The Twentieth Century saw untold human suffering, most of it caused by the ideologies of fascism and communism. The Second World War, the Holocaust, the Holodomor, Soviet Gulags and purges, Mao’s Great Leap Forward, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, Pol Pot’s killing fields, and the myriad other minor conflicts all dressed up as anti-colonial insurgences led to the deaths of more humans than all the other wars in history combined. That’s some serious killing.

As you have gathered most of those events took place under the yoke of Communism, ostensibly because fascism had been extinguished in 1945 when Japan was finally bombed into surrender – except in some parts of Europe; Spain, Portugal, and Greece remained under the fascist militarist yoke until the 1970s (all fell within a few months of each other). While the later years of the century were characterised by a great ideological struggle between communism and liberal freedom, East v West, NATO v the Warsaw Pact, you get the drift, the first half of the century was communism v imperialism / fascism.

Hitler deemed the greatest threat to Nazi Germany not to be the Jews, or the British Empire, but the evil of Bolshevism. In Mein Kampf Hitler is pretty clear that the Bolsheviks in the Soviet Union are the problem. Stalin, on the other hand, was astonished when he was told that the Germans had broken the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and had invaded the Soviet Union. Actually, he failed to believe it for a number of days, thereby inhibiting the Soviet response.

Liberalism: Totalitarian Kryptonite

All of these things are true, but they all fail to explain the nuances of each system and why they were both, and still are, a political, social, military, and ideological threat to the freedoms that we have grown accustomed to in the political West.

Britain was the first modern state to embrace what we now call liberal democracy. An elected parliament that passes laws based on representative democracy. We the people elect our representatives. We have a separate executive and judicial. All three branches of government are supposed to exist independently of each other – although in practice that no longer exists. It was a system that had its first steps at Runnymede in Surrey, England when King John – the evil one from Robin Hood – signed the Magna Carta (the Great Charter) in 1215.

Everything in our Liberal Democratic societies stems from there. Including the primacy of the individual – you, me, each one of us is sovereign, we are the Kings and Queens of our castle, Masters of our Domain!

We have rights, we also have obligations, but these are secondary to our individual liberty. All the English speaking world adheres to these principles, and whenever the State has forgotten these principles there has been revolution or civil war. These are rights earned by the spilling of blood.

The British Empire saw these principles expanded to many of its colonies even after independence. Today India stands as the largest liberal democracy in history. And following WWII it spread to the Western occupied parts of Europe, although these became Social Democracies in most cases as the Europeans just can’t handle too much liberty – it makes them fearful and nauseous.

Why does this matter when talking about fascism and communism? Context my dear Watson, context. For if we don’t have a baseline to refer to then they make no sense? Liberty and freedom is our baseline, capitalism less so – and I’ll get to why that is in a moment. And liberty and freedom are the mortal enemy of the fascist and communist.

Fascism 101

So, what exactly do we mean when we talk about fascism? If you asked most people they would mention racism, military uniforms – mainly brown but sometimes a stylish black and silver ensemble, and lots of flag waving nationalists. Basically, racist nationalists that like to play dress-up. But that isn’t correct, the rallies and shiny uniforms are a way of ensuring compliance, and for the state to easily identify those that subscribe to the prevailing ruling class ideology. Race was simply another way of ensuring that. Mussolini, for example, liked to emphasise the Roman ancestry of Italy as his rallying point.

Fascism is a far more subtle and complex ideology. The first fascist government was Benito Mussolini’s in Italy. The word itself comes from a Latin word ‘fasces’ – a bundle of birch rods often containing an axe as a symbol of penal authority.

Fascism is essentially the subjugation of society, especially, corporations and other means of production to support the aims of the state. In a fascist society the State itself had primacy. The role of individuals and business was to work for the glory of the State. The State operated to support corporations which in turn enabled the State to maintain control, increase its reach, and ensure glory forever.

