Socialism vs. Naziism

What are the similarities and differences?

We have repeatedly been told that Naziism and fascism are right wing. On the far left of the political spectrum we have communism, and on the far right we supposedly have fascism. The two are allegedly polar opposites. But is this correct? It turns out that communism and fascism are not opposites at all. Their similarities are far greater than the differences.

Many similarities

Communism and fascism are simply different iterations of socialism. When communism failed to work as predicted, Marxists went on to create other versions of socialism. This included fascism and Naziism. Characteristics shared by both communism and fascism include state collectivism, planned economies and group struggle. Both communists and fascists campaign on slogans of inequality and employ group identity politics. In practice, both communists and fascists have predictably discarded workers’ revolutions and harnessed intellectual elites to grab power. The result in either case is a totalitarian dictatorship.

Take Benito Mussolini for example. He was a socialist in Italy who revised Marxism to create national socialism. He used a bundle of sticks (fasci) tipped with the head of an axe to symbolize fascism, synonymous with national socialism. The symbol represented state collectivism, a characteristic common to both communist and fascist regimes.

While many leftists claim that Mussolini was a fascist, according to Dinesh D’Souza’s book The Big Lie: Exposing the Nazi roots of the American Left:

Mussolini was the leading figure of Italian revolutionary socialism and never relinquished his allegiance to it.

In other words, fascism and national socialism are one and the same. They are forms of socialism.

Adolf Hitler was another socialist to rise to power—this time in Germany. Relying heavily on the writings of Karl Marx to formulate his policies, Hitler formed the National Socialist German Workers’ Party, known as the Nazis. Like many socialists before and after him, Hitler used identity politics to mobilize his supporters. His brutal national socialist government was responsible for the deaths of 10 million civilians. In comparison, other socialist dictators caused 60 million deaths (Stalin) and 70 million deaths (Mao).

As presented in Joshua Phillips’ documentary series The Dark Origins of Communism: Rise of Global Tyranny:

The Nazi policies followed a 25-point program that closely mirrors the programs of today’s socialists. These included universal free health care and education, nationalization of large corporations and trusts, government control of banking and credit, the splitting of large shareholdings to smaller units, and similar policies.

In The Big Lie: Exposing the Nazi roots of the American Left, author Dinesh D’Souza wrote:

Hitler’s party defined itself as championing national socialism. Mussolini and Hitler both identified socialism as the core of the fascist and Nazi way of life.

Few, if any, differences

The differences between fascism and socialism are superficial. For instance, the various socialist dictators targeted different groups of people as state enemies. Lenin targeted wealthy farmers. China’s Mao Zedong targeted landlords. And Hitler targeted the Jews. The pattern is predictable: Socialist dictators characteristically choose an identity group, label people within that group as “oppressors,” and promote state-sanctioned violence against that group.

The bottom line

Fascism is a phenomenon of the Left. The left-wing ideologies of communism and fascism are simply different interpretations of socialism.

The fighting in WWII was not between opposite ideologies. It was a conflict about what version of socialism would stick. In The Road to Serfdom, author and economist F. A. Hayek says:

The conflict between the fascist or national socialist and the older socialist parties must, indeed, very largely be regarded as the kind of conflict which is bound to arise between rival socialist factions.

Another well-known economist, Ludwig von Mises, wrote in Planned Chaos:

It’s important to realize that Fascism and Nazism were socialist dictatorships…The philosophy of the Nazis, the German National Socialist Labour Part, is the purest and most consistent manifestation of the anticapitalistic and socialistic spirit of our age.

Yet, modern socialists have adopted many of the same failed policies and slogans of inequality as fascists, Nazis and other socialists. Fascism and socialism are one and the same. In Orwellian Newspeak fashion, the Left’s “anti-fascists,” who allegedly fight fascism, are really fascists in disguise.

In order for socialism to assume power, it destabilizes existing social order with chaos and violence, intentionally propping up crisis and class enemies to blame, so that people, fed up, will settle for a new system—their system. —Joshua Phillips in ‘Dark Origins of Communism: Rise of Global Tyranny’