In modern Western countries, the political spectrum is usually described along left-right lines, based on the seating of the liberal and conservative members of the Legislative Assembly of France in 1791, where liberal and conservative were partly defined by attitudes towards the ancien regime. (See section Historical origin of the terms.) This traditional political spectrum has come to be defined along an axis with socialism and communism, ("the Left") on one end, and nationalism and Fascism ("the Right") on the other. [Umph added.]
THIS IS AN ACCURATE DESCRIPTION OF THE TRADITIONAL POLITICAL SPECTRUM, BUT IT IS AN UTTERLY FALSE DESCRIPTION OF POLITICAL REALITY.
In fact, it is Left-wing propaganda. It is propaganda that became de rigeur after Hitler violated the Hitler-Stalin pact and attacked the USSR. It was buttressed by the FACT that Hitler and Nazism were violently anti-Marxist.
But this is DIFFERENT than saying they were anti-SOCIALIST. In fact, NAZI is an acronym which stands for national SOCIALIST party, and IN FACT Hitler was an ardent socialist. As was Mussolini - who coined the term FASCIST to denote the subjugation of the individual to the collective. Many falsely claim that Hitler and Mussolini argued for control of the economy by CORPORATIONS, but IN FACT: the term CORPORATISM in Italian means UNIONS, and not private companies; and any cursory reading of Mein Kampf and the NAZI party platform and Hitler speeches makes ABSOLUTELY AND INCONTROVERTIBLY CLEAR that Nazism was merely a variant of socialism - AND NOT IT'S ANTAGONIST. (Hitler hated Bolshevism and Marxism and internationalized socialism - which valorized and sought to unify the "proletarian" everywhere; Hitler sought a national RACIALLY based socialism.)
In light of these FACTS, it is absurd to believe in the political spectrum which places Nazism on the extreme Right, and Communism on the extreme Left. As collectivist ideologies they BOTH belong on the LEFT - along with Fascism.
The extreme Right is, therefore, logically occupied by ANARCHISM (and not Nazism or Fascism).
An accurate and logically sound political spectrum has the collectivist Communism on the extreme Left, and the most anti-collectivist ideology - Anarchism - on the extreme Right.And in the middle are constitutional democracies - which have somewhat strong states led by governments which are formed by the mutual consent of individual citizens and have laws which are limited by constitutions which circumscribed the powers of the state, and delineate inviolable rights of individuals.
The middle is quite dynamic, and includes left-of-center states like those in Scandinavia, and right-of-center states like the USA.
So, when folks like Hitler and Bush are both called Right-wing - IT IS A LIE. A lie perpetrated by the Left - who actually have much MUCH more fundamentally in common with Hitler than Bush OR ANYONE ELSE ON THE RIGHT does.
Furthermore, anyone and everyone who argues that the state should become more powerful and that individuals should become less free is a statist and a collectivist and a Left-winger.
And it doesn't matter whether this statism is driven by a desire to enforce economic outcomes (as with SOCIALISM), or by a desire to enforce SECTARIAN RELIGIOUS RULES - AS WITH BAATHISM AND Q'TUBISM/SALAFISM/BINLADENISM.
This is another reason why the Left is predisposed to appeasement of and alliance with the islamofascists: they are BOTH statist/Left-wing ideologies.
What is more, POST MODERN Leftism is also anti-modernity and anti-West and anti-Judeo-Christian Civilization - JUST LIKE THE ISLAMOFASCISTS!
That's why the Left CONSTANTLY runs interference for the islamofascists - in our legislatures, our courts and in the UN. And this is why we must defeat the Leftists at home if we want to defeat the islamofascists abroad.
I love that political spectrum, it is right on the money.
ReplyDeleteAs a member of the Socialist Party USA I have to write this: "You're wrong" and I ask you to please cite source material clearly than in a bias manner. I happen to own a large home library of several reading you did post and do more than "look over" [sic] them. I can also point out that Moore is a registered Democrat and we do not and never will work with him. Anarchist should be to the left of communist. Fascism is extreme right which is a different form of conservativism of the whole under corporate rule while socialism is not inter changeable wording with communism and we are two different parties. While socialism is a form of the whole it is under democratic means of the people for the people, by the people. Each person has a direct vote negating corporate control and special interest. You need to read more deeply and learn the material before commenting on a half truth.
ReplyDeleteAtlee Yarrow
Dear Comrade October,
ReplyDeleteIf you are really interested in understanding the fact that fascism and National Socialism are in fact manifestations of the socialist phenomenon, you will have to better than simply read the socialist tracts and communist propaganda pieces that I am sure your library boasts in abundance.