Modern revisionism likes to portray fascism as a racist militaristic ideology but this is revisionist bullshit – actually, it is Marxist revisionist bullshit. All authoritarian states require strong security forces to maintain their vice like hold on power. They all do it.

People need to be made to heel like the dogs that they are and we need strong police/army/parking wardens to do this – or so says the fascist. Racists are drawn to this because they like a good excuse to beat the fuck out of people they don’t like, just like how cops like to beat up, well, everyone. Fascism has lots of racists and psychopaths because it gives them power over others.

All that being said it would be reasonable to define fascism thus:

A nationalistic political, military, and social ideology that believes in the inherent

superiority of the nation state over all others while supporting free market capitalism

Yes fascism likes capitalism. It likes corporations. As long as they work on behalf of the State. Do that as a business and you can do what you like. You see fascists quite like capitalism too, just not the freedom that we like to think goes with that. Capitalism is actually wonderfully compatible with fascism, all the better to have governments telling people what they must buy. Don’t believe me? Just look at all the Big Tech and Telecoms companies.

Communism: Down on the Farm

What about the commies? The mortal enemy of fascism. Or is it? We all know that communist countries are single party totalitarian regimes – just like our goose stepping, but better dressed fascists. They have elections though – fascist dictatorships tend to shy away from these – but you are only allowed to vote for the Communist Party candidate…although maybe you get to choose which one of these you would rather give a cushy gig to: asshole number 1 or asshole number 2. Not really a democratic choice. Like being asked to choose between hanging and firing squad.

Communists also like uniforms; but the bland, often khaki or olive green kind, a bit like a lesbian auto mechanic. And for any lesbian auto mechanics out there I apologise for any offence I may have caused by liking you to a communist. Of course, we all know that no auto mechanic would ever become a commie.

Communists also don’t like corporations. They believe that the means of production should be owned by the State. This means that the State can equally distribute goods and services throughout society, unless you are part of the ruling elite in which case you are more equal than others. Haven’t read Animal Farm, if not, do so, if yes, do it again. Unlike fascism, communism owns corporations.

This, of course, leads to many bad outcomes because government is incredibly bad at managing these types of things. Imagine if the Department of Motor Vehicles had to decide who got a new fridge, or how many cabbages we needed to grow this year to feed the country?

Communism also loves its security forces. You see anyone that doesn’t subscribe to the accepted ideology is a problem, they are a threat, and they either need to be re-educated or killed. The military also provides status to the State, just like the fascists. Oh and remember Mussolini’s axe and branches, it sounds awfully like a hammer and sickle, doesn’t it?

Differences

Another difference between the two is that communism is more egalitarian. Anyone, well almost anyone, can be part of the Party and may one day be able to rise up to be one of the elite. This wasn’t so easy in Nazi Germany, especially if you were a swarthy looking Jew. Although, in defence of the fascists and Nazis (does this make me a Nazi apologist?) they didn’t seem to have a problem with other races and nationalities as long as they stayed where they were so to speak – Hitler had many non-white fascist allies – Japan anyone? – it was just within German speaking lands he seemed to have an issue. Oh and almost forgot to mention that communism is great at volunteerism too. Everyone is a volunteer whether you like it or not!

If you like blandness, not having any individual thoughts, believing that everything the State does is good, national service, being told what to eat, where to sleep, and what to do for your entire life then communism is probably your kettle of fish. If you like an air of superiority, nice uniforms, a rollicking good time looking down upon others not as cool as you while keeping a flag in your front lawn then you are probably a fascist.

On the surface, that looks like quite a few differences. Enough to make the distinction between left and right at least. Or is it?

When we talk politics we always talk left v right. centre left, centre right, far left, and far right. The last two morphing into communism (socialism ain’t communism Cocise so settle your little confederate flag waving down), and fascism (not all racists are fascists and not all fascists are racists either you ANTIFA loons).

