You are right about the historical "statism," Terrence, but there is more to both Nazi fascism and Soviet communism.
In theory, the state is supposed to "wither away" ultimately, in a communist society. And "statism" is supposed to be characteristic only of the "socialist" phase. Khrushchev was said to have prematurely declared the advent of communism; in Brezhnevite orthodoxy, the Soviet Union had only entered the phase of "mature socialism." In any event, the theoretical goal remained the disappearance of the state altogether...
So much for theory...
The Communist approach is supposedly "scientific"; everything is said to proceed according to rationally analyzable laws. The individual is seen in a class context. Historically, fascism, especially Nazism, has exalted The Irrational -- the Volk, the Blood, Whatever...The individual is seen in a racial/ethnic context.
And so forth...
Both Fascism and Communism are "totalitarian" ideologies, meaning that they embrace the whole of life, not just the specific organization of the state. And their overall Weltanschaungen are decidedly different. |
