Big Rob wrote:Well nazism was pretty clear to me. Aryan race above all else. (Hence the socialism in national socialism.... property ownership was only allowed when it benefited the aryan race.)
Fascism was similar. However it was the nation state above all else (from that definition at least), including property ownership, (so fascism was a form of socialism, as far as property ownership goes... just not the kind Marx had in mind).
However fascism was not specifically defined the way nazism was (thank you adoph).... So it is a term that is thrown around to describe various shit that people don't like....
I do that too... So ... fascist is not necessarily a 'bad' insult...
I don't know where to begin on this.
Fascism is not 'similar' to Nazism. Nazism is a specific, German form of fascism. It stresses racial purity and the volk, but that is in the context of nationalism. Fascism is fascism (which is the whole point of this thread) and not Nazism, which was an adaptation of Mussolini's ideas based on a corporate state and national identity, calls to history and race, any more than fascism in Hungary or Spain was Nazism. Or, for that matter, what Mosley wanted in Britain.
There was no socialism in Nazism. The word is there by accident, it was in the title of the party Hitler took over, and he kept it because it sounded reassuring. You can replace 'socialist' with 'volkisch' - but activities such as the winter help programmes were there to build the idea of a nation, not to provide altruistic social support for the less well-off. There were no socialist institutions other than those organised by the party for members, and here I'm thinking of holiday camps, youth organisations and so on.
Fascism (as in the original version and expressed in different ways in different places up to the present time) is a denial of the rights of the individual. It's hard to see anything good about it.
The whole point of this thread is to define Fascism carefully to counter those people who seem to think that they can use the term to describe any political system which made them cross today. It isn't, like communism or democracy it has a definition.