[ExI] dolchstosslegende, was: RE: cost of SBSP and thorium

[Stefano Vaj]

On 19 August 2012 23:29, Charlie Stross <charlie.stross at gmail.com> wrote:

> In fascist ideology, and Nazism in particular, one of the defining
> characteristics of the creed was that the rights of the individual were
> subordinate to the state, especially in respect of the disposition of their
> own body.
>

There is a little oversimplification with regard to the role of the "State"
here. In fact, Italian fascism was (ideologically) much more radical in
this respect, as it is made clear by the adoption of the term of
"totalitarianism" for itself, something that neither the NSDAP, nor the
Soviets, ever did. So, the Carl Schmitt's idea for instance that the party
should be subject to the State, and not the other way around, brought much
criticisms on him during the Third Reich, including the the accusation by
the SS of being a "fascist" (such criticisms quite paradoxically helped him
to defend himself during the denazification period). At the other end of
the spectrum, of course, there was the Bolshevik idea that the State was
just a mean to the ends of the party.

What all those have in common, and probably extends to most
non-totalitarian forms of socialism, is the idea that individualism should
be de-emphasised in favour of other, collective interests and powers.

By converse, individualism certainly used to be considered a left-wing
principle itself, at least for the entire duration of European Ancien
Régime.

-- 
Stefano Vaj
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