How is Fascism different than Authoritarianism?

[MetalMars]

Democrats are using fascism as their new buzzword, and I am curious what the difference is between fascism and authoritarianism. Communists also call anyone who disagree with them as fascists. It seems a strange distinction. The primary distinction appears to be nationalism. Dictators who stress national identity are considered fascists. The problem I have with this is all dictators stress national identity. Stalin and the Soviets were no different than Hitler or Mussolini. Look at propaganda posters for the Soviets in WW2. Why make a subset of authoritarianism on such a universal trait of dictatorial societies?

 

[Dogmaphobe]

Democrats are using fascism as their new buzzword, and I am curious what the difference is between fascism and authoritarianism. Communists also call anyone who disagree with them as fascists. It seems a strange distinction. The primary distinction appears to be nationalism. Dictators who stress national identity are considered fascists. The problem I have with this is all dictators stress national identity. Stalin and the Soviets were no different than Hitler or Mussolini. Look at propaganda posters for the Soviets in WW2. Why make a subset of authoritarianism on such a universal trait of dictatorial societies?

Authoritarianism is just one of the aspects of fascism.

It is also one of the aspects of today's leftists who are too ignorant to know what the term fascism even means and too dishonest to take a good look in the mirror.

 

[Oddball]

"Authoritarianism" is the meta.

Under that umbrella are socialism, communism, fascism, mercantilism, feudalism, et. al.

 

[MetalMars]

Authoritarianism is just one of the aspects of fascism.

It is also one of the aspects of today's leftists who are too ignorant to know what the term fascism even means and too dishonest to take a good look in the mirror.

Is there any other aspect than nationalism, which seems kind of a pointless distinction?

 

[shockedcanadian]

Democrats are using fascism as their new buzzword, and I am curious what the difference is between fascism and authoritarianism. Communists also call anyone who disagree with them as fascists. It seems a strange distinction. The primary distinction appears to be nationalism. Dictators who stress national identity are considered fascists. The problem I have with this is all dictators stress national identity. Stalin and the Soviets were no different than Hitler or Mussolini. Look at propaganda posters for the Soviets in WW2. Why make a subset of authoritarianism on such a universal trait of dictatorial societies?

Well traditional fascism is linked to the far right.

I say it once and I will say it again, crime is a social construct 95% of the time. I love capitalism but the corporatism we have is going to sink it. Fund training and opportunities, encourage people to challenge themselves and apply their skills to help their nation.

This is the prime means in which fascism rears its ugly head, in the concept of "protecting their people from harm". Fear is a big seller.

Now the far-left are worse today as they believe everything is under their control if they say so, covid proved this

 

[Orangecat]

“Fascist” has become as irrelevant as “racist” or “homophobic”. Just words that have been misapplied so often that no one is affected by them anymore.

 

[MetalMars]

Well traditional fascism is linked to the far right.

I say it once and I will say it again, crime is a social construct 95% of the time. I love capitalism but the corporatism we have is going to sink it. Fund training and opportunities, encourage people to challenge themselves and apply their skills to help their nation.

This is the prime means in which fascism rears its ugly head, in the concept of "protecting their people from harm". Fear is a big seller.

Now the far-left are worse today as they believe everything is under their control if they say so, covid proved this

As far as I can tell, fascism is just authoritarianism. I see no meaningful distinction between the two. I'm hoping someone could explain why this subset was created. Saying it is left or right, or involves nationalism doesn't explain why it has a separate category. Fascism is now such a common term, but nobody knows what it means, including me. Could someone please pin down what makes it different than straight authoritarianism?

 

[shockedcanadian]

As far as I can tell, fascism is just authoritarianism. I see no meaningful distinction between the two. I'm hoping someone could explain why this subset was created. Saying it is left or right, or involves nationalism doesn't explain why it has a separate category. Fascism is now such a common term, but nobody knows what it means, including me. Could someone please pin down what makes it different than straight authoritarianism?

Well I see fascism as a subset of authoritarianism.

In fascism it is more system driven, "ultra-nationalism" and other ideology such as militaristic pursuits.

Authoritarianism is just one man running the show, it doesn't need to be a particular ideology. So N Korean leadership is the same as Pinochet or Amin. All authoritarian rule but there wasn't a broad ideology associated with them. It was all just a pure power grab for one man to rule their nation.

Once authoritarians enact their ideology, it is fascism

 

[Leo123]

Fascists may promote nationalism however, they consider themselves ruler of the nation. The People must do as the fascist says instead of the people being proud of their nation without being forced.

 

[FoghornLeghorn]

Is there any other aspect than nationalism, which seems kind of a pointless distinction?

Abraham Lincoln was a nationalist.

America's founders were nationalists.

Nationalism is about being free from foreign rule and putting the interests of a nation and its people FIRST. There is nothing inherently wrong with it.

