It’s easy to make the case that communism and fascism are two collectivist, big government, authoritarian ideologies that are stunningly similar.  Those trying to claim they are vastly different require a constant psy-op of pure BS on their part to stay viable.

This is because the plain fact is that evil can never be honest and identify itself; instead, it has to come in the guise of a talented and charismatic speaker offering freebies.  Evil doesn’t tell you that you have to give up your freedom in exchange for the seemingly boundless hoard of goodies being offered.

It also has to deceive and distract with convenient lies that divert attention away from what is truly happening.

In the case of the ever-violent collectivist left, they continually beat the drum that, while they might be communists, socialists, or whatever.  They are also constantly claiming that they are fighting against “fascism” at every turn.  The national socialist media and the violent collectivist left do this so often that it’s almost become background noise to our daily political discourse, but it’s important to knock down this lie because it obscures the true conflict and hides what is at stake.

Ideologies can be classified as either collectivist or individualist, from a fundamental philosophical standpoint, with these corresponding to the left and right sides of the political spectrum.  Fascism is defined as collectivist by the very nature of the word: from the word fascio (plural fasci), “bundle, fasces, group.”  The symbolism is that an individual stick is weak and can easily be broken, whereas a collection of sticks bundled together is far stronger.    

Political tags — such as royalist, communist, democrat, populist, fascist, liberal, conservative, and so forth — are never basic criteria. The human race divides politically into those who want people to be controlled and those who have no such desire.

—Robert A. Heinlein

Heinlein’s words demarcate the left and right in a manner similar to collectivists and individualists.  There are those who desire power over all, while there are others who simply want to live their lives and leave everyone alone and have others treat them the same.

This coincidentally describes the basic philosophies of the collectivist left and individualist right sides of the spectrum.  But since the labels the left is willing to apply to itself pale in comparison to economic freedom, as always, they have to apply linguistic legerdemain in order to even have a chance in the marketplace of ideas.  

So the left uses several tactics to mitigate this disparity.  Of course, leftists use “capitalism” instead of economic freedom or free enterprise.  And, as we’ve outlined, they try to claim that this is a battle between communism and fascism.

A century ago, back in the 1920s and 1930s, everyone correctly saw that communism and fascism were the evil cousins of collectivism, and people openly spoke out about it without reproach.  The two were seen to be similar except for a few philosophical differences.

There is this example from October 14, 1927, when the American Federation of Labor denounced both the reds (communists) and the fascists:

Fascism Likened to Communism.

President Green said that the Federation was just as much opposed to Fascism as it was to Communism, as both were autocratic. ...

“We are inclined to place Lenin and Mussolini in the same class and we are against them.”

Anyone paying attention for the last 90 years should note the left’s use of the same old playbook, as in this appeal for Roosevelt from Oct. 18, 1936, in which it was asserted that the Republican presidential candidate, Governor Alf Landon, aimed at a “Fascist State.”

In another campaign attack against the Republican candidate, from October 29, 1936, the warning was of a “Reaction” under Landon that “Would Lead Eventually to Communism or Fascism”:

We know that Candidate Landon’s proposed reactionary retracement can lead but to communism or fascism. America is at the crossroads. Which road will the voters elect to follow? The answer we all know. They will follow the American road with President Roosevelt.

It was in 1948 that Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., associate professor of history at Harvard, noted in a New York Times Magazine piece,

In certain basic respects — a totalitarian state structure, a single party, a leader, a secret police, a hatred of political, cultural and intellectual freedom — fascism and communism are clearly more like each other than they are like anything in between.

Since that time, the leftist lie has “evolved” to the point that one authoritarian-collectivist, centralized-control, big-government ideology is supposed to be vastly different from another authoritarian-collectivist, centralized-control, big-government ideology.

This is so the left can claim, as they have for going on 89 years, that they are in a death match with fascism.  In reality, it’s a conflict between leftist-collectivist ideologies and economic freedom.

There are many in the pro-freedom community of today willing to point out the lie:

Why is this important?

Why is it critical that we once again debunk and correct one of the left’s biggest lies?

It should be clear that with the win of Mamdani the Islamo-commie in New York, the Democrats are lurching to the far left, and the sides are shaping up as a battle between economic freedom and the societal slavery of collectivism.  It is irrelevant how the latter is labeled — communism, fascism, socialism, or free stuff for everyone who votes for them.

The big problem for leftists is that they look bad opposing freedom, so they have to lie and claim it’s something else as a distraction.  But make no mistake: It’s a battle between freedom and slavery, good and evil.  As Senator Mike Lee stated, conservatism is about limited government, fascism is about total state control — leftist overreach on steroids.  Don’t fall for the leftist psy-op!

D Parker is an engineer, inventor, wordsmith, and student of history, former director of communications for a civil rights organization, and a long-time contributor to conservative websites.  Find him on Substack.

Image: david__jones via Flickr, CC BY 2.0.