(09-06-2021, 12:44 PM)John J. Xenakis Wrote: ** 06-Sep-2021 World View: Communistm, Socialism and Fascism
(09-06-2021, 03:51 AM)pbrower2a Wrote: > The right-wing ultra-capitalist regimes of Pinochet's Chile,
> Franco's Spain, and the Greek colonels' regime were all
> plutocratic. Does the theocratic regime in Iran qualify as
> "socialist"? Hitler's "national" socialism turned industrial
> workers into serfs to the benefit of German tycoons. Hitler wanted
> the antithesis of Soviet-style "international" socialism as in the
> Soviet Union at the time. Hitler's "socialism" had no semblance of
> social justice. The Apartheid regime of South Africa was socialism
> for the white minority but dog-eat dog exploitation for everybody
> else (OK, the regime defined Chinese, Koreans, and Japanese as
> "white" if they were investors or administrators).
> To be sure Stalinism has much in common with fascism, but did the
> Bolsheviks more imitate fascists than the fascists imitated the
> Bolsheviks?
None of these words makes any sense at all. When I was in high
school, after the Army-McCarthy hearings, I discovered that the "z" in
Nazi stood for Socialism, and wondered if Naziism is the same as
Socialism. No, I was told. Naziism was not Socialism. It was
"National Socialism," which was a different thing. And liberal
teachers bent themselves into pretzels explaining the difference
between Socialism and National Socialism.
Is Fascism the same as Naziism? I used to think that the "s" in
Fascism also stood for Socialism, but apparently not, since the word
has an entirely different derivation. Nonetheless, after WW II,
Fascism and Naziism are thought to be similar, or at most that Fascism
is a watered down form of Naziism that keeps the trains running on
time.
In order of formation of right-wing, anti-human, anti-socialist ideologies:
the second Ku Klux Klan, USA... 1915. Even down to the 45-degree straight-arm salute. (Mussolini and Hitler would adopt a similar salute, except with the right arm instead of the left arm. Clearly a militia.
Mussolini's Fascisti . Mussolini improvised the ideology and agenda to fit his lust for power. Mussolini is a renegade socialist who found that he could make more money breaking strikes and cracking the heads of militant labor unionists instead of supporting workers. He pretended that patriotism and an industry-based loyalty (in other words, a coal miner had more in common with a coal-mining magnate than with a worker in an auto plant) as the basis of political reality, denying the class struggle that underpins Marxism.
Hitler's Nazis. There is no evidence that Hitler was ever on the Left, although he managed to merge a pair of cranky right-wing organizations (the German Workers' Party and Julius Streicher's German Socialist Party, both putting nationalism above any call for proletarian solidarity) and form the NSDAP. Yes, it was undeniably nationalist and German by default (it could not fit any other national description), although it did exclude plenty of people who thought they were Germans.. you know, the Jews. What's weird to me is that as a German-American I feel that German Jews would have been my moral and cultural brethren.
Oddly, Hitler's Nazis derived much or independently adopted much that was so (the violence, the militia, the night-time rallies with plenty of fire, the gaudy symbolism, the newspeak, the Jew-hating, and the racism) of the KKK, except to shun the anti-Catholic rhetoric of the Klan. Today after a century there is little difference between neo-Nazis and the KKK, largely because the more recent KKK groups have abandoned the anti-Catholic rhetoric.
Quote:Then there's the issue of Communism in China. Mao Zedong's Great Leap
Forward and Cultural Revolution killed tens of millions of innocent
Chinese needlessly, and destroyed and devastated China's economy for
decades, so much so that China still hasn't recovered. Mao Zedong
also completely destroyed the value of Communism, Socialism and
Marxism. So as soon as Mao died, Deng Xiaoping came to power and
implemented the "Opening up and reform" policies, which was a
rejection of Communism, Socialism and Marxism, in support of free
markets.
China was on the brink of starvation in the 1960's and had experienced famines. But it has rejected Mao except on currencies and in political iconography. Mao's image remains on the national currency. (The much-more admirable Sun Yat-Sen would be more appropriate, but that is a different story). The Chinese Communist Party has abandoned socialism without abandoning the dictatorial system.
Half a loaf is better than none. Democracy does not thrive in places of extreme economic insecurity. This said, if you are going to look for the world median in economic development, then you will find it in China. The famines are over.
Quote:In the 1980s, another hard-core Communist, Le Duan, died. Truong
Chinh, a political enemy of Le Duan, came to power, and implemented
the Doi Moi market reforms which, once again were a rejection of
Communism, Socialism and Marxism, in support of free markets. This
was highly successful, and turned Vietnam from an economic basket case
to an economic powerhouse.
So China and Vietnam still call themselves "Communist," but they are
no longer communist. I would call them "Fascist."
With that rhetoric you sound almost like a Trotskyite who denounces the "deformed workers' state".
Quote:However, China seems to be returning to the destructive policies of
Mao Zedong, and reimplementing policies to return to the worst forms
of Communism. One of these policies, announced last week, was to
forbid "girlie men" from the entertainment industry. Hahahaha
Exaggerated masculinity, including the rejection of anything "sissy" and of course homosexuality, is a common characteristic of fascist ideology. Mao at least said that women hold up half the sky, holding that his socialist ideology would need to treat women as equals.
It may be ironic, but many women love "girlie men". I confess to being a "male lesbian" -- exaggerated masculinity -- yuck!
Quote:I can hardly wait to start to see articles from the NY Times saying
that "girlie men" will have to be canceled in America, in sympathy
with the Chinese Communist Party.
That would be reactionary, contrary to every liberal virtue that the current "Deep State" seems to hold dear. The entertainment media would never go along unless the Government could do extensive censorship.
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated Communist but instead the people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists -- Hannah Arendt.
