re: #193 Occasional Reader

Perhaps not “socialist” in strictu sensu (although Mussolini did begin his political life as a straight-up socialist), but they certainly shared the corporatist/statist bent with the socialists. I think the great contrast is between that, and systems that emphasize individual freedom.

Fascisms are right wing collectivist totalitarianisms, and communisms are left wing collectivist totalitarianisms. Constitutional democratic republics aren’t on the other side from these two; CDRs are in the center, where individual freedoms are maximized and basic individual rights are guaranteed while the means of making and acting upon collective consensus is electorally preserved. What is on the other side is extreme individualism, otherwise known as anarchy.