There is an ongoing spat between two YouTubers. The details don’t really matter; the YouTubers don’t really matter. Like a lot of these things, their spat is boooring. However, sometimes these sad little moments result in other people trying to explain the situation, and making something interesting and useful out of it. Below is a video from yet another YouTuber; in the process of explaining why one of the combatants is wrong, he devotes the majority of his video to explaining how 1930’s/40’s German National Socialism is indeed far leftist ideology, and actual *socialist* ideology. This is not a new concept, but some people persist in believing that Funny Mustache Man was actually a right winger, and it’s always important to correct them.
5 responses to “National Socialism = Socialism”
National Socialism is Capitalism trying to mask itself as Socialism. Yes, it did incorporate some socialist ideology but for the most part it was for show.
Under NS, you could own a factory and make a profit from it… so long as you made what the State told you to make and charged what they told you you could charge. The State was *effectively* in charge of the means of production. Hell, the State controlled the whole economy. How is that not socialism?
Fascism/National Socialism is descended from Marxism via Giovanni Gentile. Who felt that Socialism’s internationalist focus would not be in the best interest of the newly minted nations of Europe, such as his own Italy. (remember that in some ways, nationalism is younger than socialism.) He also didn’t begrudge private industry if it was devoted to the service of the state. (Think Present day China)
Socialists reject the connection due to the lack of state ownership of production and its nationalist focus.
American “conservatives” don’t really distinguish between the two, viewing them both as totalitarian.
Socialism is so yesterday. Leftists are now smarter. In socialism, the state owns or controls the means of production. That mean they are responsible for screwups. That’s bad because massive screwups are inevitable under socialism. What we now have is Regulism. The state regulates production to the nth degree (such as mandating unreliable wind and solar connections to the electric grid, and removal of reliable generation sources) but can still blame those awful capitalists when things screw up (grid failures). It is their ideal position – effective control and no responsibility.
Economic version of anarcho-tyranny.