Are Communism, Fascism Alike?

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Are Communism, Fascism Alike? Oct 03, 2010
A quickwitted woman college professor recently described an exchange of repartee with a Red sympathizer among her students.

“You can’t talk about Nazism and Communism as if they were alike,” protested the student.

“Oh, but I can,” replied the professor, “if they are alike.”….

As regards professed ultimate purpose, there is a difference between communism as expounded by Marx, Lenin and Stalin, and fascism as expounded by Mussolini and Hitler. Communism looks forward to a world social revolution which is to abolish capitalism and usher in the millenium [sic]. Hitler and Mussolini thought in terms of racial and national megalomania.

There is a difference here, but there is also an element of similarity. For regimes animated by such grandiloquent dreams are not likely to be reliably good neighbours of countries which do not fall in with their aspirations.

Another difference may be seen in the fact that communists in Russia and elsewhere, beat the drums for class hatred, whereas fascists have stressed race and national hatred. But here again one is struck by the fact that hatred, of one kind or another, figures so prominently in the thinking of both regimes. And the Soviet communist claim to be exempt from racism is wearing a little thin when one considers the implications of such actions as the blotting out of several ethnic groups in the Soviet Union (the Volga Germans, the Crimean Tartars, the Kalmyks and others) who were regarded as lacking in loyalty in the late war.

Eight Similarities Listed

In the matter of everyday administrative practice resemblances between these two totalitarian systems are far too numerous and striking to be dismissed as accidental or superficial. Eight of the more important of these resemblances may be listed as follows:

1. The supposedly infallible Leader who may not be criticized, who must always be surrounded with the thickest incense of flattery.

2. The single ruling party, which tolerates neither criticism nor organized opposition and really amounts to a permanent governing class.

3. Government by a mixture of unlimited propaganda and unlimited terrorism. Those subjects of a totalitarian state who are too intelligent to be taken in by the propaganda, are intimidated and effectively silenced by the terror. The propaganda is made unlimited by exclusive government control of the press, the schools, the radio, of every agency of instruction and information.

4. Complete absence of the rule of objective law, and of safeguards for the individual against the arbitrary violence of the state. Of course there is the code of law in the Soviet Union, as there were laws and law courts in Nazi Germany and fascist Italy. But on any suspicion of opposition to the government the political police under all these regimes could act on its own discretion. As a journalistic associate once said in Moscow:

“There is no habeas corpus in this country. But they have a pretty effective substitute for it. One might call it: habeas cadaver.”

5. Widespread use of slave labour. This has prevalent in the Soviet Union since 1929 and was practised on a large scale in Nazi Germany during the war.

6. Complete state control of the economy.

7. An incurable desire to carry on subversive intrigues in foreign lands.

8. An attitude of bellicose suspicion toward the outside world. Perhaps the most extreme expression of this attitude is the recent Soviet decree forbidding marriage between Soviet citizens and foreigners.


http://hurryupharry.org/2010/10/01/from-the-vaults-wall-street-journal-october-20-1947/

Thought it is an interesting subject to discuss.

Flying Dutchman
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Re: Are Communism, Fascism Alike? Oct 03, 2010
If you consider the span of politics to be as a circle, then the far left and the far right meet at an indefinable point where the barrier becomes blurred and they are indistinguishable from each other...

8) 8) 8)

Knight
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Re: Are Communism, Fascism Alike? Oct 04, 2010
Flying Dutchman wrote:
A quickwitted woman college professor recently described an exchange of repartee with a Red sympathizer among her students.

“You can’t talk about Nazism and Communism as if they were alike,” protested the student.

“Oh, but I can,” replied the professor, “if they are alike.”….

As regards professed ultimate purpose, there is a difference between communism as expounded by Marx, Lenin and Stalin, and fascism as expounded by Mussolini and Hitler. Communism looks forward to a world social revolution which is to abolish capitalism and usher in the millenium [sic]. Hitler and Mussolini thought in terms of racial and national megalomania.

There is a difference here, but there is also an element of similarity. For regimes animated by such grandiloquent dreams are not likely to be reliably good neighbours of countries which do not fall in with their aspirations.

