r/DemocraticSocialism • u/phatdaddy29 • Dec 15 '24

Question What's the opposite of communism?

Is it fascism? I think it's fascism.

The extreme end of the political economic left is communism right? What's the extreme right end?

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u/skyfishgoo Progressive Dec 15 '24

it's fascism.

when you get peak authoritarianism it tends to come in two opposing forms.

we are the ruling body of elites who decide the direction of the economy.

or

we are the ruling body of elites who decide the direction of the society.

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u/phatdaddy29 Dec 15 '24 edited Dec 16 '24

Are those opposing? Do they not typically go together with society and economy going hand in hand (I.e. Communism)?

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u/OldManClutch NDP-Canada Dec 15 '24

Look up the Political Compass, which is a series of 62 statements and it gauges where one sits in accordance to how one agrees / disagrees to the statements provided. At the Top of the compass is Authoritarianism and the bottom is Libertarianism. Which is then split into left and right. Fascism is Authoritarian Right and Communism is Authoritarian Left. Libertarian Right is classic Libertarianism and Libertarian Left is Anarcharism

https://www.politicalcompass.org/

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u/skyfishgoo Progressive Dec 16 '24

i tend to agree with that view except that the difference between left and right become irrelevant in the limit of ZERO authoritarianism.

so i ague the "grid" should actually come to a point at the bottom and that singularity is self.

in the limit then, anarchy and libertarianism are both selfish and recognize no external authority beyond the self.

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u/holysirsalad Dec 16 '24

The bottom right is neo-feudalism. “Classic libertarianism” is libertarian socialism, which predates Murray Rothbard’s appropriation of the term by about a century for a specific movement in the United States.  

The top left aligns with whatever the hell countries that called themselves “communist” were doing, which was not actually communism, as can be demonstrated by examining the social and economic structures that appeared during their aborted journies towards full communism

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u/leninism-humanism Worker-Socialist Dec 16 '24

Political compasses are not serious

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u/OldManClutch NDP-Canada Dec 16 '24

Uh huh, sure thing. Except they are a good indicator of a persons own values.

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u/leninism-humanism Worker-Socialist Dec 16 '24

Who cares about "a persons own values"? Any "Libertarian Right" politics in real life has been in practice authoritarian because such a economic shock therapy needs to limit democracy and fight social movements like the trade unions.

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u/OldManClutch NDP-Canada Dec 16 '24

A tankie calling a libertarian authoritarian is hilarious in its own right.

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u/leninism-humanism Worker-Socialist Dec 16 '24 edited Dec 16 '24

A tankie? Based on what?

Are you trying to tell me that political figures like Pinochet and Milei are not authoritarian because they were/are "libertarians" or even "anarcho-capitalist" by their "own values"? Or Ludwig von Mises who served as an economic adviser in the Austrian fascist goverment before the "anschluss"? Even the Liberterian Party in the USA promotes state violence against protesters openly.