Socialism vs. Fascism: which one should terrify you

How did it happen? How did Socialism become more stigmatized than Fascism in American society.

Apparently fascism is not to be feared anymore. We are on the precipice of fascism. We might as well know how to define it.

Fascism (/ˈfæʃɪzəm/) is a form of far-right, authoritarian ultranationalism characterized by dictatorial power, forcible suppression of opposition, and strong regimentation of society and of the economy which came to prominence in early 20th-century.

Sound familiar?

Fascism is an absolute and very easy to define. It is a word like “dead” or “capsized”. It has no gradation. It has no dimmer switch. Its either On or Off. When it’s “On” democracy is off. It has been clear from the start of our Republic that NO amount of fascism is tolerable in our political system. It’s like lead in our water. No amount is safe. There was a time when people living in this county wouldn’t tolerate being controlled, without the right to vote or representation. Those people fought a war with England so that we could have a government accountable to its citizens with checks and balances and limits to individual power.

Fascism has its faces (it’s not pretty): Hitler, Mussolini, and Franco are the most well known. They reigned terror on the world during the early 20th century. They answered to no one and they punished and silenced their critics. They don’t like journalists scrutinizing their behavior. They think that the media is a nuisance and they want to discredit it.
We have our Fascist dictators in this century: North Korea’s Kim Jong-un, Vladimir Putin of Russia, and Xi Jingin of China. They decide what you can do and say. They decide everything. They are subjected to no scrutiny. In the last century Fascism was responsible for the deaths of 80 million people and half the world’s Jewish population. On the other hand, Socialism only exists if the people vote it into power. It’s not upheld or enforced by an egomaniacal dictator. It’s subject to review and scrutiny by its citizens. Fascism is not subject to any such review. It exists as long as there is a singular thirst for individual power over others. Because that is so dangerous and destructive to a free society it must be confronted vigorously. Thomas Jefferson and the rest of the Founding Fathers were willing to die opposing Fascism and monarchy. They believed in a government of laws, not men.

Fascist leaders often wear military garb to all public events. They need armed guards and military parades to remind their citizens of their power. A totalitarian leader says things like:

“Congressman Adam Schiff needs to pay a price for demeaning my presidency”.

“Pay a price?” You don’t “pay a price” in a free society because you exercise your right to free speech. In a fascist society or a totalitarian society like we have in China you can be punished severely for merely disagreeing with the government. Freedom of speech doesn’t exist. Peaceful protests are met with batons, tear gas, and handcuffs. Sound familiar?
When a sitting President is trying to overthrow the will of the people, an election, in order to keep himself in power it’s time to call him what he is: a fascist dictator. It’s upon us! It’s in our backyard. When a sitting President is trying to bully the courts to prevent books from being published that are critical of that President we need to grab our torches. When a sitting President wants to punish all those who oppose him, and when he incited angry mobs of his followers to call for the beheading of those who didn’t go far enough to support him then we have fascism; a government that serves one narcissistic individual. That is consistent with Putin or the leader of an Islamic sect that wants people who challenge Allah to “pay a price”.

Socialism is an entirely different word. It is nuanced. Socialism is like a light that has a dimmer switch. Any country that has (any) level of government provided services has the “light” of Socialism “On”. It’s a matter of adjusting the dimmer switch as to how much Socialism you want in your government. Socialism isn’t enforced with batons and police in riot gear. It is enforced by the will of the people in the voting booth. Comparing it to light is a good metaphor because there is no practical way to have a just government without doses of Socialism. In turn Fascism can aptly be likened to darkness (and despair). Americans deserve a government that is accountable to the people.

Don’t be afraid of the wrong things.

Let’s also make it clear that communism is nothing like Socialism. Communism, like fascism, is not a democracy. It is enforced by a totalitarian regime and it doesn’t pretend to be accountable to its citizens. Remember “Of the People, By the People, and for the People”? Socialism and a free democracy never forgot that verse. Fascism chloroforms it. Socialism doesn’t try to suppress the vote and encourage foreign intervention (by a totalitarian country) in our election process.

No one would dispute that our country practices socialism in many many areas. Social Security, Medicare, and an infinite number of other systems are in place for the general welfare of our citizens. They’ve been in place for almost a century in some cases. Perhaps no greater act of socialism in this country occurred in 2010 when the federal government of the United States (that’s you and me) decided to bail out (give a hand out to) the Wall Street financial institutions that had, through their greed and recklessness, etc., instigated the 2008 financial crisis that destroyed countless lives across our country. We not only paid for their mistakes and greed, we paid for their lawbreaking.

The high point in hypocrisy! Remember “too big to fail”? Our government cut them a check for almost half a trillion. (That) kind of “socialism” is abhorrent. It’s a “heads we win, tails we win” proposition for the greediest sector of society. Wall Street loves that kind of socialism. We bailed out the automobile industry in a similar act of socialism. The U.S. gov said, “don’t worry corporate America. We’ve got your backs”.

Democratic Socialism says something entirely different: “Don’t worry working class families who have health care needs or who are working two jobs to make ends meat. We’ve got your backs.”

It’s egalitarian, not totalitarian. It empowers the people of this country and not a dictator.

Below is a partial list of countries that practice Democratic Socialism in a way that is similar but much more progressive than the way we practice it in the United States. They all have their dimmer switch at much high settings than does the United States. These countries all have universal health care, family leave, much better education and a more robust social safety net. They believe that just being a citizen guarantees you basic human requirements. It is far more egalitarian in philosophy and practice. Who could argue against the much higher quality and standard of living that exists in all Scandinavian countries, the far less poverty and incarceration. None of the countries listed below believe in rewarding Corporations with free money when they maliciously destroy the lives of working families.

The list:

England

Germany

Australia

Canada

All Scandinavian countries

France

Australia

Switzerland

They all have better health care systems than we do (by far). We rank 34th out of the 35 developed countries according to Bloomberg Index. We rank 34th out of 35 in childhood poverty. Only one developed country has a higher % of childhood poverty than the U. S. (23%).

It is important to note that the leaders of the aforementioned countries are all elected fairly. They don’t have political factions whose strategy it is to disenfranchise the voting rights of minorities. They don’t make people in lower socioeconomic neighborhoods wait in line for 4 hours to vote. Those types of strategies are clearly an attempt to circumvent democracy and the will of the people.

Socialism: We have had it for decades. Some think it’s time to increase the dose due to a breathtaking rise in income inequality. Socialism believes in democracy and power to “We the People”

Fascism: Any dose is fatal. Power is exclusively in the hands of a dictator who controls everything. The people have no vote and no power. The U.S. has never had it and no other developed countries concurrently practice it; not since the rise of the Axis powers during WWII.

All those who sacrificed and died so that we could defeat a Fascist dictator in the 1940’s would be shocked that we have so willingly embraced a fascist dictator of our own just 80 years later. We fought a Revolutionary War over two centuries ago to secure the promise that we would have a country that was always accountable to its citizens. That promise is on its last breath

Food for thought.