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Originally Posted by Thymeclock
roflwaffle responded: "You should check again..."
Cleanspeed is correct. 'Fascism' and 'fascist' are among the most misused and overused terms today. Fascism is essentially State syndication of capitalism. When Mussolini's experiment instituted Fascism (as that is where the term originates) he was praised by both the Left and the Right worldwide in newspapers proclaiming his regime of efficiency the most wonderful idea in all of history. Unfortunately, both Italy and Germany quickly evolved into brutal totalitarian states. History and the original concept of what it is does pertain.
However, today the term 'fascist' is used as an all-purpose pejorative label to describe anyone whom you might find disagreeable.  |
The phrase "State syndication of capitalism" is contradictory. If the state controls the means of production then those means aren't private any more and by definition aren't capitalist.
Fascism is...
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Originally Posted by Dictionary.com
a governmental system led by a dictator having complete power, forcibly suppressing opposition and criticism, regimenting all industry, commerce, etc., and emphasizing an aggressive nationalism and often racism.
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So just having corporations and government merge in and of itself is socialism (state owns the means of production). Socialist governments can also be fascist, but that requires they have the other characteristics (eg asshole dictator and so on).