Another difference may be seen in the fact that communists in Russia and elsewhere, beat the drums for class hatred, whereas fascists have stressed race and national hatred. But here again one is struck by the fact that hatred, of one kind or another, figures so prominently in the thinking of both regimes. And the Soviet communist claim to be exempt from racism is wearing a little thin when one considers the implications of such actions as the blotting out of several ethnic groups in the Soviet Union (the Volga Germans, the Crimean Tartars, the Kalmyks and others) who were regarded as lacking in loyalty in the late war.

Eight Similarities Listed

In the matter of everyday administrative practice resemblances between these two totalitarian systems are far too numerous and striking to be dismissed as accidental or superficial. Eight of the more important of these resemblances may be listed as follows:

1. The supposedly infallible Leader who may not be criticized, who must always be surrounded with the thickest incense of flattery.

2. The single ruling party, which tolerates neither criticism nor organized opposition and really amounts to a permanent governing class.

3. Government by a mixture of unlimited propaganda and unlimited terrorism. Those subjects of a totalitarian state who are too intelligent to be taken in by the propaganda, are intimidated and effectively silenced by the terror. The propaganda is made unlimited by exclusive government control of the press, the schools, the radio, of every agency of instruction and information.

4. Complete absence of the rule of objective law, and of safeguards for the individual against the arbitrary violence of the state. Of course there is the code of law in the Soviet Union, as there were laws and law courts in Nazi Germany and fascist Italy. But on any suspicion of opposition to the government the political police under all these regimes could act on its own discretion. As a journalistic associate once said in Moscow:

“There is no habeas corpus in this country. But they have a pretty effective substitute for it. One might call it: habeas cadaver.”

5. Widespread use of slave labour. This has prevalent in the Soviet Union since 1929 and was practised on a large scale in Nazi Germany during the war.

6. Complete state control of the economy.

7. An incurable desire to carry on subversive intrigues in foreign lands.

8. An attitude of bellicose suspicion toward the outside world. Perhaps the most extreme expression of this attitude is the recent Soviet decree forbidding marriage between Soviet citizens and foreigners.



Well-well. Here we go. We can find very easy formal similarities between Faschism and modern democracies too.

The complete state control of economy in Nazi Germany is something new for me. There were private posesion and capitalists in Germany and Italy, weren't there?

As for propaganda and suspicious toward the outside world the West had benefits from those as well. Let's take ban for some profession in the US and ban from US for participating Communist Parties in France and Italy in appropriate governments during decades after WWII. Marshal plan was also part of the fight against Communist influence. So don't pretend to be hollier than the Pop - intolerance was mutual.
Red Chief
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Re: Are Communism, Fascism Alike? Oct 04, 2010
:happy1:

[settles back for the feature] - make it a good one boys. ;)
shafique
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Re: Are Communism, Fascism Alike? Oct 04, 2010
shafique wrote::happy1:

[settles back for the feature] - make it a good one boys. ;)


Does it mean that Islam 24/7 has nothing to say about that? Some research? :wink:
Red Chief
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Re: Are Communism, Fascism Alike? Oct 04, 2010
Happy to sit back and be educated by those more knowledgeable about Communism and Fascism.

I'll happily give my comments on what is posted!

Cheers,
Shafique
shafique
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Re: Are Communism, Fascism Alike? Oct 04, 2010
Flying Dutchman wrote:Another difference may be seen in the fact that communists in Russia and elsewhere, beat the drums for class hatred, whereas fascists have stressed race and national hatred. But here again one is struck by the fact that hatred, of one kind or another, figures so prominently in the thinking of both regimes. And the Soviet communist claim to be exempt from racism is wearing a little thin when one considers the implications of such actions as the blotting out of several ethnic groups in the Soviet Union (the Volga Germans, the Crimean Tartars, the Kalmyks and others) who were regarded as lacking in loyalty in the late war.

You forgot to add killing Red Indians (including my tribe :) ) in millions and sending a tiny part of survivers to deserted reservation in the US. What was it Fascism or Communism?

About "lack of loyalty" of Cremean Tatars for instance it's very weak expression. All of them fought against Soviet Army: 80 000 cavalry only. The only difference between cruelty of Russians and Anglo-Saxon/German race was that in Russia all those ethnos were survived although shifted in another rather good warm internal territories. I cannot say the same about aborigine tribes in US and Australia or mass-killing of Jews by Germans.
Red Chief
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