Liberal Fascists
Reader comment on item: Fascism's Legacy: Liberalism

Submitted by Dennis Middlebroks (United States), Jan 10, 2008 at 09:17

Since Hilter, Mussolini, Goebbels, Eichman, Pinochet, Salazar and Franco (along with many others) were Catholics, or at least raised Catholic, I would like to see a book on "Catholic Fascists". As Christopher Hitchens has pointed out, fascism was essentially a movement of the Catholic Right in Europe. Millions of Nazis were devout Catholics. It's only fair to provide a balanced view.

Incidentally, the Vatican embraces an anti-free market, pro-welfare state philosophy that corresponds more to "Liberal Fascism" than to conservatism.

What confuses me, though, is why the Fascists and Nazis outlawed all liberal, socialist and communist political organizatios as soon as they seized power. One might conclude from this that they were using the term "socialist" as a deceptive means to an end. I also fail to see how conservatives will be able to link liberals with communism as has been the case for decades if now liberals are to be painted with a fascist brush. Liberals cannot be felow travelers of both communism and fascism. What took conservatives so long to make the connection to fascism?

Could it be that now that communism is dormant, the "pinko" label no longer carries as much weight? So why not turn to fascism as a convenient label for liberals? After all, many on the Left have been branding conservatives as fascists for years. Sort of turning the tables, eh?

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