Why is being a socialist and socialism, as described in numerous letters to the editor and by Republican politicians, taken to be bad but being a fascist and fascism get a pass? It probably has to do with the right-wing double standard propaganda machine. One ignorant letter-writer even called socialists fascists.
Briefly, the economic spectrum: Communists are on the far left, socialists on the center left, socialists/capitalists (USA) in the center, capitalists on the center right and fascists on the far right. You cannot be on the left and far right simultaneously.
According to President Trump and others, antifa (antifascists) are terrorists but the neo-Nazis marching with Confederate flags and swastika armbands and those standing on the steps of and blocking entry to the Michigan capital with loaded military assault rifles are “good” people. And those Trump-supporting fascist goons storming the Capitol? “We love you.”
Trump meets every definition of a fascist in my view — powerful and continuing nationalism, disdain for the recognition of human rights, identification of enemies/scapegoats as a unifying cause, supremacy of the military, rampant sexism, controlled mass media, obsession with national security, religion and government are intertwined, corporate power is protected, labor power is suppressed, disdain for intellectuals and the arts, obsession with crime and punishment, rampant cronyism and corruption, fraudulent election. As has been said, “When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in a flag and carrying a cross.” The flags in this case are not just USA flags, but Trump and Confederate flags.
Larry Josephs
Penn Township, Westmoreland County