What is the definition of a fascist?

[Kalish]

Hitler was a fascist. Was Stalin? is Bin Laden one? And if there are degrees of fascism at what point does one become a full fascist?

[proud patriot]

1. google the 14 points of fascim

:hi:

[Kalish]

6. I looked those up

pretty thorough defintion, but also potentially encompassing a lot of different movements and governments.

[Gato Moteado]

2. in this day and age, the definition is.....

anyone that is a member of, votes for, or otherwise supports the republican party.

[Swamp Rat]

21. ¡Pura vida tuanis!

:smoke: O rato maconhado, tô procuando por aí. :D

[Gato Moteado]

26. Hola amigo!

donde esta? brazil?

mi espanol es muy pobre, pero no puedo hablar portugués.

[Toots]

24. I actually think it goes deeper than that

Trilateral Committee, Bilderburger, Committee for Foreign Affairs. Each Administration since Hoover has been awash with these folks. Both Democratic and Republican. I know, conspiracy theories, but it is also a reality.

[Rick Myers]

3. I use the most common definition

The term fascism has come to mean any system of government resembling Mussolini's, that in various combinations:

exalts the nation, (and sometimes the race or culture) above the individual, with the state apparatus being supreme.
stresses loyalty to a single leader.
uses violence and modern techniques of propaganda and censorship to forcibly suppress political opposition.
engages in severe economic and social regimentation.
engages in syndicalist corporatism.
implements totalitarian systems.
As a populist social movement prior to gaining government power, fascism displays different characteristics.

In an article in the 1932 Enciclopedia Italiana, written by Giovanni Gentile and attributed to Benito Mussolini, fascism is described as a system in which "The State not only is authority which governs and molds individual wills with laws and values of spiritual life, but it is also power which makes its will prevail abroad... For the Fascist, everything is within the State and... neither individuals nor groups are outside the State... For Fascism, the State is an absolute, before which individuals or groups are only relative..."



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascism

[Rich Hunt]

20. thanks

I'm always glad to see another discussion of fascism, but what we have today is not expressed the same way.

exalts the nation, (and sometimes the race or culture) above the individual, with the state apparatus being supreme.

We don't have this. "The nation" is not being exulted - a particular Christian culture with a particular set of values is. In the US, exulting the nation might provoke a backlash in which such things as the Bill of Rights are cited. "The nation" is therefore problematic in essence to this breed.


stresses loyalty to a single leader.

Nope. If anything, it is demanded that we adhere
to certain values, morals, and prejudices - NOT
to a single leader.

So today's situation is a bit different in character.

[K-W]

4. A reactionary conservative.

Conservatism is clinging to old authoritarian structures and traditions while Facism is an attempt to create new authoritarian structures and traditions after the traditional ones have fallen. Facism is a reaction to and rejection of liberalism, democracy, etc and an attempt to reassert or preserve through new institutions, elite control over society and politics.

[Finder]

5. here ya go

http://ellensplace.net/fascism.html

14 POINTS OF FASCISM

1. Powerful and continuing expressions of nationalism

2. Disdain for the importance of human rights

3. Identification of enemies/scapegoats as a unifying cause

4. The supremacy of the military/avid militarism

5. Rampant sexism

6. A controlled mass media

7. Obsession with national security

8. Religion and ruling elite tied together

9. Power of corporations protected

10. Power of labor suppressed or eliminated

11. Disdain and suppression of intellectuals and the arts

12. Obsession with crime and punishment

13. Rampant cronyism and corruption

14. Fraudulent elections

[tocqueville]

8. according to that the USA are today a facist state....

or.... ?

[Imagine My Surprise]

12. Yep. And ghetting more so.

It's my understanding that a century ago when the US Supreme Court gave the definition of "person" to a corporation, that the trend towards Fascism in this country really began.

[Sparkman]

7. Nice to define it, now apply it. Does that shoe fit, or does the U.S. have

to grow into it still? What if 50% of the population won't vote or express their oppinions? The sheep can't save the nation from the wolves. That's a dogs' job.

[AX10]

9. Fascist(noun): "One who supports the American Republican Party"

[Journeyman]

10. Hitler was not a fascist . . .

nor was National Socialism a fascist state. It was instead a totalitarian regime.

Hitler's ambitions were far greater than the narrow confines that fascist nationalism would permit, and throughout his life he held a contemptuous view toward the shortcomings of his fascist allies.

National Socialism was always international in its scope and disdainful of fascism's facade. In his diaries, Joseph Goebbels was often critical of fascism. Fascism, he wrote, "is nothing like National Socialism. While the latter goes deep down to the roots, Fascism is only a superficial thing."

Elsewhere, Heinrich Himmler expressed similar disdain for fascism in a speech to SS Officers in 1943, when he described the two as "fundamentally different things. . . there is absolutely no comparison between Fascism and National Socialism as spiritual, ideological movements."

[K-W]

15. Im not sure the Nazi's are reliable sources. EOM

[Finder]

17. It was both

http://www.remember.org/guide/Facts.root.nazi.html

Synopsis
The government of Nazi Germany was a fascist, totalitarian state. Totalitarian regimes, in contrast to a dictatorship, establish complete political, social, and cultural control over their subjects, and are usually headed by a charismatic leader. Fascism is a form of right-wing totalitarianism which emphasizes the subordination of the individual to advance the interests of the state.

...more at link

[Imagine My Surprise]

11. Mussolini described it as:

the merging of corporations and the government. I think he should know.

[Tommymac]

13. Want to research it? Some links for your reading 'pleasure'!

I have found lots of links through my study of this subject over the last few years. Here are a few that stand out to me. Warning: most are long and detailed.

Buzzflash's famous 14 Points video narrated by Mike Malloy.
http://www.bushflash.com/14.html

Article on roots of Corporate Fascism in America (long and well researched/sourced)
http://alexconstantine.50megs.com/the_roots_of.html

Article on the rise of American Fascism - lots of graphics, charts, etc. Part two of a series.
http://www.rationalrevolution.net/articles/rise_of_american_fascism.htm

Historical speech by Henry Wallace on American fascism
http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/082103F.shtml

Online version of Orwell's 1984 for light reading when you need a break!
http://www.online-literature.com/orwell/1984/

[NativeTexan]

14. Facism?

Just take a look at Bush and his minions....they are as facist as we have seen since Hitler!

The steps that you have witnessed in the past 5 years, including wanting to take away civil rights...lying to your own citizenry to take them to war against a non-threatening, sovereign nation, for purposes they still won't make clear......or simply the coup d' tat of 2000.....among so many other things.....

THAT is the complete definition of Facism!

http://truthfromtheamericanmiddle.blogspot.com/

[SimpleMan]

16. Simple...

Fascism is when corporations control the government.

Communism is when government controls corporations.

[whosinpower]

18. SPOT ON!

You have it exactly right.

[Swamp Rat]

22. Right on SimpleMan!

:D

[Selatius]

19. People often confuse fascism with authoritarianism

Hitler was a fascist, and while Stalin's methods were quite similar to Hitler's methods, the point of the matter is that fascism is its own unique term separate from authoritarianism. Both Stalin and Hitler were authoritarian, but fascism is something Hitler engaged in.

What's fascism? I define it the same way Mussolini defined it in my signature. It's more descriptive anyway.

[Swamp Rat]

23. Hmm... that's a hard question! ... Let's ask Brit Hume!

:D

[Kathy in Cambridge]

25. How did you get through high school history without knowing the definition