Episode #353: Left to Right: Why the Traditional Political Spectrum is Wrong

In government and political science courses, students are taught the traditional “political/economic spectrum.” It looks like this:

spectrum 1.jpg

Yet this spectrum is not only misleading, it is false. Why should socialists and fascists be depicted as virtual opposites when they share so much in common?

The real spectrum should look more like this:

spectrum 2.jpg

Objections to the Above Spectrum

1.     Communism and fascism can’t be close together because communists and fascists fought each other bitterly. Hitler attacked Stalin.

Al Capone and Bugs Moran hated and fought each other so they can’t both be considered gangsters?

Both systems had low regard for human life. Why expect either to be nice to the other, especially since they were rivals for territory or influence on world stage?

2.     Under communism, as Karl Marx defined it, government “withers away.” So it cannot be aligned closely with socialism because socialism involves lots of government.

Marx’s conception of the government “withering away” not only was purely hypothetical, it’s lunacy. There’s no example of a  despot of the all-powerful “proletarian dictatorship” walking away from power. 

3.     Communism and Fascism are radically different because in focus, one is internationalist and the other is nationalist (as in Hitler’s “national socialism”).

As Lawrence Reed answers: “Big deal. Chocolate and vanilla are two different flavors of ice cream, but they’re both ice cream. Was it any consolation to the French or the Norwegians or the Poles that Hitler was a national socialist instead of an international socialist?”

Communism and Fascism belong firmly on the socialist Left. Political and economic systems should be analyzed by who they empower—the State or the individual.

 

Resources Mentioned During the Show 

Lawrence W. Reed, “What the Nazis Had in Common With Every Other Collectivist Regime in the 20th Century,” FEE, July 29, 2021

Lawrence W. Reed, “The Only Spectrum That Makes Sense,” April 22, 2021, El American

This is one of Ed’s all-time favorite books. It was featured during one of our best book shows: The Vampire Economy

Also check out this YouTube video: “Hitler’s Vampire Economy” 

Ed is a fan of this 10 question quiz. It quickly covers your position on both personal and economic issues: The World’s Smallest Political Quiz 

Ron mentioned the Freedom Index when talking about Hungary. Check out the full index here.

And speaking of Fascism, here is the Wikipedia source on its Manifesto

As Ron and Ed study the antecedents of some of the political ideas discussed today, Ron recommends the #1 bestseller from Jonah Goldberg: Liberal Fascism