The National Socialist (Nazi) German Workers' Party was an anti-capitalist, left-wing, revolutionary socialist movement. If you read the party's program, conveniently posted on the web, you will discover that it is nothing but the usual leftist claptrap.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Socialist_Program
http://www.hitler.org/writings/programme/
http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/imt/document/nca_vol4/1708-ps.htm
Our co-blogger, John Ray, has written extensively on the socialism of Hitler and Mussolini.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1143131/posts
http://ray-dox.blogspot.com/2006/08/this-article-is-published-on-internet.html
http://ray-dox.blogspot.com/2006/06/this-is-expanded-version-of-article.html
http://tongue-tied2.blogspot.com/2006/06/what-appears-below-is-attempt-to.html
By the way, when you write that fascism put "the whole under corporate rule," you sre substituting the current American meaning of the word "corporate" for the meaning it had in early 20th century Italy. In the fascist scheme of things, the entire society was viewed as a living organism, an organic body (corpora) naturally directed by the head, i.e., the dictator.
The "corporations" to which the fascist program refers are not in fact joint-stock businesses, but rather all of the bodies and associations which make up the whole society. Labor unions were the most important "corporations" in fascist Italy, but the intention was to make all associations whether representing businessmen, workers, librarians, teachers, or students, organs of the State. Labor relations were put under the control of government sponsored boards representing business owners, workers, and the government. Very much as it has been done in Sweden, a fascist economy that almost works, since the 1930s.
The real political spectrum, as correctly outlined by Reliapundit, characterizes the divergence between left and right as follows:
On the left are those ideologies which argue for the incorporation of all aspects of public and private life into the State, the subservience to the State of all forms of economic and political life. (Leftists in America today usually refer to the all-powerful State as the "common good.)
On the right are those ideologies which argue for a self-regulating civil society of free individuals.
In practice, the free, self-regulating society always outperforms the bureaucratically controlled Statist society.
Statism leads to poverty, tyranny, and war.
Freedom leads to prosperity, a public life with a minimum of governmental control, and peace.
Compare, for example, the results obtained in the two Koreas. Up until 1945, Korea was the most ethnically homogeneous country on earth; Koreans shared 2,000 years of historical development. In 1945, the country was split in two, and the more industrialized North was put under the control of a Statist communist regime; the South was allowed to develop representative democracy and a relatively free economy only because of the sacrifices of American, Australian, Canadian, British, and other allied soldiers.
50 years later, the results are clear. South Korea is prosperous and free. North Korea is a famine-stricken hell hole.
Similar results have been obtained wherever well-intentioned socialists such as yourself have taken control of economic life, in Russia, in China, in Zimbabwe, in Cuba, and we are witnessing the same maelstrom of economic destruction in Venezuela today.
Wake up!
I have to completely disagree with this. Anarchism and minarchism are both forms of the broader category libertarianism. All anarcho-capitalists and nearly all minarchists are libertarians, and they all belong on the LEFT side of the spectrum, with anarchism obviously being slightly more left than minarchism.
ReplyDeleteCommunism and fascism are both forms of the broader category socialism. All fascists, all communists, and all syndicalists are socialists, and they all belong on the RIGHT side of the spectrum, with fascism obviously being slightly more right than the other two.
I can say positively where anarcho-syndicalists, anarcho-communists, and libertarian socialists fall, but I can say this: it depends upon their reaction to or acceptance of the non-aggression axiom. The more they accept the non-aggression axiom, the further left they are; the more they reject it, the further right they are. That could possibly vary with each individual--meaning that some anarcho-communists may even me on the far left among the anarcho-capitalists, while others may be much further to the right.
Despite the fact that conservatives and modern liberals have disagreements, I cannot say they are qualitatively more left-wing or right-wing than one another. Classical liberals, in the other hand, would fall in the same area as or just to the right of minarchists.
The ancien regime would fall on the right side.
Free market capitalists will fall on the left wing of the spectrum, while state capitalists (neo-mercantilists) will fall further to the right.
Using the spectrum as I have designed it, Thomas Jefferson would fall on the left. I would fall on the far left. George W. Bush and Hillary Clinton would both fall on the right. Osama bin Laden and Adolph Hitler would both fall on the far right. George Washington would fall generally in the middle.
Respectfully yours,
Alex Peak
EDIT: "I can't say positively where anarcho-syndicalists" &c.
ReplyDeleteI think the spectrum shown would be better understood by Lefties if it showed "More Government Control" on the left, and "Less Government Control" on the right side.
ReplyDeleteI think the Left tries to make the spectrum corporatist, which really doesn't make sense because that would put their understanding of Nazism on the right, which really doesn't make sense since those on the right don't want government control and Nazism is huge on government control.
ReplyDeleteThe Lefty spectrum also does not make any sense because Conservatives and Libertarians are not pro big business or even pro business in particular. They are pro freedom and pro jobs.
ReplyDeleteLefties assume that freedom leads to Corporate control.
Libertarians are okay with business monopolies because they they are temporary and people are not forced to buy their products.
Conservatives prefer some regulation that encourages competition rather than regulation that leads to Big Business.
I think it is interesting that Leftists don't understand that a lot of regulation hurts small businesses and competition and actually helps to create Big Business. Then thats where the Far Left steps in and want to not only control business but actually run it and make it illegal or very difficult to compete with.