:: walterindenver ::

:: Sunday, February 02, 2003 ::

'Compassionate Conservatism' and Fascism

Arthur Silber has been writing about the underlying principles of 'compassionate conservatism,' and finds they are similar to the principles of fascism. He concludes:

And I have to emphasize again: it is long past time for people to think about political issues in terms of the fundamental principles involved. Does this government program acknowledge man's rights and protect them -- or does it attack and erode those rights? Does this new set of regulations, imposing even more restrictions on yet another industry, respect and encourage freedom -- or does it hamper man's productive ability, and deny man certain essential aspects of his freedom?
It will only be when a significant number of men learn to think in terms of principles in this manner that we might begin to be safe from the encroachments of an ever-growing, ever-more-powerful centralized government. Until that day comes, we will continue to drift toward a fascist-socialist state. That has been the slow trend of the last 50 years -- and these "compassionate conservatives" are doing all they can to speed up that trend, and to destroy what remains of your freedom. And do not forget that a number of these conservatives support a mandatory draft, and proclaim the virtues of censorship. If either of those measures were to come to pass, the future of freedom would be bleak, indeed.
But I will fight these trends in every way I can, and I know that there are a number of people also concerned with man's rights, and with liberty, who will join me in that fight -- and that a significant number of them have been fighting for this particular cause for many, many years.

Note how he describes our course as a 'drift toward a fascist-socialist state.' I think this supports my contention that the struggle isn't the false left vs right dichotomy, but a fight between those of us who understand and support freedom, and those who either don't understand or don't care about it.
A perfect example of the latter category is found in the comments section of Arthur's blog, asking:

Devoting more money to slowing the spread of AIDS in Africa is the leading edge of Nazism? Care for the aged, public education of gifted children, and the prevention of child labor are social evils simply because the Nazi party paid lip service to those goals?

As Arthur notes, it's not the German Nazis specifically but all fascist movements who believe that the rights of individuals are subservient to the greater needs of society. I won't pretend to do Arthur's argument justice, it's best to go read his entire article.

:: Walter 5:05 PM [+] ::
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