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Memories of the 28th Century

On Fascism

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Strength through unity
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"Think for yourselves and let others enjoy the privilege to do so too." Voltaire in his Essay on Tolerance

Fascism is a word that is thrown around without people even thinking about what it means. It started as an Italian word for a political group, and it derived from the Latin word ‘fasces’, which was the bundle of rod from which an axe protruded. Until Mussolini started using the term it could have been applied to any political group. Mussolini used the word to harken back to the greatness of the Roman Empire, and his party adopted the fasces as a symbol of the Fascist party. The party was of the state socialist persuasion, where the state became the owner of most businesses. Thus it was essentially the same as Soviet Communism and German Nazism.

Since 1945 the symbols of Nazism have become politically untouchable, but Fascist symbols and ideology haven’t shared that treatment. The fasces is identified with Ancient Rome, rather than with Mussolini, and the ideology has been adopted by social democrats, or that was true until recently when people who called themselves anti Fascists started attacking the concept of free speech.

There isn’t a clear leader to the movement, which makes sense because the "fasces" is a bundle of rods with an axe projecting from it, but there are several who may try to control it, including Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Cory Booker, and others. The so-called progressive wing of the Democratic Party backs programs that require that individuals abandon some of their freedom for some small financial benefit.

Fascism requires that individuals lose freedom of thought and speech, because the leaders will do the thinking and talking for everyone. Similarly, fascism, like all forms of state socialism requires that the government control the "means of production" and intimately all commercial activity, because the economy is too important for mere individuals to control any part of it.

Because the party controls thought and expression, the party introduces discipline on everyone, and those who violate the rules are politically incorrect. Under Mussolini that might have been punished with some castor oil. Today in the U.S.A. it is punished by the guilty being declared anathema and banished.

The purpose of this post is to lay open the nature of the people who have taken to attacking people who favor free speech. I have no affection for neo-Nazis; they are just fascists of a different feather. But I do favor free speech, and that someone disagrees with me is no reason to gag that person. If their opinions are vile enough, then eventually that will become clear too any who look, and they will be ignored.

I prefer to show people information that might be useful, and the best test for determining whether someone is, or might be, a fascist is to determine whether he agrees or disagrees with the principles of Classical Liberalism, which include: Individualism: the individual is more important than the collective; we should not sacrifice the interest of the individual for what people argue is the common good. Skepticism about Power, questioning how government is using its power. Classical liberals believe that the individuals are the best judges of their own interests, not the government or anybody else. Equality before the law, individuals don't need people to plan their lives.
Free Markets, Toleration, Peace, free movement of capital and labor, people, and goods and services. And Free movement of ideas, Limited Government. (This list was largely borrowed from quizlet.com and heavily edited.)

People who try to impose their opinions on others oppose the most basic rights the people can have, the right to think for themselves, and those who have beaten neo-Nazis for their opinions are no different from people who have beat anti-war protesters or civil right marchers. Those who are truly opposed to fascism sincerely believe: "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."



http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=fascist
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fasces
https://quizlet.com/50749456/10-prin...sm-flash-cards
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Evelyn_Beatrice_Hall

Updated 10-02-2017 at 04:10 PM by PeterL

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Comments

  1. kiz_paws's Avatar
    Based on the number of reads this Blog entry has, I would say that lots of people find your entries intriguing.
    I found your words interesting and informative.
    Your closing paragraph was awesome, by the way, Peter.
  2. PeterL's Avatar
    I'm glad you liked it. But based on the numbers, people prefer my post titled "Equality for All; the Fourteenth Amendment". It's a few years old, but it has had plenty of views. After rereading that one, I can see why it has been popular.