Is fascism actually a right-wing construct?

Or have we been holding the political compass upside-down?

Though I started writing this article weeks ago, I set it aside to work on others, and over the past couple of days I’ve seen a spate of others authors espousing a position similar to mine. Having a compass can help us find our way through the political wilderness. But what happens if we don’t use that compass correctly? I’ve pondered for a long time why people have historically viewed Naziism and Fascism as right-wing authoritarianism, as I believe they both lie on what, at least now, is the political left. The word Nazi has been bandied about quite a bit over the past few years, particularly from Democrats toward Republicans. People were so concerned about fascism, that they formed Antifa (“Anti-Fascism”) to combat it. The President recently called MAGA Republicans “semi-fascist.” So, where is the truth in all this?

A lot of people are unaware of the etymology of the word Nazi. Nazi is a condensed form of Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (National Socialist German Workers’ Party). Your eyes do not deceive you - the Nazis were socialists. That in and of itself would put them on the left side of the political spectrum. “But Hitler opposed Marxism and Stalin’s communism.” Yes, he did. Hitler didn’t believe Marxism or Communism were true socialism. Hitler was quite happy working to build his own elitist hierarchy and had no desire for that to be co-opted by the likes of Stalin. Naziism was nationalistic, which is why it has always been seen as a right-wing political system. However, if you do some research, nationalism has varying meanings, depending upon the source. According to Brittanica:

Nationalism is an ideology that emphasizes loyalty, devotion, or allegiance to a nation or nation-state and holds that such obligations outweigh other individual or group interests.

Putting the nation over individual or group interests sounds a lot like collectivism - emphasis of the collective over the individual. We’ve heard these types of statements even during the COVID “crisis.” “It’s for the common good” is a standard battle cry for stomping on people’s individual rights and liberties. The Nazi party stressed collectivism. Germany called for entrepreneurs to invest not for personal profit but for the benefit of the community. Does this sound familiar? This is a position held mainly in America by Democrats, not Republicans. Hitler was also considered fascistic due to his willingness to use violence as a means to his ends.

Benito Mussolini is arguably the most well-known fascist leader ever to take the world stage. Like Naziism, Fascism is a totalitarian system. Though Mussolini began his career as a socialist, he eventually reviled Marxism. Prior to WWI, though he denounced orthodox socialism, he still maintained that he was a nationalist socialist. Where have we heard this before? After the war, however, Mussolini finally rejected socialism altogether as a failed doctrine. Like Hitler, Mussolini believed in rule by elites. For Mussolini, the state was the ultimate end, thus all citizens had a duty to the state that would supersede their individual interests. Mussolini injected the state into education as well in order to develop future rulers of the state. Another commonality Mussolini held with Hitler was a belief in a hierarchy of the races. For both of these men, Darwinism and a rejection of God were the order of the day. Most people also don’t realize that Mussolini was raised to power on the support of leftist elites. While people decry Mussolini’s fascism as right-wing authoritarianism, I think it falls much more in line with leftist dogma.

Hitler and Mussolini shared other commonalities. Both dismantled their countries’ constitutions. Both also believed in using violence to accomplish their political goals. As the hands and feet for committing the atrocities that helped them attain and maintain their power, Hitler had his Sturmabteilung (SA), also know as brownshirts, and Mussolini had his blackshirts. Both provided protection for their party’s rallies and events, and both were responsible for intimidating opposing parties. The SA committed violent, racially-motivated riots. The blackshirts had clashes with the opposing parties at parades and demonstrations. Where have we seen such things recently? Well, racially-motivated rioting was widely perpetrated by BLM. As for clashes at parades and demonstrations? We can thank Antifa for many violent outbreaks at parades and demonstrations. I find it somewhat ironic that a group supposedly dedicated to confronting fascism engages in fascist tactics to accomplish their political aims. Both of these groups align with the Democrats on the political left.

So, with whom do the Nazi’s and Fascist’s really align? Historical definitions tell us one thing, but reality tells us another. I think we’ve been holding the political compass upside-down.