism, they were certainly far right, as you note above.

    Communism is the nth degree of socialism and holds at its heart the abrogation of The Church, unsurprisingly it found its authors in Protestant countries.

    It’s not coincidental that fascism took root in an extremely conservative, Catholic country. To go from papa to il papa ( pope ) to il duce ( Mussolini, generically it means leader, or general ). A country that lauds the preservation of the sacrosanctity of “the family” may find itself accommodating the seeds of fascist thought.

    I would not stretch the affiliation of Catholicism and fascism, though. Such a conclusion might be tempting based on Catholic-leaning Austria and Southern Germany being the origins of the National Socialist movement, but methinks that’s going a bridge too far.

    There’s a start :)

  • http://www.stevengharms.com/ Steven G. Harms

    Well the most basic tool for discerning communism from fascism is to realize that fascism is far right. They both happen to be at such extremes that they’re near the point where extremes wrap around onto one another. National socialism is also a bit of a confusing factor here for while they claimed socialism, they were certainly far right, as you note above.

    Communism is the nth degree of socialism and holds at its heart the abrogation of The Church, unsurprisingly it found its authors in Protestant countries.

    It’s not coincidental that fascism took root in an extremely conservative, Catholic country. To go from papa to il papa ( pope ) to il duce ( Mussolini, generically it means leader, or general ). A country that lauds the preservation of the sacrosanctity of “the family” may find itself accommodating the seeds of fascist thought.

    I would not stretch the affiliation of Catholicism and fascism, though. Such a conclusion might be tempting based on Catholic-leaning Austria and Southern Germany being the origins of the National Socialist movement, but methinks that’s going a bridge too far.

    There’s a start :)

  • http://www.stevengharms.com Steven G. Harms

    Well the most basic tool for discerning communism from fascism is to realize that fascism is far right. They both happen to be at such extremes that they’re near the point where extremes wrap around onto one another. National socialism is also a bit of a confusing factor here for while they claimed socialism, they were certainly far right, as you note above.

    Communism is the nth degree of socialism and holds at its heart the abrogation of The Church, unsurprisingly it found its authors in Protestant countries.

    It’s not coincidental that fascism took root in an extremely conservative, Catholic country. To go from papa to il papa ( pope ) to il duce ( Mussolini, generically it means leader, or general ). A country that lauds the preservation of the sacrosanctity of “the family” may find itself accommodating the seeds of fascist thought.

    I would not stretch the affiliation of Catholicism and fascism, though. Such a conclusion might be tempting based on Catholic-leaning Austria and Southern Germany being the origins of the National Socialist movement, but methinks that’s going a bridge too far.

    There’s a start :)

  • Derek

    Quick comments:

    • Along with nationalism usually comes intolerance for other “types” of people (ie. racism)
    • Theoretical communism strives for equality among all citizens, therefore a democratic communist society (as proposed by Marx) is possible.
  • http://deleted Derek

    Quick comments:

    • Along with nationalism usually comes intolerance for other “types” of people (ie. racism)
    • Theoretical communism strives for equality among all citizens, therefore a democratic communist society (as proposed by Marx) is possible.
  • http://dmiessler.com/ Daniel Miessler

    Good stuff, thanks.

  • http://dmiessler.com/ Daniel Miessler

    Good stuff, thanks.

  • http://dmiessler.com Daniel Miessler

    Good stuff, thanks.

  • MD

    Communism is also a stateless society (ie, anarchism but done through socialism), whereas fascism tends to be centralized.

  • MD

    Communism is also a stateless society (ie, anarchism but done through socialism), whereas fascism tends to be centralized.

  • MD

    Communism is also a stateless society (ie, anarchism but done through socialism), whereas fascism tends to be centralized.

  • http://maxolasersquad.com/ Maxo

    I think you need to research Hitler a little better and understand his political ideals. He HATED communism. He considered it the cockroach-child of Jews, designed to infest and eventually destroy our world so that the Jews could hold world power. It was through socialism and a strong German state he meant to squash out all Jews and their communistic ideals.

  • http://maxolasersquad.com/ Maxo

    I think you need to research Hitler a little better and understand his political ideals. He HATED communism. He considered it the cockroach-child of Jews, designed to infest and eventually destroy our world so that the Jews could hold world power. It was through socialism and a strong German state he meant to squash out all Jews and their communistic ideals.

  • Chris

    Dave Niewert over at Orcinus has has been writing and covering this topic for a number of years.

    Check out “Rush, Newspeak and Fascism: An Exegesis” (down the page, left hand side) for a ‘tome’ on fascism and the right-wing enablers that are taking us down that path.

  • Chris

    Dave Niewert over at Orcinus has has been writing and covering this topic for a number of years.

    Check out “Rush, Newspeak and Fascism: An Exegesis” (down the page, left hand side) for a ‘tome’ on fascism and the right-wing enablers that are taking us down that path.

  • Chris

    Dave Niewert over at Orcinus has has been writing and covering this topic for a number of years.

    Check out “Rush, Newspeak and Fascism: An Exegesis” (down the page, left hand side) for a ‘tome’ on fascism and the right-wing enablers that are taking us down that path.

  • andrewwang

    There is bad news about George Herbert Walker Bush.

    What if basically all racial-minority people would subscribe to the interpretations that George Herbert Walker Bush committed monstrous, racist, hate crimes while he was the President of the United States?

    It will eventually come out: it is only a matter of time.

    Respectfully Submitted by Andrew Yu-Jen Wang, J.D. Candidate
    B.S., With the Highest Level of Academic Honors at Graduation, 1996
    Messiah College, Grantham, PA
    Lower Merion High School, Ardmore, PA, 1993

    (I can type 90 words per minute, and there are thousands of copies on the Internet indicating the content of this post. And there are at least hundreds of copies in very many countries around the world.)
    _________________
    “If only it were possible to ban invention that bottled up memories so they never got stale and faded.” Off the top of my head—it came from my Lower Merion High School yearbook.

  • andrewwang

    There is bad news about George Herbert Walker Bush.

    What if basically all racial-minority people would subscribe to the interpretations that George Herbert Walker Bush committed monstrous, racist, hate crimes while he was the President of the United States?

    It will eventually come out: it is only a matter of time.

    Respectfully Submitted by Andrew Yu-Jen Wang, J.D. Candidate
    B.S., With the Highest Level of Academic Honors at Graduation, 1996
    Messiah College, Grantham, PA
    Lower Merion High School, Ardmore, PA, 1993

    (I can type 90 words per minute, and there are thousands of copies on the Internet indicating the content of this post. And there are at least hundreds of copies in very many countries around the world.)
    _________________
    “If only it were possible to ban invention that bottled up memories so they never got stale and faded.” Off the top of my head—it came from my Lower Merion High School yearbook.


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