What would Marx do? by Gareth Southwell

Author:Gareth Southwell
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Octopus
Published: 2017-01-17T00:00:00+00:00

Interestingly, communist regimes (traditionally considered left-wing), although often contrasted with fascist (right-wing) governments, share a number of these features. This perhaps suggests that the traditional left/right distinction is too simplistic, for – aside from the fact that many modern Marxists would consider Stalinist Russia (for example) as not genuinely communist – such regimes are equally totalitarian (the state intimately interferes in its subjects’ lives), and collectivist (nationhood is more important than individuality). They do differ in some respects: communism is internationalist, fascism is nationalistic; communism is atheist, fascism favours religious uniformity; communism advocates a classless society with communal ownership, fascism allows limited private ownership within a rigid, hierarchical society. But in practice it’s easy to see how the effects of both communism and fascism were largely identical: the liberal, individual freedoms celebrated by democratic societies all but disappeared.

Basic philosophical question:

What distinguishes legitimate authority from the fascist/totalitarian doctrine that “might is right”?

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