To: Wayners who wrote (646261 ) 10/16/2004 9:53:31 PM From: bentway Read Replies (2) | Respond to Fascism and right-wing politics wordiq.com Despite the important differences from other right-wing ideologies, fascism is almost universally considered to be a part of "the right". This is somewhat parallel to the customary inclusion of state communism (and, in particular, that of the Stalinist Soviet Union and Maoist China) in "the left." Nonetheless, fascism differs significantly from other politics that are usually classified as right wing, and most right-wingers (even many far right groups) reject any association with it, just like most left-wingers (even many communists) reject any association with stalinism and maoism. right-wing alternative instead. Philosophers such as Robert Michel, Sergio Panunzio, and Giovanni Gentile were originally syndicalists, a group normally identified with the left and whose tactical propensity for direct action became an element in Italian Fascism. Benito Mussolini himself was originally a socialist, though he had ceased even to claim to be one by the time he was leading the fascist party (and, indeed, many of his old comrades were the first targets of his political police). In the treatise Doctrine of Fascism (written by Gentile but approved by Mussolini); fascism is identified as being of the right and it is declared that the 20th century will be the "century of the right".Nazism contained certain revolutionary and socialist aspects (although more in rhetoric than in reality) , and it was no coincidence that the Nazis often found themselves in a struggle with the Communists for the same constituency (although this can be seen as a typical left/right struggle in elections, albeit involving more radical versions of the two sides). However, it is a historical truth that the DAP, which later became the Nazi Party, was formed in response and in opposition to a brief Communist revolt in Bavaria. While the Nazis opposed individualism and laissez faire capitalism, vigorous opposition to socialism was a founding and continuing tenet of Nazi fascism. Also, one of the key motivations behind World War II was Hitler's desire to exterminate communism. Japanese fascism, while a distinct phenomenon, is also ordinarily understood as an expression of a right-wing philosophy; but like other forms of fascism, it is only unequivocally right wing if the terms of comparison are limited. Like other forms, it arose in antithesis to the agenda of leftists, Communists, and Socialists. neofascists and neonazis are said to be far right. Authoritarian conservatives such as supporters of the former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet or supporters of the military juntas that ruled much of Latin America in the 1970s are also said to be far right.
