Fascism

page type::article thing type::type of government

About
Fascism is a totalitarian political ideology in which the public is governed by absolute rule of a state which controls all capital and labor. It is the archetypal example of centralized economic planning. (Although communism is often cited as the prime example of this, centralized control in fact goes against the basic ideas of communism, which include statelessness and common ownership of the means of production.)

Related

 * Liberal fascism is a self-contradictory troll phrase

Quotes
...when a rather mainstream person like Robert Skidelsky, the biographer of Keynes, describes the early postwar systems as modeled on fascism, he simply means a system in which the state integrates labor and capital under the control of the corporate structure.

That's what a fascist system traditionally was. It can vary in the way it works, but the ideal state that it aims at is absolutist -- top-down control with the public essentially following orders. &mdash; Noam Chomsky Fascism is distinguished from the broader category of extreme right-wing politics by its willingness to defy public civility and openly violate the law. As such it represents a radical departure from the tradition of ultra-conservatism. The latter aims to preserve established social relations, through enforcement of law and reinforcement of authority. But the fascist organizations of Mussolini and Hitler, in their conquests of power, showed no reluctance to rupture peace and repudiate parliamentary and other institutions; the fascists employed terror against both the existing political structure and society at large. It is a common misconception of political science to believe, in the manner of amateur Marxists, that Italian fascists and Nazis sought maintenance of order, to protect the ruling classes. Both Mussolini and Hitler agitated against "the system" governing their countries. Their willingness to resort to street violence, assassinations, and coups set the Italian and German fascists apart from ordinary defenders of ruling elites, which they sought to replace. This is an important point that should never be forgotten. Fascism is not merely a harsh dictatorship or oppression by privilege. – Stephen Schwartz

Articles

 * Fascism Anyone?: The Fourteen Identifying Characteristics Of Fascism, by Laurence W. Britt:
 * Council for Secular Humanism
 * Information Clearing House
 * Fascistic.net
 * rense.com
 * a fascism definition as it relates to America (is there a better source for this text?): shows how Bush's America meets each of the 14 characteristics