The problem with this interpretation is we separate out each ideology into distinct parts. It also implies that someone that identifies as centre left is closer to a communist than they are to someone that is centre right. This is absurdity of the highest level.

The Reasonableness Test

Your average person sits within the boundaries of reasonableness. Reasonable people agree on many things, perhaps we prefer better government services paid for with slightly higher taxes, or we prefer to have more cash in our pocket so we can make those decisions ourselves. Or socially, we believe that people need more help to get ahead or that people need to help themselves. But these are not absolute positions for most people; many would change their minds depending on specific circumstances. That is because we are reasonable people.

The far right and the far left – commies and fascists – are not reasonable. They are extremists. They believe in absolutes, that one size fits all, and that if you are not with them you are their enemy. As Obi Wan Kenobi said, ‘only a Sith deals in absolutes.’

They are not like you and I, they are different sides of the same coin. Communism and fascism should never be looked at as extremes on either end of a political spectrum because they are not at opposite ends of anything. If you choose the left path and go far enough you will meet the far right, and vice versa. The only way to really understand where these ideologies meet is to look at the political spectrum as a circle and not a line.

The only tangible difference between the two is that communism demands allegiance to the Party and fascism to the nation, the people or the state – whatever suits the narrative.

One Last Difference

There is one other difference, and it is important because it explains why communism collapsed (I’ll get to China in a sec). Fascism allows the market to be innovative. Corporations are encouraged to be creative and to push the boundaries of knowledge and engineering. Nazi Germany used the vast corporate industries of Germany to enhance its war making capabilities. Communism, well DMV…

Fascism was defeated by a massive military campaign by both the communist and liberal democratic worlds. Basically, Germany and Japan were just not big enough to take on everyone else.

Communism was defeated by its own contradictions and inability to satisfy its own social needs. People craved freedom and material stuff. The commies couldn’t provide it, and once they were no longer able to provide the security forces with what they needed too, collapse was inevitable. Gorbachev understood this, he hoped he could save the USSR by opening it up and making it, well. more fascist and less communist. It was too late.

What about China?

China, well China is a very different beast indeed. They have bucked the trend of communist regimes collapsing upon themselves. How? Deng Xiaoping took over the reins from Mao Tse Tung in 1978. Deng understood that Mao’s interpretation of Marxist Leninism was a failure and that China needed to open itself more to the world; this change is known as Deng Xiaoping Thought. This philosophy was fundamentally a change in the application of what they call ‘socialist’ ideals from the prevailing view at the time to a more ‘Chinese’ version. Now the Chinese might just be the best capitalists in the World. They just know how to do it.

Essentially, China adopted a more fascist way of operating. While the State still technically owns everything and maintains the type of social control one expects of a communist dictatorship it allowed Chinese corporations to operate within the global free market, as long as these aims fulfilled the aims of the Chinese Communist Party. They opened themselves up to Western investment and in turn invested in the West – as well as everywhere else.

But, this change has led to the inevitable. China is no longer a communist state, it is fascist. Xi Xinping has effectively declared himself dictator for life – not very communisty – and he has pushed the cult of the leader. China is becoming increasingly nationalistic and militaristic. The Party appears to be becoming secondary to the nation and the leader. Additionally, the treatment of ethnic minorities and desire to forcefully reintegrate Taiwan are hallmarks of fascism, not communism.

And my point is…

The point of all of this is to show that the difference between the two ideologies is almost non-existent. In fact, the most successful communist dictatorship was East Germany, who took to it like a duck to water, because they had been fascists for the best part of twenty years. Easy peasy.

Communism failed because it demanded loyalty to the Party, to the cause. This will always ensure failure because the majority will always be excluded. Fascism demands loyalty to the nation. That is difference between their relative successes and failures. But to reasonable people they look exactly the same. They both believe that they know best, that they know what is right for you, they both will not tolerate dissent, and they both want to crush you under their jackboot. Sound familiar?