Nazism: Left or Right?

[Black Sun Dimension]

Why are the Nazi’s considered right wing?

I’ve been thinking about this a lot. See, Nazi’s have been heaped on the right side of the political spectrum, as a sort of counter-weight to communism. Thing is, that really doesn’t stand up to a serious analysis. The idea that the Nazi’s were right wing seems to boil down to the idea that racism (and nationalism) is a unique and defining trait of the right. But this is transparently false; Mecha, the Hispanic-power group, is avowedly leftist, racist,and nationalist. The Black Panthers and other black supremacists were leftist. There are any number of examples of groups and people on the left who are racist. In any case, I don’t accept that premise.

Without the racist=right wing idea to pin the Nazis, it becomes clear that the fascist movement is actually a faction of the left. Mussolini, the father of fascism, was a socialist. He split from the socialist to join a more extreme left-wing group which became the Fascist party. The word Nazi actually stands for, get this, the National Socialist German Workers Party. That’s two leftist red flags in one name. Their economic policy wasn’t anything CATO would approve of. One of their policy initiatives was to create a fund that would provide cars to everyone who decided to contribute. (The name of the car? The People’s Car, or, in German, Volkswagen. It was actually the VW Beetle. All those hippies were driving Hitlermobiles. Nice.) Basically, from where I’m sitting, fascism was a socialist sub-group that figured out how to tap into nationalism and racism. In the political climate of Europe (where the conservatives are just socialists who go to church) fascism had a broad appeal. Perhaps on the European left-right continuum, the placement of the Nazi’s on the right would then be appropriate. But I’m not really seeing how they’d fit on the right in America’s political continuum. They weren’t really hard-core Christian (more of a neo-pagan Christianity-when-in-public bunch), they certainly weren’t into the free market, and racism isn’t necessarily a right wing trait.

I, of course, am biased. I would love to be able to put Hitler, Stalin, Mao, and Pol Pot in the same (diametrically opposed to me) political category. It seems to me that the argument has a fair amount of weight. I mean, what American right-winger would form or join a party called the National Socialist German Worker’s Party?

Im kind of inclined to agree with this article. People tend to automatically subscribe any anti-communist ideal as being right-wing; that's a fallacious argument. Hitler & Co. despised the Soviets but is that enough to support the conclusion that Nazism (and Fascism) falls under the right side of the political spectrum?

Poll added.

[sturmwalkure]

Goebbels was a Leftist in his time. Yet due to today's ridiculous, skewed political climate he would be considered far-right. The fiscal policies and social policies he had were very Left oriented and I am not talking about the Negro-coddling of today's 'Left' but a man who loved his people from the farmers to the noblemen.

[morski]

They were against the current order, so that would have placed them in the left in the revolutionary French parliament.

[The Lawspeaker]

Goebbels was a Leftist in his time. Yet due to today's ridiculous, skewed political climate he would be considered far-right. The fiscal policies and social policies he had were very Left oriented and I am not talking about the Negro-coddling of today's 'Left' but a man who loved his people from the farmers to the noblemen.

A 1950s social democrat like Willem Drees ("little father Drees") would today be considered right-wing as well and his son was exactly the same kind. Just judging by the tough immigration laws that were present at the time, his support for NATO and by the fact that he seems to have HATED communism with a burning passion.

Goebbels was a Leftist in his time. Yet due to today's ridiculous, skewed political climate he would be considered far-right. The fiscal policies and social policies he had were very Left oriented and I am not talking about the Negro-coddling of today's 'Left' but a man who loved his people from the farmers to the noblemen.

Wasn't Musso a socialist himself back in the day ? Hell: he was a radical Marxist school teacher and PSI-member. (couldn't get more stereotypical even if he tried).

[sturmwalkure]

Wasn't Musso a socialist himself back in the day ?

He sure was.

[Supreme American]

Early 20th century Socialists were well-known as being racialists and favoring eugenics. Hitler was by no means a deviation from the norm.

[Hess]

Nazis and Communists may have different goals, but their means are identical: a bloated Government Bureaucracy that imposes itself on its citizens and restricts their freedom.

[The Lawspeaker]

Nazis and Communists may have different goals, but their means are identical: a bloated Government Bureaucracy that imposes itself on its citizens and restricts their freedom.

And freedom from capitalist exploitation. Your less European then I thought, Hess, because you clearly don't know from which wretchedness Nazism and communism were sprung. It came from the trauma of the industrial revolution and World War I where the plutocrats had forced workers from European countries to murder each other in their millions.

[Hess]

And freedom from capitalist exploitation. Your less European then I thought, Hess, because you clearly don't know from which wretchedness Nazism and communism were sprung. It came from the trauma of the industrial revolution and World War I where the plutocrats had forced workers from European countries to murder each other in their millions.

Let's forget the Economic side for a while and focus on the Social aspect of Communism/Nazism


Imagine a Government a that dictates what you are allowed to read, say, and think. Imagine a Government that plans out every detail of your life, from what job you are allowed to have to who you are allowed to marry. Imagine a Government that fines, imprisons, and eventually kills you if you dare to disagree with it.


Does that sound like Europe to you?

[The Lawspeaker]

Let's forget the Economic side for a while and focus on the Social aspect of Communism/Nazism

No let's focus on the economic side for a moment. Because if you let that sink into your head then you know why society was so polarised. Add World War I and the Great Depression and you begin to have an understanding of what Europe was like at that moment.