The dichotomy of fascism lies in the mainstream belief that it is a far-right phenomenon while at the same time dismissing left-wing fascism as a myth.  However, according to World Population Review’s (WPR) Fascist Countries 2023 report: “Fascism can be difficult to define and identify.  This is partly because it is often modified to meet a specific fascist party’s political goals and partly because it has many variations, many of which overlap with and arguably fit better into related ideologies such as socialism.”  The report goes on to state that “right-wing regimes … are similar but do not follow fascist ideology.”  If, as the WPR notes, fascism is incongruent with right-wing political ideology, which is at odds with the accepted definition of fascism, we need to follow this rabbit further down the rabbit hole to understand better where it fits in the left-right political spectrum.

Fascism, customarily defined as a far-right ideology, “is a political ideology and movement characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hierarchy, subordination of individual interests for the perceived good of the nation and race, and strong regimentation of society and the economy.” Fascism also “rejects assertions that violence is inherently bad and views imperialism and political violence and as means to national rejuvenation.  Economic interventionism, “favoring government intervention in the market process with the intention of correcting market failures and promoting the general welfare of the people” (Stanley, 2018), is also a hallmark of fascist political ideology.  Although serving as a fair definition of fascism, ascribing it as only a far-right ideology is nothing more than an aberration of the traditional left-right political spectrum.

“The fundamental differences between left-wing [liberal/progressive] and right-wing [conservative] ideologies center around the rights of individuals vs. the power of the government.  Left-wing beliefs are liberal in that they believe society is best served with an expanded role for the government.  People on the right believe that the best outcome for society is achieved when individual rights and civil liberties are paramount and the role — and especially the power — of the government is minimized.” (Deffin, 2023).  Encyclopedia Britannica further defines left-wing ideology as “the portion of the political spectrum associated in general with egalitarianism and popular or state control of the major institutions of political and economic life.  They tend to regard social welfare as the most important goal of government.  Socialism is the standard leftist ideology in most countries of the world; communism is a more radical leftist ideology … They tend to regard social welfare as the most important goal of government.”

Conversely, Britannica is not as clear in its definition of the right: the “portion of the political spectrum associated with conservative political thought.”  However, it does define conservatism as “a preference for the historically inherited rather than the abstract and ideal.  This preference has traditionally rested on an organic conception of society—that is, on the belief that society is not merely a loose collection of individuals but a living organism comprising closely connected, interdependent members;” and the belief that “government’s responsibility is to be the servant, not the master, of existing ways of life.”  It further goes on to quote The Devil’s Dictionary (Bierce, 1906) that defines the conservative as “a statesman who is enamored of existing evils, as distinguished from the Liberal, who wishes to replace them with others.”

From this, we can surmise that while people on both the left and right believe in individual rights and civil liberties, the right believes that the government’s role should be limited to regulatory oversight and operate within the confines of constitutional guidelines and established laws.  In contrast, the left believes in expanded government control over the economy and social relations (regimentation of society and the economy).  The ideological differences in government control over the economy can be summed up as the difference between capitalism and socialism.  “Capitalism is an economic system under which the means of production are privately owned.  Production and consumer prices are based on a free-market system of supply and demand.  Socialism is an economic and political system under which the means of production are publicly owned.  Production and consumer prices are controlled by the government to best meet the needs of the people.” (Longley, 2022)

Although capitalism has done more to lift people out of poverty than any other economic system, the left believes that the failed socialist economic system is a better model for society.  Even Karl Marx — in a somewhat offhanded way — credited capitalism for its positive changes in society.  “The bourgeoisie has subjected the country to the rule of the towns.  It has created enormous cities, has greatly increased the urban population as compared with the rural, and has thus rescued a considerable part of the population from the idiocy of rural life.” (Communist Manifesto, 1847)  It is worth noting that the modern left often refers to people in rural parts of the country — flyover country — as uneducated, illiterate rubes.

The claim that the left ascribes to a socialist form of government is not some conspiracy theory hatched in the smoke-filled dens of far-right radical thinkers.  All you have to do is listen to the words they utter.

“In America, capitalism is our system, it is our economic system, but it has not served our economy as well as it should. You cannot have a system where the success of some springs from the exploitation of the workers and springs from the exploitation of the environment and the rest, and we have to correct that.” (Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, D-CA, 2021)

“Capitalism is an ideology of capital — the most important thing is the concentration of capital and to seek and maximize profit. To me, capitalism is irredeemable. We should be scared.” (Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-NY, 2019)

U.S. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) believes that the American people must demand fundamental economic and political change. In his book It’s Okay to Be Angry About Capitalism (2023), Sanders offers a blueprint for transformational change of the government to socialism.

These are just a few of examples of mainstream left-wing politicians espousing transformational change of America’s republican form of government and capitalist system to the failed social and economic system that has led to tyrannical, oppressive regimes across the globe; and doing so in language that could be lifted out of the Communist Manifesto, Lenin’s What is to be Done?, or Stalin’s Mastering Bolshevism. A system that is antithetical to a free and open society.

On the other hand, right-wing politicians are predominantly anti-communist/socialist and strong proponents of capitalism with regulatory oversight by the government. The ultra-right believes in no regulatory oversight.

Forcible suppression of the opposition and the use of violence to achieve political objectives is a hallmark of the left, not the right. While there have been scattered instances of violence by extreme right-wing ideologues, left-wing activists, politicians, and journalists routinely incite, condone, and/or use violence to achieve sociopolitical outcomes.  So much so that left-wing assaults on, and the throwing of frozen bottles of water, rocks, bricks, and Molotov cocktails at police officers, and acts of arson are not uncommon during periods of civil unrest that can spring up at a moment’s notice. Instances of property destruction, and unprovoked assaults on people just because they have different sociopolitical opinions are such regular occurrences that nary a day goes by that you do not hear or read about it in the news or on social media.

From the historical perspective, examples of fascist leaders with “a tendency toward or actual exercise of strong autocratic or dictatorial control” always referred to Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, and other socialist/communist dictators.  It was not until ~2000 that mainstream scholars began associating fascism as a predominantly right-wing political ideology, even though the historical record and hundreds of scholarly articles indicate otherwise. Yes, there have always been elements on the fringes of the left and right of the political spectrum that are populated by ideologues who adhere to what can only be defined as extremist views. However, to define fascism as just a far-right ideology belies the fact that the left has always had more in common with fascism than the right.

Recommended Citation: ©Crow Jr., Art (2024), The Dichotomy of Fascism, www.withmaliceaforethought.com/the-dichotomy-of-fascism