COMMENTS:
Voted : Yes, they are both fascist
Of course. And they are not the only ones. Other contemporary fascist menaces in our midst include: Belarus, Burma, Zimbabwe, etc.
*** My first sentence in that ballot meant to say:
"They have both obviously abandoned communism, yet at the same time calling them 'capitalist' is arguably inappropriate."
Don't get me wrong though. Fascist regimes can reform quite smoothly into capitalist states (eg, Spain and Portugal).
Indeed, fascism may be a realistic transition phase for both Russia and China- such countries arguably cannot go from communist to capitalist straight away, and a fascist period of transition as a necessity is arguable.
However, one should not naively blindly assume that it is a period of transition.
Here's a jolly good definition of fascism:
"Fascism is an authoritarian political ideology (generally tied to a mass movement) that considers individual and other societal interests inferior to the needs of the state, and seeks to forge a type of national unity, usually based on ethnic, religious, cultural, or racial attributes. Various scholars attribute different characteristics to fascism, but the following elements are usually seen as its integral parts: nationalism, authoritarianism, militarism, corporatism, collectivism, totalitarianism, anti-communism, and opposition to economic and political liberalism."
Now let me think about this....
USA anybody??????????
The USA is without much doubt the most fascist state in the modern world. What are you going to do about it?
Voted : Yes, they are both fascist
Gee, do you think?
Keithsheen you've got to be kidding right? The most Facist state in the modern world? What's the last time you read the paper or watched the news? Kind of a ridiculous statement
Out of curiosity where do you live Keith?
Keith- Firstly, you have not answered the ballot question.
Now, I will be generous and entertain your little tangent from the ballot topic. You believe the US is 'fascist' ? Okay, let us observe the very definition of fascism that you have quoted...
"Fascism is an authoritarian political ideology"
- Wait, the United States is a democracy. You see, not long ago, there was a mid-term election. The opposition Democrats overwhemingly were victorious in this and dominated Congress and such. Or do you think the media lied and it was really Republicans who took all those seats and that Nancy Pelosi is secretly working for Bush? Seriously though, the US is a democracy, and at the moment with a flourishing influential opposition.
"Various scholars attribute different characteristics to fascism, but the following elements are usually seen as its integral parts: nationalism, authoritarianism, militarism, corporatism, collectivism, totalitarianism, anti-communism, and opposition to economic and political liberalism."
- There are a few on this list that I want to pick at. I ahve already disproved the authoritarian part- the US is a democracy. But what else? Well, there is 'collectivism'. Do you know what collectivism is? It is socialism. This is why fascism is also known as 'national socialism' because it is of a specific form of socialist collectivism. Are you seriously going to assert that the US is collectivist?? Next, opposition to economic liberalism? Do you even economic liberalism is? Economic liberalism is anothern term for 'capitalism'. Are you seriously going to tell me that the US is against so very much strongly against economic liberalism and capitalism?
As for corporatism and fascism: "In one 1935 English translation of what Mussolini wrote, the term "corporative state" is used, but this has a different meaning from modern uses of the terms used to discuss business corporations. In that same translation, the phrase "national Corporate State of Fascism," refers to syndicalist corporatism." (Source: Wikipedia)
- Therefore, in reference to fascism, the exact type of corporatism being referred to is syndicalist corporatism, of which the US does not have.
So keith, based on facts and empirical evidence, I am moved to disagree with your strange new theory that the US is authoritarian and not democratic, that it is a collectivist socialist state, and that it is supposedly anti-capitalist and against economic liberalism. Such claims that the US is anti-capitalist and is a collectivist socialist state is quite bizarre, honestly.
So by your own provided definition of fascism- the USA is not fascist.
"seeks to forge a type of national unity, usually based on ethnic, religious, cultural, or racial attributes."
- Yeah, actual examples of this would be Russia's treatment of Chechnya and China's treatment of Tibet.
If one does not know the definitions of the words they are using, one probably should not throw such words around so confidently. One just looks foolish. Indeed, one probably should choose not to speak if one is not going to improve on the silence.
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