On Fascism
Posted by Socrates in Chile, Cuba, Fascism, fascism vs. communism, fascism-lite, politics, Socrates at 3:01 pm | 
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There’s a lot for a newbie to digest here. The state is important, but is it vital for life? It might be vital or it might not be, depending on the circumstances. Note that fascism takes different forms in different countries [1]. That is the basic opposite of communism, which is (or was) pretty much universal in scope and ideology, usually taking marching orders and money from the “mother ship” (the Soviet Union). Unlike communism, a fascist government is generally a stable, well-run government [2], e.g., Chile under Pinochet, or Portugal under Antonio Salazar, who ruled for nearly 40 years (1932–1968). Interestingly, Salazar, a pragmatist, had a few “progressive” bones in his body and was well-liked even by his enemies.
[Audio file, duration is 43 minutes].
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[1] Note: I broadly define fascism here as “right-wing authoritarian government with a dictator(s)”; I include in that description countries like Chile and Argentina in the 1970s, which were “fascism-lite.” Regular fascism has a habit of glorifying war, unfortunately.
[2] for example, the Cuban communist leader, Fidel Castro, was sitting on a gold mine: Cuba had the best rum, molasses, sugar cane and cigars on earth, but Castro drove those industries into the ground because communists are generally fools