Current Events > Why do most fascist dictatorships pretend to be socialist?

(+) Yeah! (+)

With names like The People's Democratic Republic of North Korea, which is none of those things.
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Authoritarians will appropriate anything and everything if they believe it will be useful in extending and securing their power.

If a country tried genuine socialism/communism across a nation it wouldn't work because too many people wouldn't want it.

I'm sure Kim Il Sung truly wanted communism in North Korea, but this is the result. Just like every other example in history.
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because people that make themselves leader for life realize that there's a fine line they have to walk to keep power. you can't alienate your populate so much that they mass rebel, so you make them think your government is there to help them. and the underlying point of a socialist government is supposed to be that it protects its citizens.

essentially evil people co-opt good things for evil purposes.
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Good thread on the Nazi case:
https://twitter.com/biIIosopher/status/898248950263709697
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i suppose because calling it what it really is doesn't sound as nice.
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They use socialism as an excuse to seize property or use the socialist movement to seize power
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dreamvoid posted...

i suppose because calling it what it really is doesn't sound as nice.

as long as you accept the fact that the republican party must also be a party of communist dictatorship since they share a name with the peoples republic of china and NK then sure i agree.
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Doesn't "The people's democratic republic" mean they're pretending to be democratic and a republic rather than socialist?

Socialism is the philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy. Perth, Scotland, 28 May 1948, in Churchill, Europe Unite: Speeches 1947 & 1948 (London: Cassell, 1950), 347.
The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings. The inherent virtue of Socialism is the equal sharing of miseries. House of Commons, 22 October 1945.
both from churchill

I think part of it is that fascism has often formed as a response to socialism (which fascists fear), and so the fascists try to undermine the socialists by appealing to those that might support them.

North Korea is a different beast though (authoritarian and just as terrible, but not fascist specifically I don't think).

Also, this Michael Rosen quote is relevant:

https://michaelrosenblog.blogspot.com/2014/05/fascism-i-sometimes-fear.html

luigi13579 posted...

I think part of it is that fascism has often formed as a response to socialism (which fascists fear), and so the fascists try to undermine the socialists by appealing to those that might support them.

North Korea is a different beast though (authoritarian and just as terrible, but not fascist specifically I don't think).

Also, this Michael Rosen quote is relevant:

https://michaelrosenblog.blogspot.com/2014/05/fascism-i-sometimes-fear.html

this makes a lot of sense. there has been a rising fear of socialism on the right as fascist tactics and fascism itself has become more prominent in recent years.
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