Gautam said:
> > Behalf Of Bob Henderson
> > So Fascism is totalitarian and nationalistic.
>Fascism is _not_
> necessarily totalitarian. SNIP examples.
Of course you are correct. I think of Fascism as totalitarian in general
terms but there will be differing degrees of control. And even the communist
examples would never achieve *total* control. I would have described Nazi
Germany as totalitarian but I read in your later post on this topic that
there are more precise definitions of totalitarian of which I was unaware.
> > Fascism, then Fascism
> > is compatible with democracy as Hitler was initially
> > democratically voted
> > into power.
> This is perhaps a little bit exaggerated. Hitler was voted into
> power, but he never received a majority of the popular vote. In fact,
> the 1932 elections were something of a defeat for the Nazis, as they
> actually lost seats in the Bundestag. Hitler gained power essentially
> through parliamentary maneuvering.
Not a case of exaggeration but a lack of knowledge on my part. I have always
*known* that Hitler, as the leader of his party, was initially
democratically elected into power. Now that you question it, I check my
encyclopaedia.
Aaaargh!
My encyclopaedia is as wrong as you(:>).
Good grief. I wonder how many people I have mis-informed with that statement
of my *knowledge*.
> One should note that his
> extra-constitutional actions were not, in fact, _ever_ ratified by a
> vote of the German people, although I think there's little doubt that
> he would have won such a vote at least up through 1943.
Could Peron be considered an example of where a Fascist was actually
elected? I know little about Argentina but IIRC Peron did face elections
after assuming power through force though I do not know how legitimate those
elections were.
> > And in a corrupt or imperfect democracy:
> > "Those who cast the votes decide nothing.
> > Those who count the votes decide everything." Josef Stalin.
> He didn't actually say this, so far as I can tell. It's been floating
> around the internet, but without any cites.
That is where I found it I shall change the name to "unknown".
My opinion that Fascism and democracy are compatible still stands even
though my examples lacked rigour. But if I understand you correctly, you
were questioning the example rather than the opinion.
Bob.