 

[FoghornLeghorn]

In fascism it is more system driven, "ultra-nationalism" and other ideology such as militaristic pursuits.

Francisco of Spain didn't engage in conquest.

 

[MetalMars]

Well I see fascism as a subset of authoritarianism.

In fascism it is more system driven, "ultra-nationalism" and other ideology such as militaristic pursuits.

Authoritarianism is just one man running the show, it doesn't need to be a particular ideology. So N Korean leadership is the same as Pinochet or Amin. All authoritarian rule but there wasn't a broad ideology associated with them. It was all just a pure power grab for one man to rule their nation.

Once authoritarians enact their ideology, it is fascism

So was Stalin just a dictator, or did the Soviet Union as a whole have an authoritarian ideology? That is where it gets tricky for me. Most countries with dictators, it is not just one guy, and nationalism is always pushed by every authoritarian regime. It makes sense with North Korea, but just about every other dictatorship has a coalition of followers with a nationalist push. Hitler had broad political support. I guess I still don't see the need to create the subset. It appears to be a meaningless qualifier.

 

[FoghornLeghorn]

So was Stalin just a dictator, or did the Soviet Union as a whole have an authoritarian ideology? That is where it gets tricky for me. Most countries with dictators, it is not just one guy, and nationalism is always pushed by every authoritarian regime. It makes sense with North Korea, but just about every other dictatorship has a coalition of followers with a nationalist push. Hitler had broad political support. I guess I still don't see the need to create the subset. It appears to be a meaningless qualifier.

The Soviet Union was communist. By definition communism entails state ownership of business. Under fascism businesses can be privately owned but the state has the authority to tell them what to do with their business.

Benito Mussolini is considered the father of fascism. You should read his writings regarding the ideology.

https://sjsu.edu/faculty/wooda/2B-HUM/Readings/The-Doctrine-of-Fascism.pdf

 

[MetalMars]

The Soviet Union was communist. By definition communism entails state ownership of business. Under fascism businesses can be privately owned but the state has the authority to tell them what to do with their business.

Benito Mussolini is considered the father of fascism. You should read his writings regarding the ideology.

https://sjsu.edu/faculty/wooda/2B-HUM/Readings/The-Doctrine-of-Fascism.pdf

So the only difference between communism and fascism is that people in fascist countries don't know that the state runs everything? Fascism is a distinction created to describe an authoritarian state which doesn't explicitly say it has complete control. Now I have to wonder how it is different than the generic term dictatorship.

 

[FoghornLeghorn]

...people in fascist countries don't know that the state runs everything?

Of course they know.

 

[FoghornLeghorn]

China eventually figured out that communism was a losing endeavor and essentially adopted fascism.

 

[0311]

Democrats are using fascism as their new buzzword, and I am curious what the difference is between fascism and authoritarianism. Communists also call anyone who disagree with them as fascists. It seems a strange distinction. The primary distinction appears to be nationalism. Dictators who stress national identity are considered fascists. The problem I have with this is all dictators stress national identity. Stalin and the Soviets were no different than Hitler or Mussolini. Look at propaganda posters for the Soviets in WW2. Why make a subset of authoritarianism on such a universal trait of dictatorial societies?

Do YOU really think there is any difference in what kind of Dictatorship you want to live under.

 

[FoghornLeghorn]

I haven't yet listened to this but I will.

 

[FoghornLeghorn]

Democrats are using fascism as their new buzzword, and I am curious what the difference is between fascism and authoritarianism. Communists also call anyone who disagree with them as fascists. It seems a strange distinction. The primary distinction appears to be nationalism. Dictators who stress national identity are considered fascists. The problem I have with this is all dictators stress national identity. Stalin and the Soviets were no different than Hitler or Mussolini. Look at propaganda posters for the Soviets in WW2. Why make a subset of authoritarianism on such a universal trait of dictatorial societies?

You should research how the 1920's and 30's western leftists supported fascism. FDR was initially very complimentary of Mussolini. Fascism, communism, and socialism are all ideologies of the same leftist tree.

 

[Samofvt]

You should research how the 1920's and 30's western leftists supported fascism. FDR was initially very complimentary of Mussolini. Fascism, communism, and socialism are all ideologies of the same leftist tree.

I appreciate your take on this topic, and many of your conclusions match my research and understanding.

The one thing I have a problem with is this use of the terms "Left" and "Right". An earlier poster commented that they thought fascism was associated with the far right. You assert that fascism is something from the far left.

In other words, the terms "right" and "left" do not align with reality. In fact, it seems like they flip-flop in meaning from one era to the next. I will even assert that the terms 'right' and 'left' mean totally different things between one region of the world and another in current politics.

The only difference lies in the local (geographic) political marketing strategies employed.