As stated on these pages more than once:
"And yes, I know the distinction between Fascism and vertical syndicalist corporatism based on guilds. I'm just using a shorthand, readily understandable usage...."
(a line that works as a great ice-breaker at parties and funerals).
The assumption often made regarding the famous quote from il Duce:
"Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power. "—B. Mussolini via BrainyQuote
is that he is was talking about our generally understood legal term 'corporation'. It was actually the Italian division of society into, say, the labor corporation, the farmer corporation, the religious corporation, the business corporation the political corporation, each trade (hence the guilds), each industry, etc.
Understanding that, it is easy to see how fascism morphs into totalitarianism, the total control of all aspects of individual lives, lives subsumed to the 'greater good' (as defined by those in power).
Which can be wrapped up in this handy definition via Debate.org:
Contrary to popular belief, fascism can be most accurately defined as the political belief that the state is more important than the individual. This belief is what allowed fascists to justify pursuing "racial purification" of humanity. They considered the individual rights of those they killed as less important than the greater good that they fervently believed would come to humanity through the supremacy of a certain race. Essentially, fascism focussed on community, rather than the individual, which is undoubtedly a hallmark of the left wing.
Compared to:
By definition, basically. Fascism is unbridled nationalism. Nothing outside the state, nothing above the state, everything within the state. Furthermore, Fascism asserts that one nation is inherently better than all others. This hierarchical viewpoint is characteristic of extreme right-wing ideology. Liberalism, in contrast, is usually opposed to nationalism and tends to encourage equality.
Or:
By very definition it's right wing.
The DEFINITION of Fascism is "an authoritarian and nationalistic right wing system of government and social organization". While many sociologists and political analysts correctly state that it is difficult to place a system which got its roots from many sources on a traditional left-right spectrum, the majority place it as extreme right wing due to its social policies as well as its rabid nationalism.....
Both of these are tautologies—argument by definition—but more importantly, don't capture many aspects of fascist lived-reality that were seen in both Germany and Italy
More to come, I'm sure.
