"Given that the nineteenth century was the century of Socialism, of Liberalism, and of Democracy, it does not necessarily follow that the twentieth century must also be a century of Socialism, Liberalism and Democracy:  political doctrines pass, but humanity remains, and it may rather be expected that this will be a century of authority ... a century of Fascism.  For if the nineteenth century was a century of individualism it may be expected that this will be the century of collectivism and hence the century of the State."   - mussolini

i know that you can't take these people seriously when they use words that have been translated from different languages. but, mussolini's use of the language was accurate, here.

fascism, as a term, develops from corporatism. and, corporatism itself develops out of the collectivism described in hobbes. this philosophy of the far right - fascism, collectivism, corporatism - is then contrasted against the ideals of the left, which are socialism, liberalism and democracy.

this is an insightful statement by benito mussolini, in truth.

so, how we got to this idea in america where collectivism is thought of as on the left is very strange, but no doubt has to do with the spectrum reversal that took place in the united states, where the democrats became the left, after representing the right since andrew jackson. you get this weird, confused confluence of terms.

but, it's a fundamental point of confusion, in truth.

americans legitimately and readily identify the left with collectivist ideas, rather than legitimately socialist ones. i mean, you hear it all of the time - socialism means big government. right? no - that's wrong, actually. but, it's what americans say when asked over and over and over...