Many of us refer to the Left as Marxist or Communist, while we on the Right are frequently labeled as Fascist.  Who is right?  Let’s see….

Imagine that you are in a blimp flying over a football field.  Let’s imagine that the center of political thought is at the 50-yard line.  In the broadest terms, those to the left of that mark believe that the government should take a larger role in public life, while those to the right of the 50-yard line believe that the government should have a more limited role.  So far, so good?

First, let’s go to the right and see who or what we encounter.  The first person that we might find is the late Sen. John McCain, who would be gazing wistfully over to the other side, wondering if he should be over there.  Moving a bit further to the right, we see Sen. Mitch McConnell, who would be smack in the middle of RINO Country.  If we move a few yards further on, we see Sen. Rand Paul, who has a strong Libertarian streak.  As you can see, with each yard that we move, we find those that believe in a smaller and smaller role of government.  As we keep going, there is less and less government and finally, in the end-zone to the right, there is none.  Anarchy.  No government.

Now, let’s go to the left of the 50-yard line.  Probably the first person we see is Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, of Arizona.  She might occasionally dangle her foot over the right side of the 50-yard line but will not step over.  As we move further on, we see (drum roll) Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who is characteristic of a larger and larger portion of the Democrat Party.  She believes in quite a large role for government.  She is even a member of (DSA) Democratic Socialists of America.  If we are generous and refer to this thinking as similar to some European countries, then the belief is in heavy government regulation with some state ownership of key areas and industries.

Now, let’s pause for a minute and jump into the end-zone of the Left.  All the way over.  What do we see?  This is Communism.  Communism is total control.  They own the “means of production” and through authoritarian means, rule over the populace.

So that leaves a little gap between the yard lines.  What is between Socialism and Communism?  The answer is Fascism.  Fascism is Socialism on steroids. In this instance, although the government has total control over all things, it does not necessarily own the means of production, it just controls everything.  Can you think of a big country that fits this definition right now?  The answer is China.  Yes, they call themselves communist and certainly revere Mao, but let’s look at the reality.  They certainly still have iron-fisted rule.  However, companies do exist outside of those that are government owned and run.  Even though these companies are nominally independent, they are still forcefully controlled by the government. 

Fascism is a very leftist form of government.  It is not to the right at all.  So, all those old movies that refer to Fascists as far right are simply wrong.  When the Left refers to us as “Fascists,” we know that they are really just looking in the mirror.

Image: Public Domain