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Culture War Roundup for the week of March 16, 2026

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You aren't even saying "fascism and communism", but comparing it to socialism, which is more or less incumbent all over Europe for some 80 years now without operating any concentration camps or starting world wars? Is this just mirroring the "everything to the right of me is literally fascism" line as "everything to the left of me is literally equivalent to fascism"?

'Socialism' is a word with multiple contradictory meanings -- in that sense it's even worse than 'fascism,' which people generally agree means one thing, even if they can't agree on what counts. Marx used 'socialism' and 'communism' interchangeably to refer to the stateless, classless society that would emerge after the old order was torn down completely. Needless to say, this socialism isn't incumbent anywhere and never has been. Lenin used the term 'socialism' freely to describe his own form of ultra-authoritarian Vanguardism, and that form is mainly today embodied by North Korea, which does describe itself as 'socialist.' And, yes, in much of Europe the word 'socialism' is used today to describe center-left welfare capitalism.

But it didn't always mean this. There was a time when socialist parties did actually intend to implement real socialism; the term just got watered down to virtually nothing through many cycles of moderation and compromise (and attempts to distance themselves from the USSR). Socialism as per Marx is impossible and socialism as per Lenin is transparently awful, so if you want to win elections rather than achieve your ends through force, you'll quickly find that some ideas play better than others. Repeat for many election cycles and all you've got left is the name.

('Communism' isn't really any better: China is the largest and most influential self-described communist nation today, and they practice state capitalism. And, actually, they also describe themselves as 'socialist.')

As an outsider to the left, I do see the socialism/communism distinction as a relatively meaningless one of branding. But for what it's worth, I've become a lot more sympathetic over the years to the "everything to the right of me is fascism" line too, or at least to the application of the fascist label to right-authoritarian regimes and movements since WWII that don't claim the label for themselves for obvious reasons. But at the end of the day, I think we're all somewhat liberal, somewhat socialist, and somewhat fascist, just as we're all subject to each of the deadly sins. Some just in greater proportions than others.