In light of the Durham Report, I'd be interested in what people reading here think about the the ongoing recourse to a 1930s Redux narrative that has prevailed since 2016. A controversial topic for sure, so maybe you'd prefer to pass this time, but I think there are thoughtful and measured comments to be made. Maybe take a look at this article just out in The TransAtlantic for context…
Simply total government control as totalitarianism on the left end, minimal government and maximum freedom on the right end (I prefer to define anarchy as the total a lack of order, so I don't put it on the spectrum, which to me is a range of kinds of order). I know that few people want fascism to be the left end, but I do!
And yes, there's no right or wrong-- it's a matter of definition, like 'democracy'. Still, I think in practical terms, some definitions work better than others. Mine isn't perfect, but it's mine so I love it.
" Since I consider the political spectrum to be circle instead of a line, I place Marxism at the bottom of the circle alongside fascism. Totalitarianism consists of both communism and fascism—two ideologies that are very much the same."
Serious question. Why not just place communism and fascism at the far left end of a "Left ---Right" line, and, presumably, democracy at the right end?
Excellent piece. If our world were sane, this piece would be in The Atlantic this month, instead of what actually is in The Atlantic this month.
It's interesting that leftists in the UK are starting to use the world 'democracy' to refer to the US system of government -- the US kleptocratic oligarchy-- the same way as the US media uses the term. But of course the Brits cannot say "our" democracy. E.g. this quote from today's Financial Times:
"We’re often told that US politics is in the grip of dark forces fed by political manipulation and Big Tech as misinformation undermines democracy."
WaPo would surely have said "our democracy". But the FT can't, being Brits, though they refer to the same system.
Democracy vs. 'Our Democracy'
In light of the Durham Report, I'd be interested in what people reading here think about the the ongoing recourse to a 1930s Redux narrative that has prevailed since 2016. A controversial topic for sure, so maybe you'd prefer to pass this time, but I think there are thoughtful and measured comments to be made. Maybe take a look at this article just out in The TransAtlantic for context…
https://thetransatlantic.substack.com/p/durham-report-trump-russia-nazis-history
I like "Democratic Republic" probably because "Republican" has the word Republic in it and therefore the Marxists a.k.a. the Democrats despise it.
Simply total government control as totalitarianism on the left end, minimal government and maximum freedom on the right end (I prefer to define anarchy as the total a lack of order, so I don't put it on the spectrum, which to me is a range of kinds of order). I know that few people want fascism to be the left end, but I do!
And yes, there's no right or wrong-- it's a matter of definition, like 'democracy'. Still, I think in practical terms, some definitions work better than others. Mine isn't perfect, but it's mine so I love it.
" Since I consider the political spectrum to be circle instead of a line, I place Marxism at the bottom of the circle alongside fascism. Totalitarianism consists of both communism and fascism—two ideologies that are very much the same."
Serious question. Why not just place communism and fascism at the far left end of a "Left ---Right" line, and, presumably, democracy at the right end?
Excellent piece. If our world were sane, this piece would be in The Atlantic this month, instead of what actually is in The Atlantic this month.
It's interesting that leftists in the UK are starting to use the world 'democracy' to refer to the US system of government -- the US kleptocratic oligarchy-- the same way as the US media uses the term. But of course the Brits cannot say "our" democracy. E.g. this quote from today's Financial Times:
"We’re often told that US politics is in the grip of dark forces fed by political manipulation and Big Tech as misinformation undermines democracy."
WaPo would surely have said "our democracy". But the FT can't, being Brits, though they refer to the same system.