Fascism and Democratic Party policy
By BrianH Posted in Liberals — Comments (7) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
A few days ago Jeff asked a troll who was throwing Fascist bombs around if he actually knew what Fascism was. The troll's response was "The definition of Fascism is the merger of the corporation and the State. " which of course is what the left has been saying Fascism is since Mussolini broke with mainstream Socialism and starting attempting to find practical methods of making socialism work (some more successful than others).
I guess to start I should give a more correct definition of Fascism....
Fascism is a political and economic system in which the needs of the citizenry as a whole and the State as their only agent are paramount. Any person is worth only as much as his actions contribute to the State. If any person fails to meet the needs of the State, the State has the right to take any necessary action to correct the situation ranging from giving the person a gentle reminder to confiscating his property to imprisonment or even taking his life. However, as long as the person was contributing to the needs of the state, he could nominally keep ownership of all his property and even make a profit from it. This last is one of the major differences between traditional Socialism in which ownership of everything reverts to the citizenry and Fascism.
So, where do corporations fit in? Well corporations are defined as a person for legal and ownership purposes. The Fascists allowed corporation to continue to operate normally and independently as long as they conformed to the needs and dictates of the State. The State had the right to dictate the production of goods, pricing thereof, the pay of the workers and control of investment of profits of the corporation. If any corporation failed to comply with these dictates, the State would seize ownership of the firm and redirect operations as it saw fit. Most Italian corporations quickly learned to follow the rules and were able to survive if not thrive under the Fascist system.
The Fascists considered this arrangement with corporations to be an expedient means to an end rather than ideal arrangement. In fact Mussolini suggested that this was a temporary situation until a better arrangement could be found for the State to control the means of production.
So what has all this got to do with the current Democratic policies?
I heard a Democratic congressman being interviewed about oil company profits on CNBC yesterday. I don't remember WHICH congress critter it was and as far as I can tell it doesn't matter. The guy was complaining about excess oil company profits and CEO pay (standard Dem rhetoric). He suggested that the Democrats would pass legislation for windfall profits taxes,. CEO pay caps, and directing that the companies invest their profits into alternative energy production. To the reporter's credit, she was asking so pretty relevant questions. How much income is too much? Who gets to say how much the CEO should make? Why do you think the government should be able to tell corporations how to invest their profits? To which the congress critter gave standard populist answers....
It occurred to me that these policies are EXACTLY the same types of policies that created the "merger of the Corporation and the State" in the Fascist model that the troll was talking about. I suspect said troll wouldn't know it if beat over the head with the Fascist manifesto, but the Democrats are proposing state control of corporations. They are wanting to dictate production, pricing, wages and reinvestment of profits in roughly the same manner as the Fascists did 3/4 of a century ago.
Oh I know, their motives are to "meet the need of the citizenry". But their methods are totalitarian in nature.
have you read Liberal Fascism by Jonah Goldberg? It is one of the best researched, well written books on politics I have ever read. It taught me many things I did not know about progressives and fascists. And I did semester papers on both subjects!
highly recommended.
"Nothing works like freedom, Nothing succeeds like liberty"
Kyle
Amazon.
Socialism doesn't work. It looks nice on paper, but it's been tried and it's failed miserably every time (usually accompanied by widespread death and suffering).
Proud member of the V.R.W.C.
I may need a bit of good Uncle Milton reading to cleanse my mind of the liberal ideology. 8*)
Socialism doesn't work. It looks nice on paper, but it's been tried and it's failed miserably every time (usually accompanied by widespread death and suffering).
Proud member of the V.R.W.C.
That fascism grew out of socialism. Both are attempts at constructing the Leviathan of Mill.
I would quibble that one of the key aspects of Fascism is the control of the discourse. Just as in socialism the state has the right to use force to control the public discourse. Dissenting points of view are not permitted and a unity of thought is the goal of the media.
Hmmm If we were doing analogies here what would that make Obama ?
"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
-Thomas Paine: The American Crisis, No. 4, 1777
Socialism doesn't work. It looks nice on paper, but it's been tried and it's failed miserably every time (usually accompanied by widespread death and suffering).
Proud member of the V.R.W.C.
One thing you have to remember about liberals and Democrats. They call anyone who won't buy into their propaganda scams Fascists.
That remembers me of the time one Obama supporter told me that she believes in Socialism because it helps the poor. She said Capitalism is too evil.