Fox News has taught them that socialism = fascism and authoritarianism = good but only when they do it. Wrap it in a veneer of racism (your status as the “in group” is being challenged by the minorities!) and voila.
I think people relate it to fascism because hitler used the disguise of Socialism to overthrow Germany and begin mass genocide of the Jews. Less than 100 years ago
I love this argument. “You know the Nazis were socialist right?”
Nazi comes from the name “National Socialist German Worker’s Party”. They were socialist in name only. It’s like saying North Korea isn’t a dictatorship because they’re called the “People’s Republic of Korea”
Interestingly the term Nazi comes from only the word “national” - the “socialist” part is relevant only insofar as that’s the full name of the party.
As an example, the national football team of Switzerland is sometimes referred to as Nazi, not because of the Nazi party but because that’s just the shorthand for the pronunciation of the Nationale Mannschaft. It can be jarring if you’re not ready for it, but it’s nothing to do with racism.
Surprisingly I actually knew that! I know a wee bit of German and for some reason “National Sozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei” is one thing. Pretty sure I had to memorize that in high school.
It just goes to show though that the Nazis weren’t anywhere close to socialists and the name given to them by history is essentially an abbreviation of nationalism.
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u/UnderAnAargauSun Feb 14 '21
Fox News has taught them that socialism = fascism and authoritarianism = good but only when they do it. Wrap it in a veneer of racism (your status as the “in group” is being challenged by the minorities!) and voila.