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PaperclipPerfector  16d ago (text post)   25333 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of September 1, 2025

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Nothing scares the left like the thought of the right doing politics to them the way they do it to the right.

I can't remember which historian it was, but I remember reading a book excerpt wherein a historian, in analyzing "fascist tactics" noted that every tactic the Italian Fascists, the Nazis, etc. used had been developed and used first by Communists and other leftists, and thus, not only are there not so much "fascist tactics" as "tactics that become fascist when adopted by the Right from the Left", but that "Fascism" can pretty much be defined as "when the Right starts using Left's own more-effective tactics to use against the Left" (and thus, as a good opponent of "fascism," he then exhorts that we must ensure the Right remains forbidden from using the Left's best tactics.)

I honestly wish you could remember what historian that was.

I could always use another book to add to my 'to read' pile.

I'm AI skeptical than most around here, but must admit that chatGPT is becoming a damn good search engine:

Otto Rühle, a German Marxist and left communist in the council communist tradition who also came close to anarchist positions, wrote that "the struggle against fascism must begin with the struggle against Bolshevism", adding that he believed the Soviets had influence on fascist states by serving as a model. In 1939, Rühle further professed: "Russia was the example for fascism. ... Whether party 'communists' like it or not, the fact remains that the state order and rule in Russia are indistinguishable from those in Italy and Germany. Essentially they are alike. One may speak of a red, black, or brown 'soviet state', as well as of red, black or brown fascism."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_fascism

That's interesting. Can you cite historical examples, from various time periods over the past century? What specific tactics are we talking about?

What specific tactics are we talking about?

Well, mostly in the context of interwar Europe, it's the "street-fighting" tactics adopted by the blackshirts and brownshirts, but first developed and used first by Communist and anarchist gangs. That's what I remember the author focusing on.

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