<You seem to be intent on going to the extremes. Hitler was a fascist--not a socialist. Fascism is a system of government characterized by a rigid one-party rule, forcible suppression of any opposition (trade unions, leftist parties, minority groups, Jews, Gypsies, others

And this differs from Communism exactly how?

Gee. does that sound like anyone on these boards?

Nobody I can think of, on either end of the political spectrum. Care to name any names?

Fascism protected the private ownership of property and the industrial means of production under centralized government control.

Private ownership under fascism? Horseshit. If it's under government control, it ain't private. This old saw is often used to prove that some government or nation isn't "really" socialist. "See? It isn't socialism if the government doesn't own the means of production." If government controls every aspect of the means of production (who can be hired, who can be fired, what benefits you can offer, what wages you can pay, what you can manufacture and how, where you can build factories, how tall your goddam CHAIRS are), who actually has title to the company is completely irrelevant. Nazis knew, and modern socialists in this country know, that if you can completely command and regulate every aspect of a private industry and the lives of the workers and managers, than nationalizing the industry is just gilding the lily.

This was a political system first introduced in Italy, also the home of capitalism.



Nazism and facism are right wing movements--period. Granted they are the extreme right, just as communism under Stalin represented the far left.



If this makes you feel better, go for it. Just remember, it's largely the Left that came up with these definitions.