If one looks at the identifiable pillars of fascism, as seen through contemporary American views of liberal and conservative political philosophies, it stands to reason that fascism is one of the few truly hybrid political ideologies. Many have characterized fascism before as being dominantly liberal but I must respectfully disagree. Here’s a list of the pillars of fascism…
Exaltation of state over individual...neither, though arguably liberal in a services sense
Macro Darwinism…conservative
Micro Darwinism…neither, though arguably conservative
Extreme nationalism…conservative
Corporatism…conservative
Universal suffrage…liberal
Seizure of church property…Draconian Bolshevism
Central control of resources…liberal
Small central government…conservative
Anti leftist…conservative
State control of media…neither, as understood by American definition of lib & con
Middle class angst/catering or pandering to the middle class…liberal
Racial purity…neither
Compulsory military service…Communism, though not a traditional American liberal p.o.v.
Militarism…conservative
Minimum wage…liberal
Anti-union…conservative
Elitist…Arguably both, liberals exalt intellectual elitism while conservatives exalt the economically elite
This list may be a skosh incomplete but it demonstrates that the split between liberal and conservative pillars is nearly equal. Even when you organize the list according to importance to the overall fascist ideology, such as universal suffrage, militarism, nationalism, corporatism, and central control of resources, the split between liberal and conservative is still fairly equal. What’s interesting is the fact that over one third of theses fascist pillars is neither or both.
So, is fascism, in your opinion, a liberal, conservative, or hybrid political philosophy?
